My DH came up with a great way to work on this while trying to help me do any three turns at all. Position yourself at the boards to the left or right of any of the broad lines, with the distance to the line being the radius of the half circle you want to skate for your turn. Now do your turn exactly on the line. I'm always surprised that I turn early, but this exercise helps me judge where to turn, and it's easy to check your tracings.

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Diamonds:
Introduced the "Rule of 10" to one of my pre-teen students. Whenever I ask her to do ANYTHING to the right/CW direction, she literally skates away and tries to convince me to work on something else, which wastes lesson time. She did 10 side toe hops last night and each one was better than the last. When I asked her to "go the other way," she counted them out, one by one. Painful to watch, but effective. My second student showed up wearing a tiara. It was her 7th birthday - so cute! She was soooo chatty and giggly, I finally asked if they had cupcakes in school for her birthday. Yep - sugar rush! They were on their way to McD's for dinner (her choice). I told her to get milk or juice instead of soda. The poor parents!

Did a couple of little loops, both entrances. Okey-dokey.
Practiced edges and spirals.

Zircons:
Pulled that shoulder again practicing the loop.
Now the pain is more below the shoulder socket, in the arm.

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Diamonds-

Arm Position? What arm position?

Had my group lesson last night, a good portion of which was devoted to the instructor correcting our arm position for the waltz jump (darn waltz jump!! every time you *think* you have it down).

Then, my DS joins us for public session and DH and I are both telling him to watch his arms (he has awesome jumps but is really sloppy about his arm positions - a constant source of nagging from both us and his coach). Anyway, we get this priceless quote "first I have to get the feet right . . . then I will worry about the arms!!" (aha!!! now we understand!!). Not that I'm not totally sympathetic to his situation (his coach admitted the same) but we quickly explained to him that one does actually affect the other . . . LOL!

Ina Bauers and Spread Eagles - finally my tendency to turn out my hips PAYS OFF - we've only done these a couple of times & the instructor showed them to us again - I actually DID them!

Shoot the Duck - uh huh, that's right, a real honest-to-goodness shoot the duck pulled off by me during the public session - DS was trying to bully me into doing a sit spin and said "it's just like a shoot the duck" (um yeah, which I have never been able to do!) but I tried again, keeping in mind everything I know about body positioning for the sit spin - and it worked! (DS - "hey! that was low enough!" ). now . . . just to translate that into a spin!

Zircons- spins felt WEIRD last night . . . didn't push it too hard . . . maybe they'll be back next time!!

Diamonds:
I believe coach and I have finally figured out why my double toe is so uncomfortable. I had the skating foot turned over so that it was almost on an inside edge when I picked. Tried a few singles and one double while thinking about a really solid outside edge all the way through the take-off, and was instantly 100% more comfortable on the entrance. Now, if I can only keep that feeling everytime I try it...

Zircons:
Nasty cold/flu has left my sinuses and ended up in my lungs. I really wanted to run my freeskate today, but I could barely manage to make it through one jumping pass without cramping because I couldn't breathe.

Diamonds:
Well after watching my last practise program I decided that I will improve on that by focusing on 1) pointing my free leg on the landings 2) holding those spirals for the 3 seconds pleeaaase and to do the full beilman position... my half one looks really blah

So well, I managed 1) on the first jump and I managed 2) for my first spiral and I got into the full beilmann (with two hands and stuff but onyl held it for one second... )

I also realized that for flying sit, I have to straighten that free leg with probably about as much force and speed as I tuck it ... I have to try that mroe because it took me the whole sessino to figure that one out.

Zircons:
Everything else was bad. I have no idea why. Maybe because I wasn't watching inspirational skating videos the whole day, maybe I didnt sleep enough, maybe I didn't run through in my head well enough.

Anyways, so the ice was bad, there were alot more people on the ice today Including two pairs teams.. (yeah that usually makes me more nervous)

And the new skirt i was wearing was floating around too much and I didn't expect it to do that doh... so basicalyl it was shifting in the middle of my jumps and pulling my weight a round a little...

so i have been focusing on internal nervousness and practically didnt consider external distractions... have to think about focusing more now.

Also well my scrunchie holding my bun fell out after a hard fall and I wasted time picking it up, putting it on the sides before continuing my program but I was so thorougly distracted, and upset.. everything was messed up after... it took me the whole program to end before I realized I was just doing the wrong thing to give in after a mistake!!! Sheesh...

So well ... better next time XP

P.s. if my scrunchie falls out during competition (don't worry I plan to pin it down for that, I didnt pin it today ) am I supposed to go to the judges and get a restart so I can remove the scrunchie from the ice safely?

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Tidesong

I've never seen that done, most everyone just makes sure they stay away from it.

j

Normally you just continue on, try to avoid the item, and retrieve it from the ice when you complete your program.

If the referee for the event sees it and deems it to be a hazard to the continuance of your program, s/he may whistle for you to stop and call you over and explain why the whistle. In which case, after the skater complies with the referee's instruction, normally the referee will advise the music player to restart the music from just before the point at which it was halted, and instruct the judges as to what to disregard and where to start judging again.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

I'm glad I'm not the only one to have trouble. I could have sworn, from what I could see (without looking down too much) that my body was at the top of the circle.... perhaps I lean forward even more than I think I do!

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

It's very common. And even more so on the back 3's.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

Hey, I'm coming to that test session to watch a friend skate, so maybe I'll get to see you skate, too! Good luck!

As for me, not skating, but I can walk without limping most of the time now, and just the other day I found that I can walk all the way up and down stairs in my house without the cane and stepping down with each foot alternating! Hooray! Just in time for surgery to remove the screws from my ankle! Actuallly, it will be 3 or 4 weeks before that happens, so I'll just try to get stronger. They did tell me I could skate, but not while I'm on the blood thinners...

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August 22, back on the ice!

On the subject of trouble with three turns, I saw a woman doing a FI three at the boards, touching her free foot lightly to the ice just before the turn, and holding the FI edge until she was almost at the wall. This is so exactly what I do that I took a chance and asked her if she was scared of the FI threes. She was, and now I know I'm not the only one to fear them and do that annoying little toe tap first.

Congratulations on being able to do the stairs as usual again! It won't be too much longer now before you're back on the ice.

Diamonds:
Power threes are still there! Made myself do the Prelim FXO and BXO patterns as if I were testing. Now that I have hope with the three turns, I'm going to get the patterns I can already do as solid as possible. Again skated the Prelim spiral pattern without the spirals and still got around, although the ice being pretty chopped up, it wasn't so easy as yesterday on clean ice. Got 5 revs on a one foot spin from T push, and "Ta Da", got a full rev twice on my brand new backspin.

Zircons:
Power threes are still painfully slow, and I had to slow down my good side to get it working. Bad side was recalcitrant, but was actually smoother than good side once I have it going. Caught the BO edge on one backspin attempt, which did scare me a little, and was a reminder to take it easy. Not sure if I actually did 10 FI threes on each foot, so I must start counting or I know I'll stop too soon. Even if I can get the going one at a time from the wall to the wall, with a nice sized lobe, as soon as I try consecutive ones on the line, as in the test pattern, I wimp out. Part of the problem is getting a proper push for the next one.

Emeralds:
The young coach who has been teaching a tot on the public session I go to on Tue & Thurs turned out to be Sydne Vogel! She was quite nice, and we skated around and chatted a while. She's now 27 and is pre-med at Brooklyn College, on her way to becoming an orthopedic surgeon. Of course she still floats effortlessly across the ice.

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I managed to hit the freestyle session today, if only for an hour but it was a good hour as this session is typically empty!!!

Diamonds: Spins are finally working, if I relax and concentrate. Managed to do the exercise coach gave me and knocked out 5 that centered for about 5-6 revs before traveling. Backspins-managed to hit about 2-3 revs on the ones I did. Waltz jump is good if I slow down and concentrate. New toe-loop combo is cool as is the other combo jump.

Zircons: loops. no news there. Waltz-loop combo...I'm only getting around 1/2 way on the loop part of it and flat-footing the landing. Of course, I was tired because I was out all day....but that's only an excuse not a good reason.

Someone suggested going into the harness for the loop...that's not really an option. My coach does not believe in the harness PLUS my rink closes on the 15th of April...So, unless I can do this somewhere else, it ain't happening!

I have the application for the adult seminar at Mt. Pleasant in June. I might take a private lesson this year and hit spins and the loop. Maybe. We'll see.

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

@jskater49 and jenlyon: ok thanks, I guess its different because I was on a rather crowded session in practise so I was afraid someone else would trip over it, but in competition I should be fine since I know where I dropped the scrunchie. So I just keep skating unless the referee blows the whistle yah... ok cool.

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Tidesong

You certainly aren't! And what is even more annoying is when you can do them absolutely perfectly (well, not quite, but you know what I mean) with your hand just resting lightly on that of your coach, which is what happened to me today. But can I do them without? You guess!

Diamonds: Had a really good lesson today, breakthrough on why I cross my legs so badly - we think I'm trying to cross them too high; I should just think of my calf touching my shin. And worked hard on stepping to forward and keeping my weight in the right place. Coach also explained about turning at the top of the lobe - he said that when your eyes tell you that you're in the right place, it's time to prepare the turn, not time to do it! By the time you're ready to turn, you will be in the right place!

Zircons: The afore-mentioned inside 3s. The fact that I can turn relatively good BO 3s with my foot on the heel of my skating foot, but not with it in front, which is what you are supposed to do for this test.

Although if you were doing a programme run-through during a lesson, your coach should probably have gone and picked it up for you, to save you having to stop. That's what mine would have done.

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

Diamonds: Lesson went well yesterday. Program is getting better. Apparently my jumps are leaving the ice (well my salchow, half-flip and waltz, which are my program jumps and I'm working on the most) which is more than I expected. I did a few really good one-foot spins.

Zircons: Once again I got sick on the weekend. Apparently I carry all my stress throughout the week and manage to get ill every Sunday because of it. So Sunday is no longer my skating day. The LTS director told me that because I'm helping LTS now I can get into public and freestyle sessions free, it originally was just public, so I think I'll give the wed. afternoon freestyle session a try. I'm scared of freestyle still, and its immediatly after work so I won't get a chance to take a break and have a snack, but its ice time and we'll see how it goes.

Other Zircon- why can't I do a scratch spin yet? I'm getting 5-10 revolutions on the one footed spin, depending on the entrance, but I can't seem to get the fan entrance to crossed leg at all!

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I'll be the only adult (and only man) among a swarm of little girls on that test block, so I'll be easy to spot. It seems like everybody and her sister decided to test the preliminary and pre-bronze dances this session.

For yesterday:

An unexpected diamond: As mentioned in "Sneaking Out of Work", I went out to the public session at lunch at the local rink yesterday. There were no kids in rental skates using "walkers" at all, and most of the mere dozen or so people were practicing figure skating. I think the ice guard had the only pair of hockey skates out there. It felt like a freestyle session, at half the price.

Zircons: I just wish that I could figure out what the problem with the fiesta is. Tomorrow I bite the bullet and use both coaches (primary and back-up) at once, one to skate with and one to watch--since whatever the problem is, it seems to be caused by partnering issues, and that's one bit where your lady coach can't see what you're doing.

Son has school functions in the afternoon all week, so he requested to skate a couple of mornings. It takes me a good while to warm up at the 0550 session, but it's otherwise not a bad way to start the day.

Rob

It was during an "ice time" where coaches weren't allowed on the ice.

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Tidesong

sk8pics - Good progress, hang in there! You'll be back on the ice before you know it - have fun at the test session.

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh Rob, and have a great skate at your t-e-s-t session. (It's a four-letter word, donchaknow?)

Zircons:
The usual imperfect crossovers are slooooowly improving. Now the back ones are killing me - I'm terrified of hitting the wall on the Prel bxo circles. It's really a mental block more than a skating skills block.

I did do the transitions correctly. (YAY - I can move my head and body separately again!) When I pointed it out, my coach laughed and said, "That's right: once you've fixed one thing, I move onto others!" LOL

Loops - not keeping the free foot in front enough. sigh.
Humorous moment: It's comical to see someone hit their foot loudly against the wall, but hold their shoulder in pain. LOL

Prel MITF spiral patterns - THUNK!

Diamonds:
Waltz jumps are improving, have to square the shoulders a bit more on takeoff.

Managed to squeak out a few good waltz-toe loops. Too bad I need waltz-LOOP for the next test.

Scratch spins - getting better at the position; had to switch from keeping the left shoulder back (CCW) to keeping the right shoulder back. Very different feeling, might explain why I've been on such a deep outside edge. Managed to get out of a few, but not many.

Sit spin - Coach made me admit that the sit spin was faster if I go in lower at the start. Yes, it is - there, I've said it publicly.
But I still like my upright-to-sit spin, though. (Is that a valid combo?)

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Diamonds

Toe loop scoming along quite nicley, I'm definately doing most of the turning on ice, with little air time, but I've got the technique down. Is it cheating if I pick more behind my left leg so it's easier to cross in front when I draw it back?

Ever since I started working on toe loops, my waltz jumps have improved.

My program's been upgraded..where I did a half lutz, a couple of step behinds then half flip- it's now half - lutz, mazurka, half flip. You know what the hardest part of that sequence is - the darn 3 turn before the mazurka!Why do you have to be going backward to do a mazurka anyway?

And my waltz jump toe tap is now waltz toe-loop-toe tap

Working on moves, I think I did 3 lobes, but they were big enough that they covered the length of the rink.

Zircons - worked on power 3s... I just do not want to hold that edge long enough to put the turn on top of the lobe.

dusted off the 5 step mohawk -- bwahahahaa..they aren't zircons - they are cheap glass!

j

j

Maaaaaaybe; which way do you turn - CW or CCW?)
#10. Because there's more of a chance of planting a "nosey posey" patch if you do it from a forward edge.
#9. The stand-still one isn't as interesting. (I feel like David Letterman)
#8. It's a starter exercise for more involved jumps.
#7 - anyone?

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Diamonds:
Did waltz jumps - finally got back my kick thru.
Loop and Flip made its appearance this morning! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!

Zircons:
Lutz entry.... ummmm...

Funny note of the day:
Secondary coach asks "So how's your personal training coming along?" I told her the assignment that he asked me to do, which was to measure my resting pulse rate. (Take a pulse in the morning right after I wake up.) When I got to bed and did it on a test run (so I can find my pulse, which is ridiculously difficult for me to find... am I really alive there??? ), it was at 60. I also woke up in a cold sweat and my nerves were really shaky (it's always that way on the days that I have to get up to go to my lesson...) The pulse rate? 66!!! (I think I better tell my trainer that I want a do-over since I did wake up with nerves shot up to Hades b/c of secondary coach.)

Needless to say, secondary coach thought it was funny that I wake up in fear of her for our lessons. She's glad that I'm pretty healthy given my pulse rate, but said that her resting is pretty bad. When she told me hers, I said "OMG! That's higher than mine AFTER I'm done working out!!!"

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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!!!

How is your Choctaw (the step forward)? I've recently found (since I've only recently been able to do it at all ) that getting a real push there helps a lot in placing the three properly. I'm still a bit early on the R, but the left is really bad, as that is the one where I have the most trouble with the Choctaw.

Since I'm working on Prelim, not Adult Bronze, I don't have to torture myself with the 5 step yet, although I have in the past. I'm not going to go back to it until I have more confidence on the LFI Mohawks. Have you tried just doing each side by itself on a circle?

Today is my rest day, back to practice tomorrow and then lesson on Friday. Time to hit the Nordic Track, barf.

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Okay I'm trying to imagine the clock...um...I jump the direction most people jump - I pick with my left foot, draw the right foot back , crossing in front of the left before I kick forward...seems easier to do that if the picking foot is already a little behind the right foot. If I shouldn't do that, I'll stop before my coach scolds me in my next lesson! That will teach me to get bright ideas on my own!

I know, I know...because Joelle needs to work on her 3 turns?

j

Definitely a zircon week ...

Normally Monday is a lovely focussed day, clean ice, other than a few holes from senior practice beforehand, and less than a dozen skaters for three lovely hours. This week though, we were beset by a group of 'large' gentlemen, I presume from the building site next door. A couple of them could skate, the others were seriously out of control, and one even barged through a friend and I, as we were stroking around and chatting.
Today transpired to be disappointing too. As I approached the rink, I saw what appeared to be hundreds of school children outside the rink. Well the session is called 'schools out' and is primarily targetted for that purpose. I forgot this is the last wednesday before the school holidays, anyhow they hit the ice like a nest of baby spiders. To compound the problems, there had been a cooling plant failure, and the ice was mush. The rink was just about holding -3C, and there was a film of water on the ice. Even the paint markings for the hockey had started to bleed out ... so nothing adventurous was tackled today.
No more wonderful ice now until after the Easter school holidays, I will have to employ myself in other ways ... at least I have a 5 day leisure trip to Luxembourg for the Easter week

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UK Passport (figure)
Bronze : PASSED 13-Oct-07 Woohoo
Silver: PASSED 08-Dec-07 Yippee
Gold: Backspin PASSED One Foot Spin ____ Toe Loop ____ Programme ____
The impossible is just a journey away ...

For me, it is the mohawk itself...I rush it, like I rush my 3 turn I want to get it over with...I need to just work on holding an edge - particularly on my right foot. I've been told, I actually do the rest of the moves pretty well, but ya know, actually doing the mohawk, kind of crucial..

Oh yea, I spend more time on the circle than on pattern

Sigh. I just keep reminding myself that if I want to get any further in dance or freestyle, I have to be able to do mohawks and 3 turns

j