My new PSA Moves in the Field booklet came last week and I attended a MITF workshop today awesome! The DVD is supposed to be really good, except that the only one available on the PSA site only includes the new/revised moves. You have to use the older DVD to research unchanged moves.

If you haven't already purchased a copy of the PSA Moves Booklet (5th Edition), do it! It's outstanding: next to each pattern, they've listed the focus, test standards/expectations, common errors and teaching tips. I especially like the "Extra Credit" notes. EVERY Moves test is included in its own section - no more flipping pages to find the scattered patterns for a particular Adult track test.

The Requirements section gives the exact rules on How to Pass, Focus Points, and Marking. There's some notes about communication between candidates, judges and coaches as well as some clear "do this, not that" instructions.

There are references to various elements, such as Twizzles, that refer the reader to the "Definitions" section at the end of the book. There, they've defined what the element should look like and what is acceptable/not acceptable.

For example, under "Twizzle," part of the definition specifically states "A series of checked three-turns is not acceptable, as this does not constitute a continuous action."

At our Moves Seminar, twizzles and loops were covered in detail because of the upcoming 9/2/2010 changes to MITF. The seminar leader and several other coaches gave me some new insight to performing, and teaching, twizzles and loops.

My notebook is in the car, but for loops, start by teaching one-foot circles with the free leg and shoulder checked for the first half. Then teach the loops on two feet, with the free leg trailing for the first half of the loop, coming forward for the second half. From there, the skaters can move on to one-foot loop figures.

When I get my notebook, I'll add a few other notes to this thread.

__________________

It sounds like someone at USFS actually listened to the complaints out there about past handbooks! I used to dread looking stuff up in them - ended up taking the pages out of the binder and sorting them the way I needed them.

Oh wait - just reread, the PSA did it well, who's to say the USFS will have a clue?

I'm doubly greatful now that daughter Icy passed senior moves before college last year. No new moves to learn, no more lessons to pay for!

Glad to know that there is great info out there though - thanks for sharing!

__________________
blades, gary, Lucy, Emily, take care of Aiden and Sami. Sami is my sweetest heart, and always will be, forever. RIP Cubby Boy, my hero dog.

I ended up purchasing one of the books for myself and it has been so invaluable. I am working on the new senior moves and it is so helpful to have those patterns right there for me. I am hoping to work on them and maybe test them sometime this year.

I also have some basic skills students who I would like to start their pre-pre moves. I know there aren't any changes there, but I don't want to get caught.

I am liking the same things that Isk8NYC does about the book. Plus, the diagrams seem to be bigger than the USFS test book.

I will need my coach or someone to teach me the twizzle and the loop patterns. Or perhaps I will be able to make it to a seminar sometime soon. Who knows!

__________________
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

The new DVD shows them. I went in with 3 other coaches to buy one, so it only cost us about $12 apiece including shipping! We just pass it around, since you don't need it all the time. Maybe there are some coaches at your rink who'd be interested in sharing like that?