the guy at the store was all like,
"These have never been sharpened, right?"
(me) "Yeah they have... with a machine thing though, automatically"
"Where did you get these skates?"
(me) "Sweden"
"I hope they were cheap."
(me) "Yeah..."


not very reassuring is it?? but my new hollow is 7/16 (centimetres???? don't think that there's such a measurement in inches) because apparently my old hollow was really shallow. however, I have been skating ok even on an apparently rubbish hollow. is 7/16 ok for a SkateUK grade 6? I am hoping that a deeper hollow will improve the quality of my edges and allow me to do great 3 turns... what do you think?
I will find out on Monday, anyway! hope I don't fall over with a new hollow...

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You will certainly notice a difference, especially if you've not been having a sharpening very often. Hope you skate better on them - you should do!

Nicki

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www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

That measurement is inches. If you think about it, you'll realize that 8/16" is one half inch, which is the usual hollow for recreational and low to medium level freestyle skating. More advanced freestyle skaters often use a 3/8" hollow, which is the same as 6/16", so your new 7/16" hollow is right in between them.

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The 7/16" ROH will definitely make your edges grip the ice better, but there are times when you want the blades to grip the ice (on hard ice, and on deep edges and crossovers) and times when you don't (on a slightly under-rotated turn or on a T stop). You'll probably need a bit of an adjustment period, but an hour or two of skating on them should dull them down a bit as well as getting you used to the new feel.

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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

Thanks dbny Now you've said that 8/16 is normal for recreational, I think that 7/16 will be great for my level of figure. I'll probably go a liitle deeper when I'm on to Silver/Gold SkateUK... depends. anyway, will update this thread on Monday after my skating session thanks everyone

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oh lordy i stepped out on to the ice and i couldn't stop!!! because i usually do a snowplough or a backwards snowplough, but i couldn't do them on the new hollow!!! i had to resort to t-stops and dragging my blades across the ice to dull them a little bit. I even walked on the rink floors without my guards because I needed to dull them so much,

towards the end of the session, i could sort of stop again and even tried spins. well i have never been great at those, but now I've completely lost it. lordy.... i need to practise LOTS.

on the bright side i can now do a 3-jump (or at least a jump that resembles it vaguely. i taught myself so i'm not sure. but it's so COOL to just jump off the ice and LAND again, properly) woooooo.

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Don't worry. It's perfectly normal to be unable to stop on newly sharpened blades. Another skate or two and you'll be stopping just fine again.

Nicki

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www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

I surely understand too sharp skates!

That's great you can do the 3-jump, it's lots of fun. It's just like a waltz jump, except you land on the same foot you took off from - or it is like a 3 turn with a jump turn in the middle. Now, just for fun, try what my "cruel coach" taught me - try it both ways! I thought my coach was nuts, but the result is that I can now do both the 3-jump AND the waltz jump both clockwise and counter-clockwise.

Have fun!
Marcia

No, in the UK a 3-jump is what you in the USA call a waltz jump. We have several significant differences in terminology, including that one, and various others. A toe-loop is a cherry flip, but mostly people say "double toe". Similarly, camel spin is a parallel spin, but we still say flying camel! A shoot the duck is a teapot here, and a lunge is a drag (and I can't do it, whatever you care to call it!).

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

[quote=Mrs Redboots;310090]No, in the UK a 3-jump is what you in the USA call a waltz jump. quote]

are you sure? because I thought that in a walktz jump your legs go in akinda split position, but not in a 3 jump? or maybe im just doing it wrong... lol...

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My coach actually has been weaning me off a deep hollow because he would like me to bend my knees more to hold the ice and he'd like me to spin better. I am now on a 1/2" hollow and my spins are so much faster and it's easier to turn. I don't like it when the skates are so sharp that you can't stop. The man who sharpens my blades always does them perfect. I can usually do a program runthrough right away, but may catch a bit on back sitspins right after a sharpening.
Peanutskate, you will have to find a balance between security on landing jumps on deep hollows, and being able to spin on shallower hollows.

Thanks for the terminology difference lesson! That is very good information. I publish, edit, and write my club's newsletter, and this will make a great article to put in there.

Another difference in terminology which gave me a headache for quite a long time is/are twizzles. The hourglass shaped move is called a fish in the UK, although I believe there is also a dance move called a twizzle? (please someone put me out of my misery !).

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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 ...

Here's an earlier thread that you can use for your article, Petlover.

Language Barrier

Derek: Twizzles are definitely dance moves.

The hourglass push-glides are called (US) swizzles or (US-ISI/Canada) sculling.
I never knew they were called "Fish" in the UK - I went to a coaches' conference where a lecturer "drew" fish pictures on the ice with his blade for his students to follow. (He was good, too - three heel cuts and a stab in a flash!)

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Actually, my coach calls them "lemons" - I don't think they have an official name here, but usually either "fishies", "lemons" or "swizzles". The other one that has several names is where you scrunch down, but instead of sticking one foot out in a teapot, you hug your knees. My coach calls this "little man", but my first coach called it "mushrooms".

Well, the good jumpers tend to look as though they're doing the splits when they do a 3-jump, but the wimps like me don't.....

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

Thanks for explaining that ... I have come across the lemons term too.

As for confusing Twizzles/Swizzles, I will put this down to a senior moment ... actually, I find being confused almost as easy as falling over, and getting easier every day.

PS I am a wimp too.

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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 ...

And to make things more complicated, the Dutch call the 3-jump/waltz jump a "cadet" (or kadet? I'm not sure how to write it).

But then, we call the toe-loop a "spot" or a "cherryflip"... LOL!