That's great, congratulations!!!

Would the Bad Skating Fairy actually be a troll? (or would she be Tinkerbelle (from Peter Pan)... jealous when good things that happen to other people and she's not directly involved? That said, I've always liked the feisty side of "Tink"!)

Flying high: Good dance moves day. I was definitely on edges doing the cross-rolls and actually gained speed on them! Even the cross-cuts weren't bad; husband doesn't think they'll pass, and nor do I, but they are a lot better than they were.

Falling flat: Quite literally! Husband and I were doing swing rolls in waltz hold with him going backwards and me going forwards; I suggested we increase our speed a little as these were very, very slow and stately - so he dug in to push harder, caught his blade, and we both measured our length. It was one of those spectacular falls that attracts the attention of everybody in the rink! I now have a very large, and extremely painful, bruise on my right knee

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Falling Flat: DIDN'T work much on the last half of my program (as planned) - after the workout on Wednesday (first half repeated a zillion times!), 1/2 hour off-ice warm-up, and a half hour on the ice warm-up, I was still pretty stiff. I think I need to scale back my warm-up to just stretches if I have skated in the previous 48 hours. Funny, the 57 year old body just doesn't seem to recover as fast as it did 30 years ago Wonder how that happened?

Flying High: We tweaked my opening a bit (better presentation), and put a little silliness in the second half of the program. With the rink being unusually busy for a Friday morning (all of SIX skaters - I am SPOILED! ), we didn't get to do complete run-thoughs of the second half of the program but I am not nearly as concerned about timing since the second half has lots of ways to pick up time or loose time.

Falling Flat: Back on the ice tomorrow at 9 a.m. - a whole 24 hours off!

Flying High: Oh well, time for a nice steamy bubble bath tonight

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Went to an empty freestyle this morning - one other skater and she (an adult) was great! Her music, which played the entire time, was less than inspiring but she had a beautiful axel and double sal. Hard ice, sand base; not great for me, but it's good for a challenge.

Falling Flat:
Well, I didn't fall but I was pretty flat. Just couldn't get into a groove.

Pre-Prel MITF and freestyle moves were okey-dokey, nothing spectacular.

Prel MITF were shaky, but accurate.
Still hate those threes on the line, but they're controlled better now.
Inside spirals are yuck. Have to really strengthen everything.

Toe loops are sloppy and need work.

Flying High:
Actually centered several spins, which is unusual for me at this rink.
Sit, Scratch, Back Scratch, and sit-change-sit were all good.

Basic jumps were good, although I'm sure they were sloppy.
Waltz jumps were great, with growling edges.

Did lots of salchows. I almost like this jump now.

Half lutz is no problem until I land. I'm overrotating and I end up three'ing the landing. Not bad, considering I never have ice to practice these.

Did a few half-axels, (LFO edge takeoff, one rotation, forward two-foot landing) just for fun and didn't kill myself. YAY!
Always hated landing that way, still do in fact.

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Hmmm? Sounds familiar! Have I been to this rink???

Congrats becca!!!! Nice job indeed!!!!

Falling Flat:

• Coming in to a HUGE group of 8th graders (about 60 of them at least ) Needless to say, it's "spin day!!!"
• Backspins are okay but not great! I had trouble getting enough momentum to do a decent pushoff for a change foot spin.
• Back sit... can't get and stay into a LBO edge. I couldn't even get myself to stay on a LBO edge "shoot the duck" w/o having me falling on my butt from the duck shoot back!!! (I could just see in see my secondary coach reading this and hearing her say "Heh heh heh!!! And you better be doing those "wall backspin" exercise I gave you!!!" )
• Camel: Well, fear of falling flat on my face anyway!!! Primary coach's method of trying to get me to do a camel.
  • Method 1: Tried to spin me around like a top
  • Method 2: Had me in a spiral position but at a standstill. He grabs my torso and free leg to make sure I STAY in position as he slowly spins me.
  • He threatened to make me do a pairs camel with him (my direction) but I said "Ummmm... no thank you!!!"

Flying High:

• One foot spins are fine.
• Sit spins are good enough for primary coach. (I did one of the one foot spins and one of the sit spins and that's enough.)
• Well, camel still needs work, but the rewards are that primary coach caughts glimpses of glory -- I did a couple of good 2-3 rev camels! (Of course, now he's just as frustrated with me on the camels as he is on the loop b/c I'm "so close" to getting them!!! )

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Skittl, take heart! I always got confused, too, but then I finally figured out a few simple rules of thumb that kept me straight (and someone please correct me if I transpose any of my outsides and insides, LOL!): The free leg positions may vary by coach, so if what my coach taught me is different from what you've been asked to do, just ignore the free leg parts.

EDGES: Inside - face inside, Outside - face outside
On inside edges (both backward and forward), you want your chest to face the inside of the circle you're on. On outside edges, you want your chest to face outside the circle. So it's chest inside on insides and chest outside on outsides. Of course your head will also face the same direction as your chest, butit will be turned a little farther so you are looking in the direction you're going.

3-TURNS - Forward: Entry - face inside, Exit - face inside
This rule may be different if you're doing the 3-turn as the entry to a jump or a spin, but if you're doing forward 3-turns on a lobe, as in a MIF pattern, here's what you want to do for both outside and inside turns: Entrance edge- chest faces inside the circle, exit edge- chest still faces inside the circle. So it's entry - embrace the circle, exit - embrace the circle. You'll notice that to do this, all you need to do is keep your shoulders and head in the exact same spot while you just pivot your hips to execute the turn.
FREE LEG: either free leg extended behind or free foot at heel of skating foot

3-TURNS - Backward: Entry-face outside, Exit-face outside
When you do any back 3-turns on a circle, it doesn't matter whether they are back outside or back inside 3-turns, you always want to start at the top of the lobe with your chest facing inside the circle, then gently rotate your shoulders so that your chest is facing outside the circle by the time you do the turn at the midpoint of the lobe. When you exit the 3-turn, you still want to face outside the circle. So for any backward 3-turn, it's entry edge-turn away from the circle, exit edge-stay turned away from the circle.
FREE LEG: Outside-free leg in front the whole time
Inside- free foot at heel of skating foot or in front

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Wow, two totally different tests passed in one day! I am so impressed! What's on the Jr. Silver FreeSkate test?

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

LOL re the knees during test day! Wow, impressive on the Argentine Tango. That is a great dance to watch---congratulations! Also on the Jr. Silver FreeSkate. Kudos all around.

Flying High:
The magic skating fairy dust is slowly replenishing itself... and I did my first decent 1-footed spins these past two days (wow, my coaches are right about holding my arms open for a few revolutions before pulling them in Who'da thunk it?)-- now I want to know why it is that I knew this intellectually all of the time, but only brought myself to doing so now...

Falling Flat:
Breaking in new pointe shoes for ballet combined with a really pointe-heavy class last night has contributed to two lovely popped blisters on my left toes. I didn't think it was going to be a big deal in skating until I laced up my skates this morning. I can dance with my feet torn up and ignore it, but pulling those laces tight and getting out onto the ice was a shock. 3-turns on that foot were nightmarish.

Rusty Blades and Thin Ice: on the Skating Fairies! If there is one, mine is really stingy with the fairy dust!

Flying High: Me, just before I hit the ice last week after a back to back collision. I landed on my head, & I don't remember the fall. My chiropractor tells me that means it was a concussion of some sort. Head is fine, but body still aches everywhere from the whiplash trauma. Yesterday was my first day back on the ice.

Falling flat: Yeah well, besides that, had my first lesson today in 2 weeks. WHY can I skate just fine in practice, and never, ever good in front of my coach?! Even I am sick of that excuse: "It was fine yesterday." Ugh. I fear he's getting bored with my slow progress.

Vesperholly- Congrats! How long have you been skating for? I'd love to think I could one day achieve such an awesome goal!

Oh, let's see ... I started in learn to skate when I was 8 or so. I started private lessons when I was 14. I am 26 now. So ... a long time! I'm aiming to get my Gold medal by the time I'm 30. I was expecting to be on Junior for a lot longer than a year and a half, since it took me 3 years to pass Intermediate and 4 to pass Novice. I am really excited to be working on Senior!!

Flying high for today: Landed 4 axels, two that were really solid. I hadn't landed one since Monday so I was pretty pleased.

Good Lawrd! Glad you are ok. That was nasty.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Flying high - Got back on the ice for the first time after my cold/sinus infection. Started working on preliminary dances and I have the dutch waltz down. Tried a new entrance on my salchow that made all the difference in the world...the jump is now high and not swingy.

Falling flat - Spins! I couldn't even manage a decent upright spin. Decided to get off the ice without even attempting moves, other jumps, or other crappy spins.

Feeling steady - I got a scribe off of e-bay. Now to figure out how to use it and find an instructor that still teaches compulsory figures. My coach did them as a skater but hated them.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

Scarlett-
Where are you located? In the Chicago area, there's one rink that has Monday patch and another with Saturday patch and at least one person skating patch somewhere else. Rochester, NY also has at least one skater doing patch and the LA area has someone who passed their 8th (2nd half) in the last couple years.

I'm DC based. I'm hoping that with all of the rinks and coaching available somebody will be willing to teach patch. I'm going to press my coach a little harder and mention that I already own a scribe. Hopefully that will make a difference.

I'm also thinking of actually doing the ISI tests for figures. We'll see.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

Flying High:
Today I did my very first back three on one foot- it was the RBO3!!
Eight step mohawk is coming along- need to pick up the feet on steps 5-6.
Did forward power pulls and forward crosstrokes on the long axis today- not bad!!
While I know that there is a lot to learn on the Silver moves, I'm amazed at how quickly I'm picking up things.

Falling Flat:
All of this came on lesson after me and my family made the painful, but necessary decision to put our 14 year old Lab/ Chow mix to sleep. He crossed the Rainbow Bridge at approximately 10:15 this morning.
Now skating related- the constantly busy Saturday 11am-2pm freestyle is only going to be 50 minutes next week- all the week before a local competition for our skaters. The week of the competition, there will be no freestyle at all.ARRUGH!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Flying High . . . figuratively not literally . . . I actually *GOT* the salchow today. Lots to work on still but I made it OFF the ice in the correct manner and an honest to goodness one foot landing . . . yeah!!! The help everyone gave on my "I don't get the salchow" thread really helped . . . so what if I go through the jump mumbling, turn . . .hold . . . scoooooop!! and jump!

Also flying high . . . one foot spin with the entrance and exit and everything!! I don't know *what* I was doing before, but it's really clicking now, I can feel the centering and everything. Still traveling some, but hey, I'm upright, I'm not falling off the blade - I can work with that!!

Group lesson with the kiddos this morning was fine . . . we worked on spread eagles and Bauers which were pretty much new to everyone, so that was fun.

Falling Flat . . . the *dents* in my shins from my (obviously not-QUITE-broken in) boots after I finally got off the ice this morning . . . but that means I'm bending more, I suppose.

Oh yeah . . . the backspin . . . (I was so excited about my forward spin that I figured I'd give it a shot) . . . not there yet. Pretty scary, actually.

didn't skate Wednesday because of a super migraine (but I still had to go to work because I'm the only one that does the payroll stuff)....was going to skate today but was too busy playing catch-up AND had a rebound headache AND all the neuro stuff (shakes, imbalance) I get after a migraine.

My comp is on the 11th and I feel out of shape...I only have 3 skating sessions till then...

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Sorry to hear that Terri. I am Mom to a very spoiled fur-baby and know how hard that can be.

Falling Flat: I was up at 4 a.m. again and off in a balmy -37C to a rink over an hour away. The longer I skate, the more demanding the sessions become and the longer it takes to recover. I skated yesterday so damn I was stiff!

Flying High: I wanted to spend some time on backward edges and managed to tough it out for an hour and spend a lot of time on backward. It was worth it.

It was nice to see one of my friends again, one of the mature coaches with a demented sense of humour like mine. Her “standing jibe” is about me doing an axel - “Well, am I going to see your axel today?” I told her I was going to learn to do an axel in secret just so I could land one right in front of her and say “SO THERE!”

Fiery Crash! I stopped by the chiropractor on the way home. Since my fall last Wednesday and the sore ribs, my back was bothering me so I thought I would get adjusted. I told him about the fall but I guess I didn’t stress the sore ribs enough. He made one adjustment that startled us both! The yelp must have been a give-away! He had to help me up and I had to sit for awhile before I could stand. I guess he knows about the ribs now . . . That's the second time I have smashed my ribs in a year Maybe I should be wearing a flack jacket when I skate, like the ones the bull riders wear - LOL!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Northwest Ice Rink in Baltimore, MD, has Saturday morning patch. (The time is slightly different in the summer.) There's also freestyle and club ice afterward. I've never been to a patch session there, but a friend of mine used to go from time to time and had offered to show me stuff from the first figure test. I don't know if any coaches go there to teach on patch.

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Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

One of my twins is terrified of spiders for some reason. One day, she went to the bathroom at school and saw a big one on the ceiling over the door. She couldn't leave the room. The teacher had to send someone escort her after she missed 40 minutes of class. When I went to school later that day and heard the story, I had to look for myself. It was huge and DEAD, caught in a cobweb. I grabbed a mop and swatted it down, then flushed it. Didn't want a repeat the next day. Personally, I think she just wanted to miss the handwriting lesson.


Falling Flat:
Still punking out on jumps.
Note to self: do not attempt sit spins or shoot-the-ducks while wearing baggy ski pants.

Flying High:
I've almost got a tango stop. Another four inches forward and I can start doing it on one foot. The practicing is really good for my ankle rollover, too.

I was told that I taught Pre-Prel and Prel MITF very well this afternoon.
For some bizarre reason ( practice, maybe?) I know my Waltz-Eight was perfect and the kids I taught it to picked it up right away.

Did a 3/4 lutz while demonstrating because my "assistants" were off yakking in a corner. Another few inches of height and I'll have this sucker.

Started playing with different upright spin positions and did some very nice, centered ones with turned head, stretched arms. Also demonstrated a layback that was decent and I DIDN'T HURT MY BACK! YAY!


FWIW, one of my students started landing her flip today, another nailed her loop, a third did a beautiful inside spreadeagle (give her three weeks and she'll have an outside), and "knee slide boy" can do a camel as well as an accidental jump-sit! Not to be left out, my twins skate beautifully and started working on MITF today. They also showed me their salchow (eh) and "toe loop" (wow!).

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Flying High: The office workload has slacked a bit, and I've been able to skate several times this week. A friend was playing a CD of Tango music yesterday, and I really got into the music while skating. Something clicked while ad-libbing Tango-like footwork and one of the coaches said "wow!" as I skated by. Wish I could remember what I did.

Falling Flat: Left ankle, injured about 1-1/2 months ago, still bothers me when skating - especially when stepping into a spin or picking for a toe-loop. I thought that it would be healed by now. Can't quite put a finger on where it hurts exactly, but the achilles tendon is a candidate.

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Bill Schneider

Wow, great achievements! Congratulations!!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics