I love this topic! Last month I was in my first competition. Then I suffered my first injury while skating. I sprained my ankle going down the stairs AFTER getting off the ice. So I have now been not so patiently waiting for a month for the foot to heal.

ouch! that isn't fun! O well, make sure you get lots of rest before trying to skatee again

get well and back on the ice soon

just remember, "if you love something let it go and if it comes back thats how you know its for sure!"

in other words... being away from skating will only make you love it more and become more egar to come back!

__________________
Sk8ing is a way of life. Live 2 sk8

I decided that I wanted an axel/2toe combo on thurs so I tried it a few times and got one done with only a turn out. Then yesterday and today I was able to do it second try each day and it was totally clean both times (not bad considering I swore that 2toes were totally impossible to do about a month ago)

I finally got two rotations on a backspin - yipppee! Of course, now to get it consistent, with the proper glide out, and maybe get one more rotation (wouldn't that be nice )

Daughter Icy tried a waltz/toe, waltz/loop and a half lutz this week - got all three on the first try...

Schmeck

First..Did a pretty good attempt attempt at a 2 loop on Friday. My coach said it was good. This is a first! =-)

Chico

__________________
"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

I also tried my first double loop not too long ago. It was better than all the succeeding attempts after the first one, lol.

My first was competing in an Improvisation competition. The first time such a competition has ever been done in the UK I think. It was only a club comp and only 3 of us entered but it was quite an experience. You get to listen to a new piece of music for 15 mins ( a 1 min 40 sec piece) while you try and think how to skate to it including some set elements. For this one it was an upright spin, an original spin, and up to 3 jumps from 3-jump (waltz), toe-loop and salchow. Then you just go out and skate it. It was pretty scary adn very hard to think of things to put in between tehe elements - my mind went pretty blank once i was out there so ended up doign far too many fill-in crossovers. But I came second! which surprised me as I have never done a Free programme ever and am still learning the jumps- I've never tried to put a salchow or a toe-loop in a programme or do them at any speed before. The other two competitors had passed UK level 2 Free skating tests. I found it very hard to judge the length of time and ran out of music while thinking how to get in position for my toe-loop
i am going to try it again in a few weeks time when our rink holds it's annual adult opens.

Well, congratulations in coming second. I'm entering it when Batikat does, at her club's Adult Opens (the biggest adult skating competition in the UK, taking 2 days and much looked forward to by all), but expect to come last, as I've never done a free programme before, either. Should be fun - they did it at the Dune of Flanders Cup in Dunkerque last year, and everybody loved it, even one quite senior skater whose mind went totally blank and he just stood there plucking at his sleeve and giggling. Which, of course, made everybody else laugh. Some folk, though, you'd have thought they had been skating that programme for the past year, so fluently and well did they do it.

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

I got my first gold medal ever this year.

Last night I also managed several right back inside threes on one foot. Which was more of a major accomplishment than I can say. I thought I'd never do those.

first...started working on throw triple sow yesterday and they were all clean on one foot with a landing edge of 2 ft in length before i fell hopefully today is the day

I had a first today - falling on a spin entry! Eek. I think I caught my toe. My backside didn't touch the ice though , just my hands and knees...

__________________
"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

I landed my first double/double combination today. It was a double sal/double loop, and I did 4 of them!

Camel-sit-layback combination.

I had first tried sit-layback 9 or 10 years ago when my camel spin was not at all consistent yet so camel combinations were out. I could do it, though not much better than the solo camel.

After I got a decent camel, some of the time at least, of course I switched to working on camel-sit (with or without change of foot) and camel-layback.

Today I tried the sit-layback again and it was not too hard at all as long as I kept the free leg in the layback low. So I decided to go for the three positions on one foot, and that worked OK too.

Now if only I could add on something better than a wimpy upright after a change of foot.

If you were doing camel-back sit before, why don't you try doing a back sit after the change of foot on the new combination? I wish I could do spins like that! Or if not, maybe try changing the back upright to a back attitude or a back scratch? It's worth experimenting anyway

__________________
"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

I was doing camel-sit to back sit. Forward sit to back sit is an easier change than forward camel to back sit and much easier than layback to back sit. Something to strive for eventually, though.

I tried the back attitude once from this combination; maybe with work I can get it less wimpy.

Hey congradulations! I landed my frist double/double a few days ago too. For me is was loop/2loop/2loop (ok, i guess technically is was single/double/double). I have been able to do a few each day (I usually have a small cheat on one of the jumps though...interestingly it's often the first 2loop that has the 1/4 turn cheat and then the second one is clean). I tried a double sal/ double loop at one point last week (that is what my coach wanted me to work on) but my 2sal is slightly over-rotated and so i can't get in the right position for 2loop on the landing.

I landed my first double toe for my coach yesterday. It was even amost fully rotated. Not too bad, considering until this week I hadn't even tried a double toe since January .

I landed my first loop/2loop/2toe and my first 2lutz/2toe today.

Landed a clean salchow for the first time that impressed my coach. Maybe now the fastest or the highest but it was a salchow.

Surprise was my first toeloop, which I just learned today.

__________________
Keeping School Figures Alive!!

How old are you?? Cuz I was working on the exact same jumps before summer started.. do you have any tips for me?

This week/Today's lesson:
First time landing loops, now consistant
First time doing a clean sit spin with more than 3 revolutions
First time landing half lutz, almost landing full lutzes!

__________________
"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

First time skating my new program clean. I finished a little behind the music but all of the elements were completed (only my 2nd runthrough with doubles)

I've just won my first medal (bronze) in this country, other than those medals won by default!

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

Congratulations, Annabel! Good for you.