Congratulations Emberchyld!!!

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

Congratulations, Emberchyld!

When I took Pre-Bronze FS, I had 2 judges write on the form that my 1-foot spin had 3 revs (my coach said it was 3) and 1 judge wrote that I needed 1 more rev, but she did not ask me to reskate, and she passed me. Actually, I think what happened is that I did 1 rev with my foot out, and then pulled in for a scratch for 2 revs (this judge is known for being very tough and she likely only counted the revs 'in position' - I mean, come on, it's Pre-Bronze!). But the test is pass/retry, so judges are supposed to consider the test as a whole and not really let 1 element make or break the test, plus my test was the last test of a 4 1/2 hour test session that went from late afternoon to early evening (read: dinnertime) and I suspect that if the judge asked for a reskate of my spin, the other judges might have thrown something at her - lol.

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Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

Congrats, Emberchyld!!!

first, congrats emberchyld!

purring:
new skates are finally starting to feel normal and not extremely stiff
did a ton of I-spins today. i even got a compliment on them from this really good skater at my rink who NEVER compliments anybody so that was pretty cool.
landed some axels & 2sals in the new skates
my off ice coach and her skater both told me that my spirals looked better
i think my split jumps are slowly, and i mean very slowly, improving.

growling:
boots are still to stiff to do double loops or really any other doubles besides salchow.
Flying sit = gone thanks to my new skates. i think it'll get better once my skates get a little less stiff.

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(purring)
got my new skates today! sadly, that was about the only purring in my day


(growling)
my stomach still hasn't gotten used to my new meds (requip). im almost at school, and i tell my mom, "maybe i should stay home, i'm feeling sick" so we're on the way home, but traffic sucks. almost there, literally like 2 minutes away, and i start puking out the window. haha i swear i have never seen a car pass more quickly than the BMW behind us...

my new skates are gonna be nooooooo fun to break in

and no skating today i was gonna try out my new skates for a while at culver, but my mom had to go to back to school night

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Youtube Videos

Congrats Emberchyld!

Growling I managed to get sick today. I didn't skate during synchro but went to the off ice to learn anything new, then watched on ice. I had skated my lesson but felt like I was going to throw up the whole time.

Purring- I guess I managed to perfectly recreate a test situation. Today's lesson was done with me having hot/cold flashes, feeling like I was about to throw up and shaky legs- because I'm sick. Exactly how I felt when I was nervous Hopefully I won't be sick saturday, but if I am, I've practiced under the situation and coach still gave a thumbs up.

Saw Quarkiki and the baby today- the cutest little girl ever.

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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)

Congrats, Emberchyld!

I had an interesting lesson tonight, was taken early and went extra long!!! Coach gave me a new intro to my waltz jump....skate around the red hockey circles, then around the middle circle then JUMP! this builds up SPEED and covers the ice. managed a few nice waltz jumps before my arms got lazy and dropped...so we moved onto the salchow.

This has been a constant "fix" for me ever since I hired her to help me "get" it. My 3-turn is too curvy, I'm not doing something right with my arms, I'm not scooping with my free leg, and my head is wrong. So, my homework for this is to do it from only the 3-turn....and jump it!!! I don't have a problem dropping down to such an elementary level if it improves the jump!

Next, back 3's! Worked on arms/legs and tweaked. Got a practice pattern for rehearsing the ISI4 footwork: back crossover, hold, back 3, hold, mohawk, forward 3-turn, hold, mohawk, repeat. BOTH directions...but warm up with 2-footed back 3's!!!!

Last, it was the loop, which is my nemesis! Did some decent ones but they would have been great if my free foot had not tapped down on the landing (dumb, i keep doing that!!!!); homework: backspins, and loop "glides into backspins" along with waltz-loops (which I can do very badly!)

PURRING: I did several AWESOME!!!! toe-loops that several coaches saw (including mine)-they VAULTED!!! they had HEIGHT!!!! Yeah!!!!

Growling: my back is a little better but not a lot; my coach was upset when i owned up to having a seized up lower back (i.e. we need to communicate!!!!) and my right shoulder hurts now and by the time I left the ice, my left knee was hurting as well. I'm falling apart!!!

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

Congratulations, Emberchyld! And DON'T commit to Pre-Bronze for life. . . We wouldn't want you to make a liar out of yourself like Jazzpants did!

RinkRat, any tips on the I spin?? I always get the leg 2/3 of the way up and then lose my balance. . .

Ibreakhearts, I love that picture of your gray kitty!

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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

i still have the same problem. how do you enter yours? i haven't officially learned it from my coach yet so i dont know if theres more than one way to go into it, i do mine from a back sit and then i lift my leg up into the I-Spin. what helps me is trying to hold the back sit longer. it gives me more speed and that makes it easier for me to hold onto the "I" part of the spin. practicing the position off ice helps tons too!

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That's the same thing I was talking about. The step in front is a F cross roll, since it's from FO to FO.

Now I get it. I have a bit of that issue myself when going CW in the Adult Pre Bronze three turn pattern.

... I see why you wouldn't mind about the terminology so much, but it does make talking about it long distance easier.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Purring:
I figured out why my one foot spin works better from a F pivot than from a T push or wind up - the pivot allows me to feel and find the spin spot as I'm bringing my free leg in. Armed with that new bit of knowledge, I was able to get a couple of one rev backspins from an almost-back pivot. Was once again able to warm up with F & B power XO's and begin three turn practice sooner than usual.

Growling:
Overslept and got to the rink with only an hour to practice before work. L boot is pressing on inside ankle bone again, and I don't have time to go to Klingbeil on a Thurs, Fri, or Sat morning to get it adjusted .

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CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! And how wonderful your rinkmates were there to support you in the absence of your coach.

P.S. I think you can only join "PreBronze for Life" when you've been stuck on Bronze tests for a while.... because it sounds like you'll be moving past those tests too, with your good attitude and abilities!

The other possibility is the tough judge said she wanted a reskate and the other two judges said they didn't need to see a reskate... since they saw 3 revs... and she left her comments the same, but passed you.

I've always known the animal in your photo as a "chipmunk" and it's soooooo cute!!!

P.S. Feel better... the flu is so-not-fun!

You know, once I pass ISI 4 that equals pre-bronze (most places anyway)....just a thought...it's the back 3's that are sooooo wicked EVIL and the loop landing that is holding me up!

I still have no interest in testing USFSA for this year. Maybe next year, unless school is too busy! Oh yeah, I'm going back as soon as I get accepted to nursing school. (I have to take sociology (spring 2008) and chemistry (summer 2008) and the entrance exam (summer 2008) first-they are in progress.....).

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

Well I fully plan to be pre-bronze for life without ever taking a bronze freestyle test. I can't even get in a sit spin without spinning, realistically speaking, that's not going to happen. I'm not going to waste time with it, there's lots of other things to do I enjoy in skating. I'm perfectly content to be in pre-bronze forever.

j

Yes, well aren't you glad you were able to do that many so you could manage the bare minimum for the test?

Well I'm in it for life - though I do plan to pass bronze moves someday. But I have a feeling this is only a temporary place for you.

j

Purring: I have a "program" to perform in front of judges for the first time. It is not going to be my competitive program but it gets me in front of judges before testing, hopefully in October. Nice change of pace instead of doing test elements again. I might actually get a decent waltz 8 on both feet by test time Somehow my right foot is now cooperating in doing 3 turns.

Growling: It is only under a minute, so we managed to put something together in my 20 minute lesson, although I can't remember everything. So I kind of fooled around with it a bit at the end of the session.

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~Always Dream!~

Check my progress at www.freewebs.com/sk8tegirl06

Wow, your cats look incredibly much like ours:


And in our case it's also the gray one who attacks the other cats.

Our friday club training's been cancelled for a hockey game btw. *sigh*

ISI FS4 is equivalent to BRONZE, not PreBronze. ISI FS 3 is PREBRONZE on most announcements I've seen.
From the Pony Express documents for this weekend:
Bronze 1:40 max. Passed adult bronze FS test and no higher than the standard preliminary FS test or ISI FS 4, prior to 10/1/77, the second figure test. NO AXELS OR DOUBLE JUMPS. #3800-3801

Congratulations E.C.!

RE: Cats. Me and my dog LOVE cats!

Purring: Worked on back outside edges with free foot high (for back XO's and back spiral), sit spin (coming along), and started trying upright change-foot spin (potential but don't yet have the balance on my left foot and they "unwind" into a LBO)

Growling: I REALLY need to work on my back outside edges! The coaches all love my forward edges but backward edges aren't even in the same league (yet!)

That's it for this week! MUST buckle down and do off-ice jumps - I need HEIGHT!

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

growling - back to basics on back inside edges which were never really good. Got a couple of good pointers from coach and I'll be working them. Discovered to my chagrin the other week that I've been doing that darn dance step sequence wrong - it's an outside mohawk on step 4, not inside. Started working on it the right way last week, LFO mohawk was ok, but RFO was scary. Starting to smooth out both ways now. Soon the change will be behind me.

purring - back inside pivot is pretty spiffy, jumps were all showing improvement this morning. Beautiful crisp day just makes you want to jump.

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It's all about the dress!

I did 15 rotations on the scratch spin, with a good exit too!!! (according to a witness who counted...)

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I can do the position if I'm just gliding on a RBO edge, but when I'm spinning, I run into balance problems.

How do you grab your free foot and pull it up? Today I had my secondary coach work on it with me and she suggested I grab the heel of the blade with the right hand first, keep the free leg bent until I'm most of the way up, then grab the front of the blade with the left hand and straighten it into the Y position. Unfortunately, I have trouble getting into the back sit, so the weak back sit is probably at least half the problem, too. . .

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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

Thank you everyone for the wonderful responses!

I'm thinking that my "squat" spin might be enough to permanently make me a member of PreBronze for life, but I'll try my best to at least pretend that I'm working towards Bronze next. I think my coach and I need a short break from moves-- both of us have been a bundle of nerves since August.

Surprisingly, I wasn't at my home rink-- I was two hours away from my home rink and club at an unfamiliar rink (in fact, technically it was my rival hockey rink, since my home rink is the Flyers' practice rink and I tested at the Devils' practice rink!)... scared, feeling totally lost, and having absolutely no idea what to do. But all of these wonderful people at the rink reached out and supported and guided this poor lost adult-- what an awesome welcome to the world of testing!

Purring: Me and my kitty as I slept in this morning, then as I took a nice long shower. It's been a while!

Growling: Me, as I realized that I was having ice withdrawl all day because I hadn't skated this morning! Back to the ice tommorrow, but I think I'll just take some time to play!

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When asked what his "secret" to success was, Wayne Gretsky said: "Skate to where the puck is going and not to where it has been."
Is the figure skating version of this: Skate as if you're doing an axel and not just learning how to hop?

And now a word for the current longest standing Pre Bronze for Life Member....

Purring:
Primary coach was VERY HAPPY to see all spins in working order, as well as higher jumps from me.
"What is motivating you to get your tushie up in the air?"
"The thought of a possible trip to Lake Placid next April!"
We also now have to wear a orange or yellow sash when we skate our program to show right of way on the ice.

Growling:
The freestyle session was mobbed, the ice was crappy and if that wasn't enough, one of the coaches hoarded the music box all afternoon! I only ran my program once, because I didn't want to hassle with it at all.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"