I shouldn't be in the least surprised!

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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!

"Excuse me" has become such a rude phrase that skaters now try to say something else like "coming through" or "sorry"

j

I know exactly what you mean, although I'm not wisp-like by any means, I'm sure I must be invisible most of the time

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• Level One Compulsary dances.......PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Elements.....................PASSED 10.07.09
• Level Two Free dance.................PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Free...........................
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Loving it, Loving it, Loving it!!!!!

I have no idea if skiers still do this, but 30 yrs ago, when I used to ski, we were taught to yell to the person ahead of us when passing, "On your left!" or "On your right!" That makes perfect sense, as skiers cannot look back and see if anyone is coming, and you do not want to turn into someone's path as they hurtle by you. I think it would work great on the ice too, but how would we ever get it started?

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that would be so fine - I'm just terrible at guessing which way people are planning to go.

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It's all about the dress!

The only problem is that half the kids don't know their left from their right!

Or if someone mishears or things happen quickly, they might think you're trying to say that they should go to the left or the right instead of meaning that you're coming by on their left or right.

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exactly what i was going to say lol

My coach implemented a program that worked pretty well. Her rule has been that if we (her skaters) get in someone's way when they're doing their program then we owe her a quarter. She saves up the money and when we have enough we'll have a mini-party. Most of the time she doesn't actually collect, but we tease each other, so it works pretty well.

We also have an ice dancer at our rink who absolutely does not understand that other people have as much of a right to be on the ice as he does. He will get in everyone's way, and gives people THE dirtiest looks if they come anywhere near him, no matter if they are in a lesson/doing their program. And, if he does stop, he does it inches from another skater. It is ridiculous.

There is also one boy who is either always oblivious to other skaters or just doesn't care. It is really bad. Like, I was in a lesson and was working on double loops, and even after both my coach (also his coach) and I told him to move, he wouldn't. So my coach told him that for every minute extra she had to teach me because I had to keep aborting jumps, she would take away a minute. He moved after that. Finally, another day, I decided not to abort my double loop. Don't worry, I wasn't close enough to hit him or anything like that, I'm not that stupid/obnoxious. But I think he got the idea that I was done popping jumps because he didn't feel the need to move.

But ITA agree that the MissExcuseMes absolutely NEVER move for anyone else in lesson/doing their program. That is what frustrates me the most. I am another one of those skaters who is always saying sorry and who works REALLY hard to never be in anyone's way, so i guess it just irks me to see these little ice princesses demanding that everyone bail on THEIR spin/jump/pattern because they HAVE to do their waltz jump RIGHT along the long axis or wherever.

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I tend to always "dance" with people - I can never guess which way they're going to dodge, so I now "signal" by pointing to the left or the right and saying "I'm going this way!" pleasantly. Only works if they actually look at you.

Here's a weird (for me at least) situation: My group was practicing their show program, with music playing, and following me through the routine. Another group instructor was having her students practice back spirals. She absolutely saw my group coming down the ice and knew her student was going to be in the way. She did nothing. I dodged twice and ended up grabbing the kid so she wouldn't fall. Had to stop all of my skaters because they didn't know their routine yet to continue without me.

The other instructor's reaction was that her student had right of way because she was going backwards. Apparently, at their rink, anyone going backwards has right of way on freestyles. New rule for me, I always thought students on lesson with music had right of way. *shrug*

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That's a new one I haven't heard before.....

But I never know my left from my right! And I certainly never know other people's lefts from their rights....

We kept getting in the way of one of Coach2's pupils today who was running through her programme - she's suddenly got a lot better and was totally filling the rink, which I hadn't quite expected. And I said "Oh, sorry!" to her, and she goes, "That's quite all right!" without missing a beat.... Husband nearly had a heart attack when I let our local Ice Princess come slightly too close for comfort, but I think she and I both knew we'd miss each other. I certainly knew I'd miss her - which I don't always know, but that time I did.

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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!

One time I was skating, warming up, and one of the younger (i.e. better) skaters comes up behind...and thinking that I would zig left, she zags right and skooches between me and the wall-which scared the whosis out of me!!! I screamed and almost squished her against the wall!

Luckily, no one was hurt, and I told her not to scare old ladies anymore!

We still laugh about it to day!!!!

If I'm coming up from behind...I usually holler out "DON'T MOVE" or 'BEHIND YOU-DON'T MOVE" just in case but I try to steer far enough away.

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

If I am going the opposite direction to another skater near the boards I'll reach out and touch the boards, indicating that I'm keeping in and they're to go wide.

The worse ones are those who follow you around the rink - seriously the other morning I swear this kid was following me...

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Skate Free

They not only follow you, they follow you on the wrong lobe, so you keep on nearly hitting them all the way up the rink!

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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!

For a while we had an introduction to freestyle sessions, in which the first two freestyles included a 30 minute lesson on the rules. I taught it a few times, and always gave my kids a test at the end. One of the rules was that faster skaters pass closer to the boards, which eliminates the whole left/right problem. I told my slower students to always leave room for someone to pass them by the boards, but of course, if a high level skater is in a program, they may have to zoom by on the other side.

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Fun thread! I can relate to kids hogging the ice. Another story for you guys that I think you will enjoy: We have a boy at our rink who (I think) is Preliminary level (looks to be around 10 yrs old). He has a wacky axel & crazy 2-footed dsal & dtoe. He is constantly at the glass, getting "coached" by his mother who never skated a day in her life (I am actually concerned for the kid & anyone who gets within 10 feet of him when he attempts these crazy double jumps). "Dan" is constantly looking at his mother, not paying attention to any of the skaters around him EVER. If his mom is not inside the rink with him, he won't practice on his own and just aimlessly skates around not practicing anything ("moving pylon"). It's EXTREMELY ANNOYING.

One time I was doing my program to music (I had the right-of-way) & he ("Mr. Oblivious") was totally in my way (there was no way for me to move since I was getting ready to do a spin). I shouted EXCUSE ME and then proceeded to do a "fly by" where I literally came within an INCH of him as I went into my camel spin & brushed him slightly as if he wasn't there. He did move (actually got the hint for once....SHOCKING), and my coach took me aside later & told me later that I did the right thing & that she was proud of me for not panicking because he wasn't paying attention! Apparently he does this type of thing all the time (getting in everyone's way because he is completely oblivious). He needs to learn to be considerate of others & apparently his mother isn't helping with her constant talking to him (distracting him) when he is on the ice.

Some of our kids still use the wall...which they should not do as our rule states "must be proficient at forward & backward crossovers"...but whatever.

When i teach 2-foot spins, we move to the center circle and I tell my kids that you are supposed to spin there. Hopefully, they will remember. But kids forget and you do have to repeat things over and over.

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