In honor of my best double jump practice ever yesterday, let's talk about clean or cheated, LOL!

CLEAN
Landed 5 double sals in a row, then, after skating 2-1/2 hours, started working on double toes. To my surprise, I landed the very first one, and the second one and the third one and the fourth one! I ended up landing 12 out of 20 attempts, which is the best I've ever done. I am thrilled that I'm finally breaking through that "takeoff-psych" rut I was in for so long on that jump!

CHEATED
My flying camel seems to have lost its wings. Also, my RFI entry into my backspin is absolutely whacked. So embarrassing to be landing doubles and not be able to do a stupid backspin. I feel like a dunce.

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Wow! That is grrrrreat! Good for you!

It is interesting to note that the jump entry psych-out is relative to all levels. My "cheated" this week is almost balking, like a horse at a jump, at the lutz. I'm just learning it, and very, very afriad I guess. Sigh. I'll glom on vicariously to your double sal success and hope it filters down to my pathetic flips and my lutz attempts! LOL!!!!

Congrats, doubletoe <fuming with jealousy>

Clean:

-First lesson in a while today. Yay! Whaddya know? I was doing ALL KINDS of things wrong in attempting a spin. No wonder I was getting nowhere. . . It is so nice to have someone (coach) look at you, when you've been stabbing in the dark for so long, and have her see exactly what's wrong so I can fix it.
-Finally touched on the BFI consecutive edges for bronze. All four of the edges are coming along nicely.

Cheated:

Man, I felt tired today. And sloppy and unsteady on stuff that's usually easy for me--mohawks, crossovers. Not confident enough to try the 1/2 flip or more than a couple of waltz jumps. Hopefully I'll feel more energetic on Wednesday.

Just want to send a quick CONGRATS to doubletoe for getting thru this "takeoff-psych" thing. Care to share about it??? (Since "some of us" (pointing to myself) might have similar issues???)

__________________
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!!!

Thanks, everybody.
Well, I think that the fix for the "takeoff-psych" may depend on the jump. It does for me, anyway. My reason for the takeoff psych on the double toe is that it's the first jump where I really have to cross my legs in the air, and that is still out of my comfort zone (on the double sal, the free leg is in front, but not really crossed; same with the axel). What got me through my double toe takeoff-psych was this:
1. Make sure my takeoff is perfect. Do lots of singles and listen for the gap between the sound of my takeoff and the sound of my landing. That way, I know what the timing is and I know how much time I have in the air to do the rotation.
2. Once the takeoff is right, don't worry about what to do once I'm up in the air. Just think, "Land!" and my body will just take over and get me backwards and ready to land. It's weird, but I now understand what my coach meant when he tried to tell me, "Go for the landing."

But I have had lutz takeoff-psychs before, and what worked for me on that was just to change the entrance. If I got weirded out by the back crossover entry, I'd do the mohawk-crossover entry so I didn't have to deal with that long back outside edge and over-think it. Fortunately, I now do it from an outside spread eagle so I also don't have to sit on that long back outside edge and over-think. It has now been so long that I did the back crossover entry that last time I tried it, I psyched myself out and couldn't do it, LOL!

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Way to go!!
Didn't do much in the way of jumps today- my practice was more moves focused.
Feeling a lot better about this test than I did on Saturday during my online rant. I have come to the conclusion that I need to focus on my test and no one else, and other than the power threes, this test has the "kick a$$ potential" I want.




Cheated:
Loop was not there today at all!

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Clean - back on the ice after a summer hiatus. It all came back and no falls!! A beginner adult skater told me she thought I was a pretty skater and she enjoyed watching me. I was pleased.

Cheated - Little did she know that I am a struggling adult, stuck on free skate 4 was practicing the things I don't struggle on such as back cross overs, back edges and waltz / toe.

Thanks, Terri.
And I'm so happy to hear you are showing those moves who's boss!

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

As usual I think I'll reverse things to be contrary...

I MUST have been cheating...:

• ...but I have video to prove it! I took my camera along today, and first thing, decided to film a scratch spin. Then I watched it, realized that the lighting from that angle sucks (don't point camera towards windows) so you can only see the lower half of my body clearly, but the spin was not only perfectly centered, but it attained THIRTY-FOUR revolutions!! watch and see!
• Worked on edges and 3-turns for a couple hours (gah, I need to do this a lot more often...) After that worked on back power pulls and strived for power and the ripping sound and a stationary upper body...did surprisingly well and was able to pull a LOT of acceleration and speed out of them. Would have videoed but the battery ran out (and I've lost the charger ).

Phew, a clean escape!

• How does one overrotate a waltz like this and not die? I dunno, but I'm glad I didn't.
• Everything else was pretty off today...more evidences here.

Oh, and I fancified my website at http://kc.sk8rland.com/

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Wow, that's amazing, Casey!
Unfortunately, when I click on the link, I get the picture of the empty rink, but nothing else when I press Play.

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

maybe try right-clicking it, saving it somewhere, and then opening it with some other program like realplayer or quicktime?

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Clean:

Both of my programs at Buckeye over the weekend!

I skated up to Silver in compulsories and took 2nd out of 3! I also skated my 1st ever interp and took 2nd out of 3 again!

This gives me hope that I will get out of the cellar in Bronze!

Cheated:

I skated 2 hours this evening, but, since my body was still tired from the weekend, I really wasn't able to do anything.

I don't skate again until Sunday, so I should be completely back to normal by then!

Ok, I posted this on another thread too, but I am so happy about this one that I'm telling everyone I know...

Clean:
PASSED the Intermediate Moves, by all three judges on the panel. Two judges actually gave me some extra points. After 2.5 years, I can kiss the stinking power circles, the evil brackets in the field, and the diabolic back power threes good bye and good riddance!!
(Of course, pennybeagle's coach says "well, you can keep working on those power circles for the junior moves." ...and pennybeagle thinks, "uhm.... what junior moves???")

Also clean... landed my first ever axel combo in a competition at Buckeye. Of course, I proceeded to have a 30-second celebratory brain fart right after that during which I partially missed a flying camel and completely popped a lutz combo into a half-lutz and nothing else...but only coaches care about things like that

Cheated:
Decided against my better judgement to go skating this evening even after the long weekend competition and test session. I think I spent more time socializing than skating, so that was a practice session (not) well spent, but oh well.

Congratulations, pennybeagle! And flying~camel! And way to go with the moves, Terri! And congrats to doubletoe on your...well...double toe! A girl I skate with landed her double toe clean for the first time tonight - must be something in the air.

Clean:
Well, the ice was much better at my weeknight rink tonight than it was on Thurs. The end is no longer blocked off and is now skateable - actually, the end areas seemed to be the smoothest places, probably b/c the maintenance people had to spend the most time fixing them.

Had a lesson on my program with my program coach/choreographer tonight. Boy, do I have a lot of work to do before HC. I've added some new elements and they need a lot of fine-tuning. But I did have some success with the change sit. I need to work on strengthening my right leg to be able to hold the sit position longer.


Cheated:
Flip still needs major work - among other things, the timing isn't quite right yet - that takeoff psych problem - lol. I'm also losing a lot of speed on my footwork.

Actually, everything tonight was a bit of a struggle, b/c I attended an off-ice conditioning class held upstairs from the rink before the FS sessions. After all the running, jumping, and stretching, my legs felt like jelly. Plus, I was winded. Yikes, I am waaay out of shape. I will definitely be sore tomorrow.

__________________
Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

CONGRATS TO PENNYBEAGLE!!! WTG!!!

Yeah, now you can finally skate the ENTIRE rink instead of just sections of it! (Nice to be back at that rink, huh?)

Clean: Backspins, sit spins, one foot spins

Slightly Cheated: Waltz jump, toe loop, salchow. I'm now working on kicking thru higher on the waltz and the salchow and the toe-waltz that is my toe loop. Should be interesting fun...

Really cheated:

• The ice!!! Oy vei! It was already slushy by the time I got on the ice and the session was only in session for like 15 minutes! Geez!!
• Still working on loops. My brain was mush by the end of the session as was the ice!!!
• Nearly killed myself trying to land clean on the flip. I was all twisted up and had to push out w/the free foot to get myself out of it. AI YI YI...
• Lower back was hurting again but on the spinning side tonight! Tried for a camel... mind was willing but the body wasn't.

__________________
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!!!

Hey, great news on the Double Toe, Double Toe!

Cheated

Where do I start? Just blogged....

Clean
Back spin and Salchow.

Yes, you heard right. Back spin and salchow, of all things.

I had my free skate lesson yesterday tea time, and coach was really ripping into my poor technique on a number of things. The thing is, though, whereas a couple of months ago I would have been devastated and hated myself for being a crappy skater, instead I am just more determined to go back to the drawing board and work really hard to correct things.

I think someone mentioned on another thread about the skating 'biological clock' - the pressure one puts on oneself to make progress. This is exactly what I have been doing; always telling myself I 'should' be better, 'should' do this, 'should' do that.

I've finally come to realise that it doesn't matter if I'm not competing by next summer, and I'm still trying to perfect a waltz jump, what does matter is that I love skating and if I have to re-learn the more simple elements before I move on, so be it.

So instead of stepping off the ice mortified, I stepped of the ice smiling. Now I'm not putting pressure on myself it's like a great weight's been lifted...

S xxx

__________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

Er, sheesh! You've got to get that free leg in front during the jump! I'm surprised you didn't kill yourself too. You've got great speed and excellent lift to the jump, but the wide-swinging free leg pulled you completely off your axis. That left hip is so far behind there's no chance of checking that properly.

That spin was great.

I still haven't been able to see the video clip but based on this description, here's a great exercise you might find useful:

Stand on the floor with your feet shoulder width apart and your shoulders directly over your feet ("star" position). Keeping your feet where they are, rotate your torso 1/4 turn CW so that your right foot is now in front and your left foot is in back, and you are squarely facing front. This will be your 1st position in the air, right after you take off and bring your free leg through to the front. Now, still keeping your feet in the same spot, rotate your torse 1/4 turn CCW so your torso is once again in star position (squared over your hips and your shoulders are over your feet). This is your 2nd position in the air. Notice only your torso rotated; your feet and legs stayed in the same place. Now rotate your torso another 1/4 turn CCW so that you are facing the same direction as your left leg. This is your 3rd position in the air. Once again, notice your legs stayed in the same place the whole time; only your torso rotated. Now put all your weight on the right foot, lift the left foot and scissor the left leg straight back to get into landing position. This is the only time a leg moves, and it scissors straight back, right next to the other one, no arc at all. Now try to do each of these positions sequentially in the air. At the height of your waltz jump, you should be in the middle position (body in star position and torso facing north if you took off facing east).

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Sonic, awesome attitude! And don't forget, when your basics are solid, you are more likely to zip through the next levels quicker instead of hitting a plateau and having to re-learn everything. It's a good investment.

CLEAN
Well, to follow up my best double jump practice ever, this morning I had my best Intermediate MIF practice ever! I stepped on the ice and immediately started on the power circles, then,with no further warmup, I went straight to the dreaded back power 3's and nailed the whole pattern--both ends and both directions--without screwing up! Wow!! Then I had my MIF lesson and finally got my coach to verbalize what I need to do to stop getting stuck on my back outside brackets (a problem I've had forever). I finally got an answer out of her that made sense, so I'm hoping that will be the final breakthrough that makes all 4 sets of brackets equally consistent.

CHEATED
I stillo need to work on the back double 3's a little more to make sure I wait long enough before the first turn and bend deeply before every turn so I don't jump any of them. But I have almost a month before I test, so I think I can nail those and the BO brackets by then.

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Re: Casey's overrotated waltz... (GOOD LORD!!!)

Terri: Glad you're feeling better about your moves...

F~c: Don't worry! You'll be out of the cellar in Bronze at AN soon enough... if I was in your age group, I will probably take over the cellar instead.

Clean (well almost):
My run thru of my Bronze FS test program. Secondary coach wants to see it to spot things to work on besides the loop! I landed everything and did all the spins and jumps...all but the loop!!!

Cheated:
Didn't take too long... I have to work on the flow, the stroking (vs. stepping) thru my program and extension!!! (But good to know now!!! Boy do I need to practice that program to music more often! )

We also had to rework my push-out on my backspin b/c of the rules for testing. I heard that, for standard track test anyway, there needs to be a definitely push out to BO edge or a step crossover to BO edge after all spins! I was doing step crossover to FO edge in my program!!! (Okay, you judges out there! Is this true? I've never heard of this before...)

__________________
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!!!

Terri, the loop *will* be there! Good job on moves work. Nice to see you are feeling way better about testing these. And a congrats to flying camel, that's great. Also to Pennybeagle. Wow! You guys are doing good things with your skating!

My lesson is tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Perhaps I'll have something to add that's clean or cheated.

Awe all you "advanced" skaters and your fancy moves! Poor ol' me just struggling to get the basics

Clean: Nice light session, fast ice, but COLD rink! (Now I know why everybody wears two pair of tights with a skating dress - BURRR! I'm cold in places that shouldn't oughtta be cold!)

Worked extensively on RFO3s (out of back Mohawk) - getting the turn ok (usually) but working on the check and coming out on balance. LFO3s still don’t have a good snap turn. Worked a little on the Left Forward Mohawk - don’t quite have it yet.

As a break from 3-Turns, I worked on backward stroking (coming REAL nice!) and back edges. RBO isn’t bad, LBO is improving a lot! Back Inside edges work ok. Maybe back cross-overs before long?

Cheated: After 1:15 and all the work on RFO3s, my sprained ankle was getting pretty sore. I guess next session should focus on LFO3s and forward Mohawks and give the bad ankle a rest. It'll probably mean a continuation of physio-therapy, but that's ok - I like being pampered
.
Winter Storm Watch in effect, heavy snow, reduced visibility but fortunately the roads are still warm enough that they weren’t icy.

When I mentioned competing in the spring to my coach, she said "We'll talk." Oh oh, don't like the sound of that - it usually means she's going to let the air out of my baloon!

__________________
Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Cheated:
Waltz jumps slept in this morning and just would NOT take off. ...and mine are little nerdy hoppy things as they are already. Camel spin at 06:30 is not the same as Camel spin at 14:30 .
I went to the gym only to find that my kickboxing class was cancelled. so instead, I did some abs exercises, stretching and free weights to bide the time (so that when I skate pairs someday, I will be ready for those press and star lifts!)

Clean:
Had a great lesson today! Coach and I worked on falling sit spin exercises. She was like at some progress being made. Also worked on program elements for our upcoming holiday show: Waltz -tap toe, Salchow -toe loop, (almost) layback spin, back spirals to fwd spirals, bauer, back outside pivot, and footwork. Interconnecting steps seem less wobbly. We hope to add a falling leaf, or half loop or loop.

Ah well, it had to come to an end at some point, right?

CHEATED
Well, I just plain SUCKED today! My flying camel is still AWOL and I had a hard time in my program, only completing 2 out of my 3 spins, skipping both the axel and double sal, slowing to a crawl at the end of my spiral sequence and finishing after my music (a -1 deduction in competition). Blechh. I felt OLD this morning! No energy.

CLEAN
Boy, this is a tough one this morning! The only things I can think of are that my forward crossovers into the spread eagle-lutz-loop-toeloop were smoother and stronger in practice this morning. I don't remember if I managed to replicate it in my actual program or not. . .

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Cheated:

-Fast hockey guy with zero control over his skating on the session today. He's a runner doing some cross-training, so he was jetting around the rink as fast as possible, in attempts to look like a speed skater. Despite his lengthy infomercial to me about how he'd had his sharpener flatten the skates, he really didn't know how to skate. Obviously strong, but he came VERY close to hitting me and several other skaters. GRR!!
-Forgot my socks today so had to skate barefoot. HOLY BLISTERS, BATMAN!! Owwww. I bailed after an hour. From this time forth I will simply carry along, always, the official practice dress and tights I am too wimpy to wear, because given how absentminded I've been lately, I'll need them sometime. And too bad for those who will see me in a skirt and think I might actually know what I'm doing, because I don't really!!
-It dawned on me last night that I'd left my hard guards on the boards on Monday. Didn't even realize it until last night.

Clean:
BI edges are improving. Also, 3-turns are steadier. . . my waltz 8 still looks like some sort of mutant vegetable though.

Question: Does anyone else think that the Bronze moves look easier than the Pre-Bronze moves?? I really think the PB 3-turn pattern and waltz 8 are harder than anything on the Bronze test (all of which, strangely, looks like stuff I can actually do, right now). Am I just weird?