I agree! The skating director (who is also the head coach as well as a coach at U of DE) was ticked! They nit-picked every little thing on every skater.

She was late in the swing roll the 2nd time around (and it was almost left out, but it did get done, although rather quickly). The first pattern was perfect.

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

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Congrats!! That is fantastic . . . good work!

I did not do so well with Bronze MITF - well, it really wasn't THAT bad, actually I thought I had passed, and I kind of think my coach did too!! but the judge was looking for a little more . . . lots of little nitpicky things to work on . . . but now I understand that the test not only needs to be powerful but look effortless and beautiful too!! (and I'm sure it wasn't intentional, because the elements that I didn't pass, were pretty close point-wise, but actually, I think the only positive comment was "keep skating" OUCH!)

BUT - I did pass PB FS in the afternoon with extremely positive comments (from another judge though!!). So that went well and made me feel a little better.

The whole test experience was VERY emotionally draining this time around - lots of random stuff going on behind the scenes (coach on crutches from an injury a couple of weeks ago, my grandmother died this past week, etc. etc.) and to top things off, I was scheduled as one of the 1st 2 skaters to skate, which didn't help AT ALL . . . like, one of the comments on the forward power perimeter crossovers (first pattern) was that I looked "stiff" . . . umm, hello, I am 42 and it is 7:30 in the a.m. and I am skating in a short dress in a completely silent arena with one judge watching - that's a no-brainer!!! LOL!!

Congrats on the Pre-Bronze Free, Laura H!
So sorry to hear about your grandmother's passing and the Bronze Moves retest. (((Laura H)))

I've heard similar things about our area testing. One coach remarked that the last high-level MITF test session was a "bloodbath." Not one skater passed. I didn't see it, so I don't know what happened, but it's an issue.

I was skating just okay with my SuperFeet (blue) inserts, but I decided to switch back to my new skates' original leather insoles. No good - I'm definitely off-balance and falling to the outside. Back to the SuperFeet and maybe a blade wedge or two.

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At the last test session, looking at my test papers, coach said she thought that the judges were being overly harsh because of the upcoming changes in moves. That they were being so nit-picky because they thought people were just throwing tests in to get them passed before the change.

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

Well, that's something to think about, although that doesn't excuse being overly harsh and failing a move/dance when it would have previously passed .

Laura H I'm sorry you didn't pass-I felt the same as you, I was in the 3rd group up, taking the ice at 7:50 am. We had a humidity problem and it was too late to take a hit from my inhaler. I could not catch my breath very well and using my inhaler was out of the question as I get shaky.

My coach made sure that I did a thorough off-ice warm-up well beforehand (at 48 I need all the help I can get to start moving that early in the morning).

Question of the day: is it necessary to take the freestyle test or can one just keep taking the moves tests? Just wondering....

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

You can take Moves tests without testing any Freeskate tests, all the way up to the top tests.

The only issue is with competitions: if you've tested more than two moves' levels higher than your freestyle, some people feel that it gives you an unfair advantage. (Not saying it's true or not, it's just the perception.)

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Thanks! I'm not in any hurry to test Bronze (nor am I close to being ready). I wanted to know so I can plan ahead.

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

Adding to the scuttlebutt...I've heard that more people in my area are failing lately--can't tell if it's because skaters are testing before they are truly ready or if the judges have become more picky. It is so difficult to get a good picture, since there's so much variation in standards across the country.

I was just thinking about varying standards last week. An adult skater said she was worried that the judges would be tough in her area because there are very few adults. I wondered if taking a test in an area with a large adult skating population would be more fair, or if the presence of other adults would drive up the judges' standards, making them more tough?

Neatly Pressed: Swapped the insoles, they felt better after I added a wedge under the outside edge.

Hung Out to Dry: Can't stay to skate today after teaching because I have to get somewhere else.

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One of the things that my mom said when I told her this past time that didn't pass and after I told her that I hadn't passed was that she thought it was because I was an adult. I am not going to move like a kid any more and I don't think the judges in my area are used to seeing an adult testing higher level moves. But, there is no basis for that... It is something to think about though. And I'm going to be that rusty wheel until September with these Junior moves if I need to...

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

Neatly Pressed: had a lesson tonight, the first thing my coach asked me was "well, what now?" haha! I told her I was thinking the same thing when I skated on the earlier session! We started on Bronze moves, with the Power 3's. Very cool! Then we moved on to jumps. I landed my flip correctly, once she fixed my arms (grab the bucket). Then it was on to the sit spin....ugh! better but still needs work.

Hung out: sit spin is still icky but getting better. Coach suggested that I "squeeze my arms tight against my body" and I managed to hit another spin before the zam chased us off the ice.

Pressed: have another lesson on Friday, the last lesson of the season. Talked with coach about the spin seminar I saw advertised at The Gardens (in Maryland). She thought it would be good and not a conflict at all. I'm waiting to hear if it's for all levels & includes adults.....

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

Congrats, S@D! Well done! (You too. Laura H, on your PreBronze FS test!)

Hung Out:

Wasn't feeling too well today, but didn't want to cancel last minute. Besides, I've heard of skaters skating in much worse situation and mine is tolerable.

Neatly pressed:
Did okay power pulls. Got a couple of comments (nothing I don't already know.)

Back 3 Turns are better. Sorta found the spot on the foot where I should be now, along with how my torso should be.

Still hung out:

Still have issues with transitioning from FO3 to BI3

Neatly pressed:

I got something I've been waiting for. Thank you, Mrs. Redboots!

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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!!!

Neatly pressed: Tried out my new blades and they felt amazing. I didn't get a chance to jump or spin besides a hurried 2rev scratch at the end but my 3turns were effortless. The instructor was having us hold the back inside edge after a outside 3turn for a count of 6 (beyond easy) and of course I couldn't resist speeding up, turning, and holding the edge for quite a bit longer than 6 counts I haven't even tripped over the toepick yet!

Hung out to dry: I had to wait to try out jumps and spins since I didn't get to do any Saturday! Only two more days.. and even then I have to stroke around for about five minutes before the instructors split us up into our groups.. I know as soon as I step on the ice I'm going to be dying to do a backspin or a salchow! I'll have to sneak some in while the beginners' names are being called (us advanced skaters don't need to say Here, because it's easy for the coaches to see if we're there or not), just in case the coach decides to have us do footwork the whole time.

Neatly pressed: Beginning work on my September program soon, I have private lessons set up for the next few Thursdays.

Hung out to dry: Afraid of what my coach has in mind for me for said private lesson..

My dd did this last year. They divided into a high group and a low group. Don't think I saw any adults, but the Garden's is a very adult friendly place!

Thanks! I still haven't heard back from them (will probably call) but my coach skates there and from what she says, it runs 50/50 between adults & kids so that is good to know.

Did your dd enjoy it? Did it help her or did she go for the social part (cause her friends were going)?

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

Neatly Pressed Well, today was my first day back on the ice after graduation. I kind of made myself take a few days off, so I was itching to get back.

The rink at home has publics in the middle of the day, so it was a nice chunk of time and space to work on moves. Power pulls are slowly but surely getting better, on occasion I can even get the rip of the blade on the pull, but I definitely need to work on power. The pre-juv 3 turn pattern is getting stronger, but now I have to work on getting it bigger. Loop-loops actually had a little distance on them instead of up-down-up-down. Spins were actually nice and centered today.

Hung out to dry Well, I didn't take/pass the pre-juvenile moves test before graduation like I wanted too. But maybe I'll be ready by August to take that, and maybe just maybe if I can get that @#* backspin preliminary FS too.

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~Always Dream!~

Check my progress at www.freewebs.com/sk8tegirl06

Re: Test pickiness - I know in our area that passing a test is getting harder to come by, even things that would have passed even 6 mos ago. I am also aware of a few judges who have made it clear to the local clubs they will NOT sit on a test panel until after Sept 2. Take it for what it's worth...

Neatly Pressed: Finally, finally, finally got my camera back working again after videoing myself 2 weeks ago on silver moves.

Hung out to dry: WOW, does it sure look as though I have no upper body control at all. That's the general impression I get seeing myself go through silver moves. Arms wavey, shoulders bobbly. And believe me, it ain't that I have no upper body strength. I don't know what it is but it isn't attractive!!

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

Went skating today. Does anybody have any tips for getting through a program fast enough? I mainly have problems doing certain spins/jumps at speed so I end up doing the footwork slow too. Of course after my coach noticed me slowing down she made me do toe loops at high speed, of which I only got maybe 2 out of every 10.

Neatly pressed: WOW. I don't know what it was. But my jumps were so easy to land, it was like I was just stepping down into a cloud of cotton candy. I wasn't slamming onto the toepick then wildly rocking back and forth between the toepick and the heel before finding my balance. Just a gentle picking sound, then glide. Today was the first day I jumped on my Coronation Aces. Anybody else have this experience?

Hung out to dry: My 1:30 program is clocking to around 2:30. Speed, speed, speed! Oh, and my salchow has been scared away by my new blades.

This isn't really skating-related (well, maybe it is), but another Neatly Pressed: My allowance has been doubled because I've been good/helpful/mellow lately. So now I get $520 a year, which is enough to buy skates when I need them!! Also, my Saturday classes cost $135 per 8 week session, so when I advance out of Freeskate 6 and can't take them any more, $135 will pay for 4 private lessons, so I could take a private lesson every other week and not have to pay for it out of my money.

(Is a half hour private lesson every other week, and about 4-5 hours of practice, plus an hour group lesson every week, enough practice to land axels consistantly? Is it better to practice jumps in lesson or in personal practice?)

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Right Brain: In the distant future, I will land all of the doubles.
Left Brain: HAHAHAHAHA
Left Brain: You can't even do a backspin.
Right Brain: ...

figurekb on YouTube.

Hung Out:
Back power pulls on my right foot is still off due to the fact that my blade alignment is still off on that foot. What's more, my blade guy is on jury duty and cannot make any appointments 'til he is no longer needed for another year.

Apparently, I can't seemed to do RFI mohawks. Now I don't know if it's b/c of the blade alignment or it's just me, but right now I'm having a major mental block...

Neatly Press:
Well, I could still do a pretty decent power pulls (both forwards and back) on the left foot.

ETA:
Just saw on his website that he's excused from jury duty for another year!!! Blade alignment is set for NEXT Tuesday!!!

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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!!!

Blade guy stalker!

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Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

Tee hee hee... nah... I contacted him yesterday and he was ranting and raving about jury duty and how he might end up on another Scott Petersen Case. (Funny observation: The blade guy's shop and my other rink is in Redwood City... same city as where the Scott Petersen case was tried... NO JOKE! ) And he kept making a comment about his website saying so too... (Yeah, yeah! Already saw that.)

This morning I went to check that website to see if indeed he was gonna do jury duty and his outgoing message is "he's not and is spared for another year!!!" So that's when I called him to set the appointment. I want this blade and my crummy power pulls and RFI mohawks FIXED NOW!!! (And I also need a sharpening too! )

And I know who YOU stalk online, Ms. AgnesNitt!!!

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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!!!

Well, I wouldn't call it stalking. I just read his skating articles. Honest.

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Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

SUUUURE...

Yeah, he's a very popular writer amongst the adult skating crowd. At least two people "shared" his article on their Wall on FB! . Shame he had to miss out on competing this year. (But I know for a fact that he's doing very well skating wise. (He told me he's taking his Silver FS very soon.)

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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!!!