Debbie -- sounds painful! (And eww, drainage!)

It feels better today. I'll get the MRI results on Monday. I'm crossing my fingers that all they saw on the X-ray was a big bruise or something!

By the way, I really enjoy reading about what you all are up to. It seems like there are a lot of adult skaters on here, and I love the way you all support one another in your progress -- whether it's learning three-turns or the Silver Samba or the flying camel!

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Here's a good trick: Get a job as a judge at the Olympics. Then, if some guy sets a world record, pretend that you didn't see it and go, "Okay, is everybody ready to start now?".
- Jack Handey

Well, Thursday (Nov. 13, 2003) was my first day skating on the Pre-
Sectional/Sectional ice. All the skaters and the coaches were very
friendly. When I ran through my program and the kids and the coaches
saw the speed and accracy I had in my program (didn't do a flip,
loop, backspin or camel spin though), they were surprised and were
cheering me on from the moment they saw how I handled the first part
on my diagonal straightly footwork to the fast part of When You
Believe where there are kids singing in Jewish. As the music got
faster and faster and louder and louder, I got faster and faster
doing open mohawhs, 3 turns, rockers (yes, I just learned them in my
last lesson last Friday.)and backwards Yagudin toe picking crisscross
footwork into (what do you call them) things where you are constantly
turning spining and traveling on two feet and sort of jump with each
turn into a one foot forward spin. I had everyone sold that I could
skate good enough to be on their ice even though I have yet to pass
my preliminary FS test. My coach didn't show up because she had a
previously made appointment before I was switched to the Presectional
ice.

Friday (Nov. 14, 2003) wasn't as great. I had to restart my program
because right out of the gate someone was in my path and it through
off my opening alternating back crosscuts into my toe loop. Second
time was better but at one point I was a smidgen behind my music but
somehow, I'm always too far ahead at the end of the piece and have to
through in an extra spin. I need to get working on a layback for the
last spin on my interpretive (When You Believe). My coach didn't show
up Thursday because she had a previously made appointment before I
was switched to the Presectional ice. I found this out when she came
in to my work place to shop and to set up a tape saving thing at my
store for Club Tecumseh. Friday, I don't know why she was late and I
didn't get a lesson. I'm thinking that my coach might need to drop me
and switch me to another coach because I'm her only skater on the
presectional ice. Maybe Marylin? She's a friend of my friend, Marj
who I hang out with alot.

Actually, Marylin taught my stroking session today in place of Brook
Coatsworth who at the moment is in 4th place at the WOS Sections in
Senior Ladies. Marylin saw my forward swing rolls and said that they
were to die for. Now if I could just get my backward swing rolls like
that. I've been cutting corners on the backward ones and really
messing them up. She worked on them with me. If I can get those fixed
soon, then I can work on the Swing Dance and Willow and maybe pass
those in addiction to Baby Blues and Fiesta Tango.

Then, I got to teach my choreographer's students because he wasn't
there on time. One was a no show, so I only had two of them. One was
a preprelim skater and one was an upper level CanSkater. Both were on
the Junior ice that on which I use to skate.

With the preprelim skater, I worked on her forward spirals, forward
outside 3 turns, waltz jumps from a stand still, waltz jumps
preceeded by LFO 3 turn to backward two foot glide into the waltz
jump, then forward inside 3 turn, then toe loop jump.

Then it was time to move onto the CanSkater. With her I worked on
forward crossovers around a hockey circle trying to get her not to
lean over too much and to keep her skates parrallel. Then we worked
on backward crossovers. She needs lots of work. She kept on crossing
her foot over and putting it at a 90 degree angle. Then I had her
work on alternating forward two foot turns with closed mohawks down
the length of the ice. She had no idea that she was doing the
mohawks. I just told her to step forward after every turn to get to
the next turn. Then I had her do two foot guides into jumping from
forward to backwards and then from backward to forwards on two feet.
She had a little trouble doing the backwards to forwards because she
kept spreading her feet too far apart. It was then that I found out
that the last lesson wasn't there so I went back with the CanSkater
and worked on her two foot spins (She's a CW skater, so I had to spin
CW. What a challenge with me being a CCW skater.) It took several
tries but she finally got two rotations. Then I asked her if she
wanted to learn to spin on one foot. First I tried to get her to do
just the one foot spin but found out she wasn't ready for it. So then
I went back to the two foot spin and asked her to lift up her left
foot. I did it too, CW. One time she got one rotation on the one
foot. Wonder what Sean will say when he finds out what I was
teaching them? Last thing we worked on were outside edges after
having her find them around the hockey circle. I had her try
alternating outside forward edges down the length of the rink. She
got about halfway and then was tuckered out. I think she's never
worked that hard before.

You know assisting coach has made me realize all the stuff I already
can do in skating and took for granted. Never realized I could do so
much before. Ah, I love to teach skating. Just got to get all my
jumps up to an axel, flying sit, layback, skating skills 6, intro
interpretive FS and junior dances and I will have my CanSkate
Coaching thingy. Yeah, I know I have to do the two day siminar too.

Brigitte

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

Mrs. Redboots, I wish our rink would play all the dance music. I skate on a test session, so the music played is whatever being worked on, and once the skater passes it, they never do it again. No one does the Dutch Waltz just for fun, and no one today could remember the steps to the Canasta Tango (there was other tango music playing, I figured I'd do a dance that I could do). Part of it is because it's a test session but everyone waits for "their music" and fools about until it's on.

Terrific: Lesson this week was mohawks and 3 turns and the preliminary test patterns, just for fun. We were all tired of doing 3 turns in a line so it was fun to learn the pattern, and my 3 turns are better in the pattern because I'm doing them with more speed. More speed is frightening but not so much if it's in a pattern or dance, strangely.

Trouble: back inside edges, oh my lobes are teeny.

teriffic: i only have like 12s left in my solo, so thats pretty good

trouble: my skates are totally dull. i did program assisting for canskate on friday, and it was nuts. there was 6 kids, all in different levels, and i was the only program assistant. finally my friend decided to come out and help!

Ah, this was at our dance club. Maybe you could get your club to have the occasional dance interval?

Today's practice was very different. First we worked on our pivot-spiral and found, to our horror, that we couldn't do back crossovers in unison, but our coach, when we got to our lesson, said this was very common and showed us what we were doing wrong. In our lesson, we worked on our Tango - now known as Interpretive Pairs, but it's still the basic OD it always was! Then we worked on the Rhythm Blues, and then the Swing Dance, but we didn't get to do that to the music.

In Robert's lesson, he worked on the Foxtrot with his coach and I was delighted (being *****y!) to find that she also had trouble with his partnering, so it's not just me! He also worked on his Hickory and Swing Dance solo, but only got to do the Hickory to the music.

Afterwards, we were just going to get off when a Samba was played, so we had a go at the dumbed-down version, which is fun, but we haven't got it quite right yet.

But in our sessions, nobody waits for their music, but gets on with it - and hopefully gets a go at the music at some stage during the session.

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

Once again, my coach could not make it to our regular time, and I had to have my lesson on a public session. It wasn't crowded, but the ice was soft and pretty chopped up, making it very slow. I'm glad she is able to fit me in at the public session though, because she is usually booked solid. Someone else's injury is my bit of luck

Terrible
I'm only getting to skate for myself once or twice a week, which is just not enough, but I have to get myself out of my house and moved!
Still struggling mentally with three turns, both FO and FI. I'm back to doing them two footed, but I think this time it may really help, as I have some new perspective on it.

teriffic
My power pulls are actually getting better and better. Today I learned how to change feet, which is part of the pattern.

Both F and B cross strokes are also doing very nicely, and coach complimented the B ones! Thank goodness I have a few moves that aren't falling apart and that I can still enjoy.

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TERRIFIC

I have found a new coach and have my first lesson on 3rd December ..... I have yet to find a Dance coach though!

x

__________________

The best whisper is a click

Yippee, glad for you!!

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Oh, brilliant! We won't be at Dance Club that night, but we might well start coming again in the New Year, we'll see. Hope you start to love the sport again.

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