Hehehe...recent threads inspired this title....

Supported - Coach said I had no reason to be disappointed in my performance last night - that it was the first time I looked comfortable throughout a program and it flowed really well.

Her student didn't show up so I took a lesson after Power class - that way I can take my Wednesday 5:45 am session off - it's supposed to snow Tuesday night anyway.

We worked on back cross strokes...I actually think I'm going to get these - probably even before forward. They had scared me until I realized you don't actually put your foot down behind your leg...I just have to remember to finish the first edge and, sit back and make sure all the weight is on the back leg before picking up the other foot.

Hanging loose - she had me go over back grapevines...which I always get my feet stuck. That is a combination of leaning too forward and we realized my left foot is lazy and doesn't like to do it's share. Even backward swizzles, it doesn't do much.

Onto my backward spiral. She asked me if they hurt my back. Yes. No wonder...I do not lower my back enough and yet I manage to get my leg up. So we worked on trying to get my back lower. It just doesn't want to go down.

Well supported: 2nd chorography lesson went very well. We didn't get too much further although we made a few changes more to the beginning and I now have a new and very edgy footwork sequence. It's not terribly hard but I'll have to really work in it. Footwork is NOT my strong suit!! I will be practicing it a lot tomorrow!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

Well Supported: I got 2 rotations on my backspin today - 1st time I've ever gotten more than 1 shaky one *AND* my coach said I am THISCLOSE to landing my loop and flip.

Hanging Loose: I only got 2 rotations on my backspin today and I have yet to get my loop and flip! Just kidding...I have been depressed about my skating and today was the first morning in about 2 months that I felt good about the new things I am learning. I guess practice actually DOES help!

Thread title nearly caused me to spray the screen with water.....

Well Supported: Awesome cross-rolls this morning! Even the coach was pleased. And Husband and I actually managed several figure 8s of back crossovers hand in hand for the first time ever.

Hanging loose: We took a tumble on our pivot spiral; no harm done, only he forgot to help me up. "Not a gentleman!" said everybody!

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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!

dbny, I WANNA HUG YOU! From a couple of weeks ago when I was asking about skate warmers:

Well it was more like 4 minutes in my microwave and 1/2 a bag of rice in each sock, but THAT'S HEAVEN!

We have been in a cold spell like -29C outside, -45C with windchill, and I KNEW the rink was going to be bitter today so I made up the sock-things last night, heated them this morning and put them in my boots. Two hours later when I was booting-up ......

Well Supported: OH MY! Warm feet! - they were the only part of me that was warm and I only lasted 30 minutes (before my calves started to cramp) but it worked like a charm.

Hanging Loose: I am still skating, just not posting much, having made the decision to skip Nationals this year because of the cost.

Well Supported: Everything continues to progress well - spins, spirals (even a catch-foot when my knees aren't frozen!).

Hanging Loose: Didn't even try jumps this morning. It was so cold I was afraid I would shatter if I fell LOL!

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

Support - Had our show on Sunday, and it was lots of fun. The most difficult part was the costume changes. I was in three numbers, and they were all in a row with a slight pause inbetween the first and second, and second and third.
the first number was 8 adults, then the 25 or so adults and the 20 kids, then our artistic pair number. At one point I was going out of the dressing room and I noticed I had my dress on backwards. Quick change, and ran out and stepped on the ice with my partner. We had a great time. He was also in all numbers and so we were warm! It was also great to see Mika there!

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

<snort> at the thread title!

Well supported: Good practice today with working on Bronze moves, getting more comfortable with the Cha Cha, and working on ISI FS2 and FS3 elements. Definitely less wobbly on moves than last practice. 1-footed spin is coming. . . Also actually landed some (wimpy) CW salchows & toe loops, which I haven't even tried in a couple of months--wimpy & very little air, but flow on the landing!

Hanging loose: Fourth step of 5-step mohawk!!! Just having a heck of a time getting a good solid outside edge and I could hear coach saying "no, no, no, no, no!" in my head.
For tweaking program to bring it up to FS2, I really do need to bring my MP3 player to the rink with me (duh).

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

Ah yea of smutty mind! You took it the same way I did

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

I think it was meant that way, given certain threads that have been popular this week....

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

Remember the Disney movie The Jungle Book and how Baloo the bear would scratch his back on a tree by rolling around on it while standing up? That's what you should feel like when taking that fourth edge on the 5-step mohawk sequence. As silly as you may feel, thinking of rolling your back against a tree (actually the circle you're skating) will help you maintain a strong outside edge without subcurves since you will automatically continue the back outside edge of the third step to the forward outside edge of the fourth step.

To get comfortable feeling this motion, try working at the boards first, especially in an area where you have the glass to feel against your back. Stand on your back outside edge like you would if you were skating the third step (extending the free leg and the arms) with your back balancing against the wall. Bring your feet closer together and roll your back against the glass until you hit a forward outside edge with free leg and arm extension. You can lean up against the glass if need be (to help you balance). Just make sure you feel that rolling motion.

Once you feel comfortable at the boards, try breaking this down by slowly skating the 5-step mohawk on one of the hockey circles, making sure that your third and fourth steps transfer directly over the circle. Gradually work up to speed on the move's regular pattern with an even cadance after you get the right edges on the hockey circle.

I never got on a good outside edge for that step. All the trouble I had with mohawks themselves and that turned out to be my worst step. I did pass them though...not to give you permission...but I still struggle with that.

j

Well Supported:

Forward spins were great, still traveling a bit, but not too bad. Sit spins were low, but without a good warmup, I didn't fool with clean exits.

Spirals were steady and swift; thanks to freshly-cut ice.
Three-turns and brackets are getting there with some much better control. Still wobbly on the exit edges, but I have speed and control, so I'm not complaining.

Jumps were good; didn't try anything fancy since I only had a half-hour of ice.

Hanging Loose:

My backspins are coming back, but I'm still digging in with the toepick a bit. Still, no scraping and I'm not afraid of the entrances anymore. I like the new, shorter blades!

I've noticed that I need to shoulder-check backspins as I would for a jump. I never had to think about it before, but it's good practice for jumps so I'll let it go for a while and see if I get more control. Did several excellent back scratch spins with clean one-foot exits, so I'm not complaining.

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well-supported:
Discovered the secret of good jumps this week - relaxing into them and not stressing about them. Of course this only seems to work the first time I do it as then I start thinking too much about what I'm doing and it all goes to pot again. Still I managed a few good loops and loop-loops, an awesome Flip-toeloop and even my current nemesis (which coach has put in my programme) the salchow-loop! Whether I'll ever manage them again is another matter of course.

I'm also making good progress on the backspin. I can now get a fairly consistent 3 revs with good entry and exit so just need to work on the extra revs. And I even managed an entire length of the nasty level 5 final field move - an evil combination of FO3 turn, cross in front, cross behind into back outside 3 turn and keep holding the edge til you can put other foot down on outside edge and repeat on other foot

Also did quite a bit of couples dance practice and the basics are improving quite well at present. I remembered the ending for the back crossover figures of 8 exercise this week so didn't go flying like last week. I love the 'forward runs in circle, hold and change edge' exercise in butterfly hold (the Titanic exercise) as you can really get some speed up with two of you which is fun. Inside swing rolls in hold seem to about the worst thign at present but did manage to get a rip sound to at least one of them. As someone who really doesnt enjoy compulsory dance I' was surprised how much fun it is when there are two of you, as well as how different it is to skating the dances solo.

hanging loose: probably lots of things but I've really enjoyed my skating this week so didn't notice too many loose ends!

Well Supported--

Spent all of my lesson (half my time on the ice) on the Blues today. Choctaw is getting better as long as I just relax and don't overthink and overmuscle it...all I'm doing is making more work for myself. Did a decent pattern with my coach at the end of my lesson.

Really sore and tired today and my knees hurt (I've been hitting the gym/rink hard the past 2 weeks) so I didn't work on axels or much jumping at all, although I played around with doing a LFO rocker into a lutz, it's fun...not pretty yet and somewhat challenging, but if I work on it it's totally worth adding into my free program.

Did a few good flying camels today, and a few really nice laybacks.

Stormy you're totally right about the LFO 3 turn into the camel spin. I did that a few times, I check into it much better and actually manage to rotate faster.

Nothing was really bad today, I was just tired.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

Thanks! I"ll try that. Coach has been saying keep the shoulders & hips open but it just hasn't quite gotten there yet. Been practicing these a LOT on the circles, and while step 4 isn't *way* off, it's not very solid. So, 'Balooing' I will go. Probably onto my rear a few times but waht the hey. What you're saying makes sense, though--I've been trying to get the shoulders going and the 'rolling' might be just the trick I need.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

Well Supported:
Waltz jump and Salchows are fine.

Hanging Loose:
My toe-waltzing in the middle of the lesson.

Well Supported:
My TOE LOOP at the beginning and end of the toe loop segment of the lesson. And one more exercise to practice to make sure I get the draw after the toe pick hints the ice but not turn before I jump. (Hopefully just in time for my NYC coach to look at them again. )

One side of the forward cross stroke is good...

Hanging Loose:
...the other side...ummm... NOT so good! Need to get off that toe pick on the stroke itself. And just to make sure I *get* it, my choreographer was "made aware" of this issue and said "Please work with her on this too!!!"

Choreographer shot me his "sadist coach" look after the chat with my secondary coach. Should be fun tomorrow... GULP!!!

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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!!!

I tried it and went flying!

Well supported: Exactly the right words, because my new boots are awesome. My double sals have improved tenfold - I'm straight in the air, I'm getting good height, I'm rotating (but until my butt hits the ice). I just need to get that extra snap to the jump so I have time to find the ice and check out. Whee!

Hanging loose: The tongues on my boots are twisting. Spins have been somewhat of a hot mess because I don't have enough ankle bend yet, and I don't even want to think about moves.

Glad to help, and I'll take that hug! I haven't tried this, but saw someone put the chemical handwarmers on the toes of their boots. I think they taped them on, but you could probably put them under boot covers too. You might eke out an extra half hour that way.

Well supported:
Got nabbed by an ice dancer I know, who decided I should learn a few dances. I had just stepped on the ice and begged to warm up first. We did the Dutch Waltz, Swing Dance, Canasta Tango, Cha Cha, and Rhythm Blues. It was a bit odd skating with someone telling me the steps as we went along, and we were far from on pattern or even on time, but it was fun and I'll probably do it again - but will have to review the dance diagrams first. Most difficult was that he counted out loud, and used a different style than I do, so I had to listen to his count but do my own silently. I liked the Swing Dance the best, and love how easy mohawks and threes are with a partner, even though it's just the touch of a hand.

Hanging Loose:
Don't know what was wrong, besides maybe being tired, but nothing else I did worked after the dancing. Freaked on the second FI three I tried, although the first was fine. Could not bring myself to do any more .

Edited to add: OMG, I want to dance!

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Maybe you're just not cool like Stormy & I

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

Good practice for finally doing a CCW flying camel like I'm supposed to!!

Well supported
-Landed 2lutz 2loop AND 2lutz 2toe! I'm really bad at using 2toe as the second jump of combos, so even though 2lutz 2loop is more difficult in theory, landing 2lutz 2toe was much more exciting.
-2axels are getting oh so close. I fully rotated one, then promptly fell over in surprise. I was practically hyperventilating out of frustration/excitement/anticipation.
-Juv moves are feeling really good. Double 3s used to be a hard move for me, but today, as I finished them, my coach called my name. I wasn't in a lesson, she was just watching. I started to skate over, figuring she had a correction for me, but instead she stared clapping I actually quite like that move now. 8-step has good flow now, too.

Hanging loose
-My coach was snowed in today. In Southern California. Snowed in.
-Still having a bit of trouble on the 8-step occaisonally. Sometimes I rush the step forward, end up stepping too far in front of me, and drop my shoulders, which is always REALLY scary. But it's definitely happening less often. I'm getting more comfortable with the quick rhythm, so I'm able to stay calm and keep my feet under me.
-Having some back pain. It's nothing major, SI joint pain, but it definitely hurts a lot. But I'm seeing a chiropractor who does active release technique (I believe it was Herniated recommended that), which is helping.

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Youtube Videos

This describes the problem I'm having with the footwork in my Interp. program PERFECTLY!!! Really worked my coach's patience to the very edge on this today. I could try blaming it on newly-sharpened skates (which should be a bonus) -- but this footwork is still scary to me, even after doing it three months. And in theory it's not that hard: just a couple of little waltz jumps -- one in each direction, and some mohawks and single twizzles. My coach says we're starting my next lesson with 3 minutes of moves, then spending the rest of the lesson on this... so that would be 57 minutes of terror... which sounds like a bad movie title to me. I can hardly wait to see if this actually stays in the program or we're working out easier footwork by the middle of next month.

Yes I was inspired by certain threads...it was meant to be smutty!

If you have access to the dance music for the Fourteen Step, put it on and use its march-like cadence to help you develop that quick, even rhythm required for this move. Each step will have one count.

As for that step foward, try staying down in your ankles and knees while pushing your hips forward. Sometimes when the hips get too far behind the rest of the body, scary things can happen. Ideally, your skating knee should be aligned over your skating toes.

Well Supported: OK the flip is back. It is tiny and slow but I don't care - I'm lifting my free leg and landing on one foot. Eventually I'll get the good flip back, I am just ecstatic that I'm actually doing the thing!

We finished choreographing my footwork and it will be really nice!

Hanging Loose: We took two difficult moves out of the footwork (toe steps and a counter). I wish I could do those really well right now but they're better out. I don't have a lutz yet...and I decided not to move back to FL because my old rink cut out their morning freestyle sessions. Oh well that means I will still be local for Easterns!

I need that flip to be really good again.

Oh and my camel is nonexistent but it's not like I practice enough...

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Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)