Bouncy: I think my backspin is back! (shhhhh - you didn't hear me say that ) Must be something about the ice at the rink where I practiced today - this was the rink where I did my first real backspin last summer. Also had some success with my loop and salchow - woohoo!

The ice was a bit crowded (or so another skater told me - I'm usually not there on Wednesdays), but I did get some moves practice in and and worked on backspins and jumps. A friend of flo's, who has really good jumps, was there and I was watching her technique a bit - I tried to follow her example of jumping up and out more - I tend to pull in, which gets me around, but not very much off the ice and I've been told that technique isn't necessary for singles.

Flat: Moves are still not where I'd like them to be, and doing them on the smaller surface was actually making me slow down a bit - not good. Well, the large number of skaters was also a factor in that. Flo, do you know if the Sunday morning sessions there are crowded? (that would be the session at 9:30, not 8 )

This is for my lesson last night...
Flat: Forward Crossover Figure 8 Pattern!! UUUGGGHH! Very hard to do (harder when dodging little kids). But, we finally figured out how to squeeze 5 crossovers into the pattern, got the tempo figured out, and now I gotta work on the toe extension.. Toe-loops still giving me fits (trying to not do toe-waltz's). I'm worried that right now I don't have a beginning of a program for the exhibition skate (Dec 10)-she keeps adding "new" jumps and things for me to try and work on....I need to mention that to her next week that the clock is ticking! I don't want to throw something together at the last minute but it looks like we may end up doing that! We can always add/change it later for competition but I want something for the exhibition

Bouncy: I learned the 1/2 lutz! It's cool. And a jump combo-1/2 flip into toe-loop. I also managed several spins for her that weren't sooo bad (isn't it funny-when you go to show someone something how they sometimes stink?). They are much better. My Salchow was really good (on my first attempt) with good height, the next two were messed up (from dodging kids and rushing)....This was the jump I couldn't do a few weeks ago! Then we did loops from a 3-turn (instead of back crossovers) which was actually better this time.

My homework is to add height on my waltz, toe, and Salchow! Work on the loop (I'm really close), figure-8 pattern, spins, spiral pattern (LFO to RFI), and 3-turns at speed

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

Hi Debbie - I'm not sure. We have some good club ice, but it's on Saturday. On sunday I zzzzzzz.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Crikey, I've not been able to participate on one of these threads for YONKS! I do miss skating, I really miss skating I wish that I could get back to my former 'glory'


BOUNCY

Am going skating with work to Somerset House in a couple of weeks. It's going to be pretty packed and they don't like you skating any more than a nanometre per minute and you certainly can't do anything 'fancy' like a spin but it's going to be nice to be back on the ice again. All I need now is the lottery fairy to come down and grant me three wishes (a single win on a triple rollover, losing a ton of unsightly blubber and the ability to carry on from where I left off when I broke my wrist many moons ago ....). Oh well, I can wish

FLAT

I'm going to suck

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The best whisper is a click

I doubt it; I'm sure you will be better than most..... Are you in London for long, any chance we'll get to see you?

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

Tashakat, I'm sorry you're not skating! That makes several who are off ice for one reason or another

Today's session was flat...(mostly)...woke up with a migraine and went skating anyway (I'm a glutton for punishment). Just in case, I wore my crash pads and proceeded to fall on the one spot that wasn't padded (knees)

Session was a bit more crowded than usual, school was out for an in-service day so we had about 12-15 on ice....but not too bad (wall-huggers mostly).

Figure-8 pattern was very good, so I'm happy about that-that's the bouncy part. Everything else is pretty flat...even my Salchow! I was just off today. And waaaaay overdue for a sharpening!!! That may be why I'm falling-sliding off my edges (what edges?) I will drop them off with my sharpener on Friday evening.

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

TashaKat... you DO NOT SUCK in skating!!! You're just been out of practice for a while!!! Get back on there and skate for a while. You'd be surprised how fast you'll get back to the 'ol groove!!!

Bouncy: Not yet for me... my back is still bothering me. I did tentatively tried to do a couple of loop jumps but no go!!! (Already called my chiro and I'm seeing him pretty soon...)

Glad to be back working on Bronze moves again in the meanwhile! I need to get those out of the way!!!

Flat: And boy oh, boy am I in for trouble!!! I tried to do back crossovers and this time primary coach took the "take no prisoners" approach and said "Let's do pairs back crossovers" with me in order to get me to turn my torso more and get used to skating faster in the new position (which, of course, got WAAAAAY too scary for me when he tried to get me to go FASTER given my back is already crooked...)

We also dealt with getting more edges on the forward crossovers. He wants to see more curve. And of course, I also have to work on keeping the free leg straight too (per orders from secondary coach...) Should be interesting how it comes out in Dec.

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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!!!

Ask your chiro for some stretches and some exercises you can do for your back to help with flexibility-maybe he/she can give you some that will help without hurting your back worse. Good luck-hopefully you'll get fixed back to right again!

Sounds like we are on the same page as far as keeping that leg straight (and I forget to point my toe)...my left leg is worse (CW is my bad side).

I'm still too scratchy on my back crossovers....although they are better, but I'm not happy with them

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

The RFO T-stop foot in front is part of Canadian Junior Bronze/Senior Bronze skills. Good luck on your MIF.

Hi Annabel, how are you doing? I work in London now, live in Yorkshire, horse in Derbyshire!!!

I need to find my skates out and would LOVE to try and get back into skating. I've got into the 'get up, Starbucks, work, Starbucks, DVD, sleep' rut at the moment, interspersed with Pole Dancing on a Tuesday evening. I NEED to get out of that rut! Most weeks I am working (now) Wednesday to Friday but they sometimes add a day (or two). Are you still at Streatham and do you still go up to AP occasionally? I MUST catch up

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The best whisper is a click

But at least NO ONE would DARE get in your way when you're doing pairs back crossovers with him!!! I'll bet everyone else just moved towards the walls!

I love skating pairs back crossovers with my primary coach! We haven't done them in a while but the last time we did, he told me I was pushing him along rather than him dragging me, LOL! So that was good, but I agree, it can be scary until you get used to it. My other two coaches also sometimes skate pairs crossovers with me, and although it's fun they're scary, too, especially since they have this crazy idea that I should be better in my tracking! So, in some ways, they make me work harder, but that's okay!

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August 22, back on the ice!

Yes, and yes! And, as I've posted elsewhere, I expect you to be at Streatham by 7:00 pm on Thursdays for dance club - and Tuesdays, for Figure Club, if you like, too. We still go to AP on 1st Wednesday of each month for the class with K & D and then social dancing; great fun.

As for us this morning - Bouncy: We think we have a start for our new free dance already - we certainly have a spin for it! This change-foot spin we are doing is actually so easy, it's miraculous! Famous last words..... Husband did a bit of skating around to his music, to see what he wants to put in; I'll have to help him choreograph it at Figure Club one of these Tuesdays.

Flat: We overslept so didn't have as long on the ice together as I should have liked. And I seem to have joined the "back playing up" club, too.

And I couldn't find my contact lens fluid, so bought some more on the way home, only to find it was sitting on the bathroom shelf where it lives, large as life.... duh.... think I'm going senile!

But I still had a good skate!

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

LOL, I need to get my 'ice legs' back first but it's certainly worth considering!

BOUNCY

Am going to the 75th Anniversary Gala at Queens this evening I'll see some of my old coaches and hopefully get all mushy about skating again

I'll let you know how it goes.


x

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The best whisper is a click

Oh, I'd forgotten about that gala at Queens - I did, vaguely, know about it. Hope it was good.

I forgot one of the best things about this morning's practice, which was a mini-breakthrough on the Fiesta - if I make sure to keep my free leg up as I step into the second edge of the Mohawk, instead of letting it fly all over the place (probably it isn't tucked in behind as it should be, but hey....), I actually get some oomph into the next two pushes! And if I can do that reliably, especially when skating with the Husband (we must try, next time we skate), that level 4 Silver compulsory dance test isn't as far off as I thought!

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

Bouncy--
Worked on loop-loop in lesson, after I was good and warmed up. It's coming along nicely, though loop on its own is still nicer right now.

Also worked on flip-toe (though I was barely ekeing out flips--most were underrotated)

Sit spin decided to reappear (only a few days late, lol!)

Flat--
Having trouble straightening the skating leg fully in camel spin.

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Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

Bouncy
I had my first "long" session since July today! In other words I skated an hour's patch followed by a two hour session. I also joined in my first jumps class since July too. It's nice to be finally getting back into the swing of it, but I hope I never break anything again. It's been weeks and weeks and I still feel very out of the loop and lacking in confidence.

Anyway on the whole my confidence is returning and I landed all jumps up to flip. I was very tempted to do a loop-loop but I didn't want to push my luck. After all I'm not (according to the doctors) meant to even be back on the ice yet! I managed to do my step sequence including the dreaded tap-toes which I missed out last week. I also did some fairly decent camel spins and camel-sit combos.

Flat
I feel soooooo unfit! Also I can't quite imagine ever doing my programme again or landing a lutz, let alone a lutz-loop but I guess that'll come back in good time.

A public session skater had a nasty fall today and had to go off in an ambulance. It's always unnerving seeing that, but never more so than when you are getting over a nasty injury yourself!

Nicki

BOUNCY

It was great, everyone was very good from the tiny tots to my old Dance Coach to the people from HOT ICE!!!!!!

I'm going to dig out my skates and start doing the Wednesday evening 'adult' classes and see how it goes from there. I was listening to music and I could 'feel' myself skating again ... I could even 'feel' the loop! Bet I'm like Bambi on Wednesday though

FLAT

I got very upset, I loved skating, I loved my coaches and then it all went 'kaboom' for us all in very different ways. The last few years have been difficult for us all but HOPEFULLY we're coming out the other end now. It can't get back to how it was then but I HAVE to skate, I know that now. I had to fight back the tears several times this evening. Seeing my old rink and seeing lots of old friends has really opened up a wound that I never realised was still there.

Oh, and I got a sharp reminder of the horror that is 'Skate Moms' and these were only 'Novice Skate Moms' ... that's one thing that I DON'T miss about skating!!!!

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The best whisper is a click

I'm so glad to hear that you're going to start skating again. I always enjoyed reading your reports about your practice sessions. It was always obvious how much you loved skating, and it's good news that you are going back.

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"May the wind be at your back and the sun upon your face and may the wings of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars."

Thanks again everyone for the congrats. I've been working on the gold moves for almost 2 and a half years (I passed the silver moves in the summer of 2003 and the silver free in the fall of 2004). Most of that time was spent running into the boards doing that novice pattern (which...heh... I guess I "get" to work on again--better get out the butt and knee pads)

Bouncy:
Spins are going well. I'm working on some cool layover positions in the sit, and I actually managed to get my free leg to my head on a catchfoot layback. My back didn't like it that much the next day, so I won't be doing it that often, but I'm happy to know that I CAN do it.

Ten Fox went reasonably well in my lesson--I got through six patterns (three solo, three partnered) without scraping that silly 3-turn once! That's an accomplishment for this 3-turn impaired skater!

Flat:
So, just for fun, my coach started showing me some of the OTHER novice moves....oh, like that rocker choctaw (not the quick end pattern). Wow. Talk about a humbling experience. I didn't expect to get this right away, mind you, but I didn't expect to be QUITE so bad at them. Especially the clockwise ones. Ugh. It was ugly.

All but the little pre-schoolers, who don't have a CLUE that when someone comes towards you fast that you should go AWAY from them, NOT go TOWARDS them!!!

Well, your primary coach is a very qualified pairs coach!!! LOL!!! (Okay, my primary coach has skated pairs for a few years too but compare to your primary coach... )

Okay, there is a Bouncy out of it, the back crossovers did improved, but I had to do them slower first to get used to it.

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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!!!

Flat: Well, on warmup for lessons last night, doing crossovers I managed to catch my toepick and dive on the ice. Not just once, but twice (once in each direction)! So my knees and elbows are a bit bruised this morning (and sore). So, the woman who rarely falls has managed 5 in less than 30 days
So, what was heard was: T H U D!! and someone (I think I know who) saying "T O E P I C K!" yeah, there's one in every crowd!

Bouncy: So in lessons (group) we worked on edges, and while everyone else was doing singles, coach showed me how I can "pair" with hubby on his-sort of a warm up for dance/pair skating!!! Once he learned he couldn't LEAN on me (I dropped my arms), he caught on. Then we did Power-3's which were cool, and this Mohawk thing....right mohawk, cross-over, left mohawk, cross-over-which I totally destroyed and it sucked......

On another note: I just picked up 3 more costumes to make....my others are zinging right along. It's easy it you do production-line sewing, eat chocolate and tell your kids to get lost! Actually, when I'm in the basement sewing, I have no idea what they are doing upstairs! Maybe it's better that way...

Oh, yeah, I also have been working on the EVIL BUNNY HOPS !!! I will NOT let them defeat me! I have vowed to spend at least one time per week working on them.....

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

LOL, actually all my coaches are former pairs skaters, and I love that about them all because they are really well suited for saving me if necessary! And it's been necessary a couple of times! You know, if you come to the East coast and stop by here, you might be able to get a lesson! He's picked up several part-time adult students who come into town periodically to work with him.

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August 22, back on the ice!

Flat - Waltz & toe loop - just couldn't get off the ice. Waltz jump: I think I was over preparing, if there is such a thing. Arms too far back. Toe loop: Perhaps toe hop. Learning the loop jump...I need to unlearn my shoulder position for back outside edges in order to prepare,

Bouncy - Scratch spin improved free foot position, Waltz jump came back during post lesson free style session.

So SOOOO tempted!!! But it's quite a bit of a drive from NYC!

__________________
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!!!