Thread title inspired by Keats' infamous "Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness" - it is, after all, September and the rink goes back to term-time timetable tomorrow!

Misty: My Interpretive programme is still awful. I don't care that I've had it a year and got at least one win with it - the technical side of it is appalling! I have changed it round a bit so it doesn't just go round and round the rink like a compulsory dance, but that means that I have to do a couple of hard back pushes into the cross cuts (at our rink, there is a slight but definite slope up to the centre circle) and I get the timing wrong and miss out the cross cuts. Plus I'm barely moving. Oh well. It's as good as I can make it. Why did I enter it for Bordeaux?

Our coaches only had us this morning, so after our couples lesson (which went well - more anon), our male coach watched Robert's singles lesson, and so did I as I need to know what he needs to work on for his test if we are to practice together. Anyway, his Riverside Rhumba was rather awful - nobody had realised that he hadn't actually got the steps quite right, as his coach said, they weren't wrong enough to notice! So rather a steep learning curve for him - thank heavens we don't have a test date yet, as he would not have passed it (but he would have passed his Golden Skaters' Waltz so well that he might just have scraped through on passing average).

Mellow: We actually heard our coach say "That was good" not once, but three times, for all the dances we are working on for next weekend! I don't think they are winnable yet, we probably won't make the cut for the finals (certainly not for the Swing Dance), but we won't look out of place, which is really all I mind about at this stage. If, that is, we skate as well as I know we can.

Our Swing Dance was a bit iffy - I am still far too tentative in the turns and so on. We spent a good five minutes working on the start with me being yelled at by both husband and coach to for heavens sake [size=large]PUSH[/size] into that 3-turn! Actually, when I did, it did make matters easier, but don't tell anybody - I'd hate to lose my reputation as a wimp..... But we had better edges and extension. Trouble was, our timing was off. Oh, if it's not one thing, it's another!

We surprised ourselves by doing the Canasta as well as we've ever done it. Only criticism was that I wasn't pointing my toes.....

Dutch Waltz is far and away our best dance, so we are being really picky with it. We need to finish off our edges better, and I can't sustain three laps of that level of concentration! But it does get better every time we do it.

Now, if only we can dance like that next weekend!

And then Robert did a really good Golden Skaters' Waltz with his coach - I was totally impressed. Except that he rolls his head around all over the place, which he'll have to stop doing if we are going to move up beyond Level 3.....

All the same, it looked good! Even our male coach was impressed. For that man to say "Good" several times in one lesson is unheard-of!

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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!

I am not well.
I skated for 20 minutes and thought "I can't do this!"
I came home, collected small child, and fell onto couch for 2 hours.
Now the medication has kicked in, but I still feel cold & achey, heavy and shivering, cold one minute, hot the next.
No energy, so better go and lie down again.

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MEL
Absolute Skating

((((Mel))))



Hope you're feeling better soon

L x

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The best whisper is a click

Are Melanie and I really the only ones to have skated so far this week? I suppose you are having a long weekend in the USA, though, and I expect your rinks are closed.

I nearly didn't go to dance club tonight; Robert rang me up and 5.45, when I should really be leaving, and I was sound asleep, so I said I wouldn't go, but 20 minutes later I was wide awake, so set off, but got there rather late.

Misty: The trouble was, there were only five of us there. And four of us are due to compete in Bordeaux next weekend, so I felt really sorry for the fifth person, a man, who ended up skating solo almost all the time!

Mellow: The ice was lovely! I don't think I skated up to it, though, but some things were good. I managed to get into the right place to do the Swing Dance Mohawk, but it was still a bit rushed. Oh well....

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

I think that everything on Sunday was mellow! yippee!
i ran through my program twice and i kept on thinking, "I am out of time now!" and then when i had finished my coach siad to me that my timing is very good! i was very surprised, but i did screw it up ina few places! d'oh!
i did alot of edge work, forward outside, foward inside, backward inside, and i worked on cross rolls. when i was doing my back inside edges i fell over and nearly pulled my coach down with me!
we also worked alot on fowrad crossovers, and backward crossovers, they are getting stronger and stronger!
oh and i can now do my RFO 3-turn! yippee!

Mellow
I practiced my spins again this weekend and they were much better. My coach had me pull the arms in gradually and then push them up. It was great, it seemed to me like I was spinning for a long time (although it must have been just 7 or 8 revolutions). I looked at the tracings afterwards and they were centered and everything. I actually felt like a real skater for the first time.

Misty
I'm still having trouble with my LFO edge. My coach had someone move the blade and it helped a bit, but I still feel like it slips a bit. I don't know what to do now ...

I haven't skated since PC on Saturday. I took a couple extra days and went to a city about 2 hours south of Atlanta to visit some other friends. No year-round ice rink in Macon GA that I could find... plus my friends' youngest boy has his birthday this week, so we had a pool party for a bunch of boys yesterday... complete with lots of pizza, ice cream cake and Bionicles (some Lego toy that's apparently quite the rage right now)

I shall be back on the ice tomorrow morning...

--jsl

Yesterday I lasted 20 minutes on the ice. My legs and back were achy, and I had a burning sore throat.
I came home and had to lie down for the rest of the day, sleeping on and off. I had the sweats and the shivers, my throat felt like glass.

Last night I was sick.

Today I went to doctor and I've got tonsilitis.

I've now got antibiotics but won't be skating at all this week.

Also got mother-in-law and uncle (through marriage) coming for a week. :?

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Yes, we had a nice long week-end and since I am on the computer at work I try to stay off of it when I am at home. :-)

Misty - still trying ever so hard to spin off the LFO, getting closer and closer but still not there yet. Still catch myself with my weight on my heels, very irritating. My toe loop was sketchy, I think I rushed it a few times. Sunday was so crowded it was almost dangerous to practice jumps.

Mellow - the salchow is slowly but slowly evolving, it's ugly (I haven't seen it but it feels ugly) but I am getting the motion down. I can actually spin 3-4 times on a back spin but I don't really understand what I am doing, I just get into the postion and spin. :-) Still with all my problems with the LFO into a scratch it feels good to be able to get into a spin even if I don't know how I am doing it. The flip is often fully rotated but still landing on two feet. Worked on 3 turns and mohawks and my inside 3's are getting really good.

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well Melanie!!

All of the rinks in my area were closed for the holiday weekend, so no ice was available. Since it was Labor Day weekend, that's all I did: labor. Worked all three days on getting chores off of my job list. Finally collapsed into my chair around 8:00 last evening. I couldn't move from fatigue. I'm glad I'm going back to work to get some rest.

MEL: Sorry to hear about your tonsilitis. It's a good thing you went to the doctor so quickly and got on the antibiotics. GET WELL SOON!!! The ice misses you.

Hi Mel, hope you're feeling better.

Misty: Tried cammel spin, still pretty weak.

Mellow: Moves are pretty good - my coach was surprised. I started jumping again, and it felt ok. I'm looking forward to club sessions starting this month.
Has anyone received the new 6.0 magazine?

Hmm... I think someone's sharing germs across the Atlantic -- I'm to be making a visit to the doctor for suspected tonsilitis this afternoon, too. Lovely golf-ball-sized right tonsil has some, um, nasty-looking greeny-yellow spots. So, needless to say, all I managed this weekend was laundry and some dusting. I'm completely worn out just sitting at my desk right now.

So, anyway, get well soon, Mel! And let me know when I'll start feeling better, too!

Oh, dear hubby and I had out first lessons in Backwards Beta.

Misty: I only managed three back right crossovers. But the were consecutive! I believe I'm leaning too far forward as I'm dragging my toepick and slowing down so far I'm nearly stopped. As with the forward crossovers, they're insisting that there be a clear cross (picking foot up and placing it pinky toe-to-pinky-toe), so I may have difficulty with these, too.

Backwards stroking was OK. Hubby took a HUGE fall doing this -- scared the daylights out of me as his feet slipped forwards and he went nearly horizontal before crashing onto his tush. Fortunately, it was his tush that he landed on and he suffered no ill effects, he wasn't even embarrassed! I did, however, have time in the midst of my concern to make note of the completely shocked look on his face as he went up and realized he was going down. Kinda like Macauley Culkin in Home Alone, except he didn't have his hands to his face.

Mellow: I managed 3 back crossovers. OK on T-stop both sides. Fairly certain that my backwards stroking will pass the test in six more weeks.

We got bored with the endless crossovers, so the instructor showed us a mohawk. I think this was my most misty moment -- absolute panic as I tried to change my weight and direction. She gave us the choice of mohawks or 3 turns and I voted for three turns, but was out-voted 3-1. My FO3s are ok by the boards, but I'm anxious to try them away from the boards. Maybe next week?

You'll be fine. Try to tuck your inside hip underneath you, and press down towards the ice with your leading hand, to get your weight back over your skates so you don't nod up and down....

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

For the Labor Day holiday on Monday, our rink had a "Customer Appreciation Day", in which they took away all our AM freestyle sessions. Sort of " We'd Appreciate it if You Didn't Come Day" ! Tried to get up to go to my 6 AM session this morning, but I'm afraid I've joined the Illness of the Day club- nasty stomach virus kept me up all night, and off the ice all day. Maybe we'll all be better next week?

We had a "Customer Appreciation Day " also, in the form of both compressors going down, and there being no ice on Saturday or Sunday. There was ice on Monday, apparently but the rink management decided to close the rink at 3pm- never mind that there were freestyles scheduled throughout the afternoon!

Misty:
Had a total klutz day on back and forward crossovers! Stumbled on a toepick on the forward ones, tripped over the blades and fell on the back ones!

Did clean up the end of my freeskate program, though! The ending has better flow!

Get better soon, Mel!

Hi all,
I had my first lesson for about two months today so my coach decided to concentrate on some basic exercises to break me in gently. Must admit even I was surprised how good my inside 3 turns were today - sometimes a break seems to do me good!

mellow
inside 3's in both directions, mohawks in both directions, forward inside curves.

misty
had a go at the toe loop and salchow again with my son acting as coach. He gave up in exasperation "you're not listening" he insisted as I failed yet again to lift off the toepick before turning. What he doesn't apreciate is that I am listening and i know what i am suppposed to do but it doesn't seem to get through to the appropriate body parts.

For the first time I fell whilst attempting a toe-loop which at least shows I am trying and perhaps if I get used to falling I won't feel too scared to really 'go for it' which is the best way with jumps I think.

Mel:hope you feel better soon
Lynne: hope the wrist is healing
and to anyone else with injuries/sickness - get well soon!

I'm OK at the moment but am busy nursing a very sick rabbit (abandoned by some neighbours). Unfortunately a few days after we rescued him we discovered he had a massive abscess on his head. Numerous vet visits and a small fortune later we have a rabbit with basically no scalp and we have to bathe the remaining thin layer of skin 4 times a day. It's like 'Animal Hospital' here. Hopefully he will recover but it's still touch and go at the moment.

Happy skating!

Woke up horrendously stiff about the shoulders; I think I spent too long at the computer yesterday. I need a new chair!

The rink was absolutely empty this morning; I was literally the only skater on the patch! I really hate that! My coach came in rather late for my lesson, which should have started at 9.30, but as most schools have gone back today (not quite all, but nearly), the traffic was apparently horrendous, and he was held up by a lorry that had shed its load on the A21!

However, all this meant I could have a leisurely lesson. I asked him to look at my Dutch Waltz and Canasta Tango soloes, to see if it is worth entering the solo dance class at Oxford Seniors next month (Batikat, are you entering, and if so, what classes?). He said I would come at or near the bottom of the heap, but still said I might as well go for it. After nearly a year off solo dance, it's a bit scary.....

Then we ran through my free dance (which I don't mind coming last in, it's going to improve radically over the next couple of years, just you wait and see), and, of course, my Interpretive routine for Sunday.

Nothing dreadful, nothing great. Just an empty rink and me wishing I skated better.....

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

Something we all wish.

Okay, so I never post about my practices/lessons because I get very little ice time and am suuuch a beginner and will be forever, but – this was the first week of the fall schedule, and I got the ice to myself instead of sharing with the many talented kids who are there during the intensive summer FS sessions, which meant tons more space and uninterrupted time to work! I had been feeling like I’d hit a wall, but today I finally got back to improving things that have been static for months.

Misty: I am still such a two-footer. Gravity defies me to get onto a LBO edge for more than a second or two, and I am still searching for the RBO (I know it’s around somewhere . . .).

Mellow: FO edges! They are getting consistently better. Back stroking/gliding is still very shaky, but becoming more comfortable. Best of all, working edges in a serpentine pattern along a line improved from really terrible to just kind of bad, yihoo!!

-- wannask8

Back edges are tough but they get better the more you practice them. When you get to 3 turns, particularly the outside 3 turns, you'll appreciate the work you've put in and you'll also get a good way to practice your back edges. One thing with all edges but particularly back edges, watch the placement and lean of your body. Make sure your body is lined up correctly that will help your feet do the rest. FOr the first 6 months of my skating my coach(es) were constantly grabbing my arms and moving my shoulders and telling me to look up!! It's a lot to learn but with time you'll get it.

First practice for almost a month!! Was expecting to be verrrrry rusty.

Waltz jumps were ok, one imparticular felt very very big! Salchow was a bit off and on. Some were fine, but a lot didn't work. Toe loop same as normal - ok, still need to work on getting more of a "jump" in it but I'm getting there.

Worked on the loop and half loop, especially towards the end. I've got my last ever lesson with my coach (who I've had for a year) on Saturday, so I was determined to land the loop before he goes as he's been trying to teach it to me. I was working a lot on the entrance, trying to get the feel of it more (and watching closely a girl who has a big loop and was trying a few double loops). Then I remembered a tip I read on this board a while ago (thanks Lynne! Can't remember if it was for me or someone else though, lol), about doing a FI3 into it instead of back crossovers, which is what I had been doing. I tried it with the FI3 and it did feel more comfortable and like I was "getting it", and near the end I landed a bunch of half loops, fully rotated and with a bit of spring and landed properly and everything!! Almost there on the loop but not quite - point is though, I'm closer than I've been before! WOOHOOOO!!!

Inside mohawks good, left better than right (shock horror). Much more comfortable. Left outside mohawk fine, right not so great but only tried it about twice, lol. 3 turns fine in the most part apart from the RBI3, the only one that still disappears on me! Dunno why, because my LBI one is one of the best! I love my LFO-LBI double 3s. 8)

Spins dodgy. Was expecting them to be (but hoping they weren't). Improved slightly when I did it from the back crossovers. I can get that bit fine, and the choctaw, but I just can't make the curve diminish properly to get a "hook". It's better than it was (I didn't travel as far) but still not very good. Hmph. Balance was not fantastic either.

Forward spiral good but not amazing. LBO spiral good I think. Both crossover leans good - one of my most favourite moves. Back crossovers not as good as usual (rusty), forward ones good though. Inside pivots good, especially backward ones!! (Yay! Something that I can say improves every time!! )

A girl asked me if I was a professional 8) Don't you love that? Then she asked me if I was in training. Didn't really know what to say - not really, as I'm not training for anything.

Rachel (who is very achey and has been for a few days, don't know why! Especially feet and ankles, lower legs, and back. )

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"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

Good for you!!!! We all run through times where it feels like we're skating in place. It feels soooooo good when it finally starts progressing again.

Your RBO's are in that other dimension where you don't exist. But they'll be back. JDC1 is right. It's the upper body and hip placement that make these work. After a lot of practice it will happen without even thinking about it.

I had a problem doing patterns on the line until I figured out that it was the line's fault. In my lessons, we always used the hockey line at the end of the rink near the boards. I'm afraid of the boards. I now put an imaginary line about 3 feet further down the ice and my edge practice has improved.

Keep up the great work and you won't be a beginner for long!!

To answer the above I am planning to enter the solo CD's and the Free Dance. I don't enjoy the compulsories ( because I am not good at them and don't like being told what to do) and haven't practised what with holidays and trying to learn the level 1 jumps but they are a useful warm up for the Free Dance which I do enjoy. It'll be the same one I did at Bracknell as I don't have time to work on anything new. I've had the official photos back from Bracknell and was thrilled to see that I actually looked like I was skating in them. I could see evidence of edges and my spin looked like a spin, with skirt flying

(Yes Fiona I will get the Oxford entry in soon)

Good Luck to all those skating in the competition in France this weekend!

I enjoyed my skating today. I was lucky enough to get the chance to skate a little with a partner. We just ran through some of the basic dances and particularly enjoyed the Rhythm Blues as we really felt we got right in time with the music and it flowed beautifully. Also tried the chasse-3 turns for the British Waltz but this is hard and scary!

The coaches are restarting their group lessons after the summer break so I did the group dance class but won't be able to do many more as I will be in college on Wednesdays.

Then I had my lesson.......

Mellow
my consecutive inside 3 turns. These were really good today - even my coach was impressed and they felt really quite easy! Somehow I seemed to have got the knack of hanging onto the back outside edges after the turn long enough to step forward for the next one with ease. Progress at last!

A toe loop - I managed one well enough for my coach to pronounce himself 'happy with that' - though I am sure my son who is very critical of my attempts at jumping probably would not agree!!!

Misty
jumping in general - why is it so difficult? I know the theory and can step through the things but actually taking off and making it a 'jump' instead of a 'step' is really hard - and then you get it - ONCE - and have no idea how to repeat it. Guess like all things in skating it is back to Practice, practice, practice. And why is it that you can tell your arms and legs to do all the right things and then they go ahead and do it all wrong anyway:?

C'est la vie!

Oh bother (I don't really mean that!), you are bound to beat me again!

Well, go on, post the best one, then! I did, after all, of my free dance. Which is not quite the same as it was in Bracknell, but very similar.

I do enjoy compulsory dances, I love the pickiness of them.

Extract digit, as the closing date is next Friday! I've got mine all ready to sign and date, which we will do on the train to Bordeaux tomorrow, then I will give it to her tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile, we went to Alexandra Palace last night for the group lesson on the Foxtrot, followed by social dancing. As so many people had already left for Bordeaux, we were a little thin on the ground.

Mellow: Actually did a Foxtrot Mohawk properly! Only one, mind. I was trying to show someone else what she was doing wrong. Learnt that it really is a 90 degree turn, not 180 - you start it facing the boards, and end it facing up or down the rink.

Robert and I did a great Rhythm Blues and a fantastic Golden Skaters Waltz.

Misty: But, of course, those dances aren't wanted until Oxford - by which time they'll probably be ghastly. Meanwhile our Dutch Waltz, Canasta Tango and Swing Dance, all of which we need on Saturday, seem to have gone missing - nerves, I expect. If we can only relax.....

Back on Monday. Talk to you then.

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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!