In light of all the planes, trains and broomsticks taken to practice and competitions.

On time: Had a great couple of days practice with Rob in Atlanta. Our music is cut, program is started, and we've smoothed out quite a few elements.

Fogged in: Our limiting factor will be time. Whatever the outcome, it's been great.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Fogged in:
Nearly fell today on a LFI edge in the F power crossovers. I couldn't figure out what happened at first, because my FI edges are rock solid. Went at it slowly, and I could feel the geometry of my foot shift! The *$&# foot is collapsing inside the boot in spite of having it laced as tightly as possible. I'm so bummed out over this !

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Wow, what another great Monday!

On time:

Loops, loops, and more loops! After struggling with this jump for months I randomly "got" the timing of it from the back crossovers. How easy it is now! I just love loops! I decided to see if I could do a loop loop and gosh darn...I did it! Next session I'm going to see if I can do a loop loop loop. Heehee. My good session didn't end there. I had a great lesson and ironed out the bumps in my program. Then I worked on flips, which were a little lacking in height and slightly cheated, but overall great improvement (especially after only landing flips for 2 weeks!). I also had some great sit spins and some AWESOME change foot spins! Worked on half lutzes because I know that the *full lutz* will be coming soon! Yay!

Fogged In:

Some minor things to fix in flips, but once they're fixed and I better understand the mechanics of the jump I'll have it! Fell several times at first trying to put loops together, but it was overall successful! Upright spins weren't as centered as normal at the beginning of the session, but by the end they were ok! Backscratch is sloooooooooowly making progress!

On Time: Dance class tonight went fairly well, we have the Dutch Waltz pretty well nailed.

Fogged in: She started into the Cha-Cha, with no explanation or break-down of the steps, just a "demo" mode-follow the leader style of teaching I really don't care for....She did this for the waltz, and I ended up taking the boys (adult men) around many times trying to teach them (we found out if they followed and I yelled out the steps it worked, as long as the synchro team didn't have their music on really loud).

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

Congrats on your loops and flips, DressageChica! I struggled with the loop for many many months, and it was a breakthrough moment when I figured out how to land the darn thing on one foot. Doesn't it feel great! Your loops will help your flips and your backscratch, too (the feeling of keeping the free hip up instead of dropped is similar in the loop and the backspin).

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

Posting for yesterday since it ended up in last week's by mistake:

On time: the Rhythm Bues - and on pattern!! Whee ...but...

Fogged in: ...only when I did it with the coach. On my own? To the pattern? Nuh uh.

Fogged in: Found I'd lost my bunion pad again, and no hope of getting it back this time . And, of course, I can't find another one on the on-line version of our local pharmacy, where I got the first one. Oh well, had to skate without it, which did mean I was terrified that my foot would hurt, and probably had my skate not quite tight enough.

Husband being a pain about how much or how little my Fiesta had improved - Coach said it wasn't there yet, but was coming, but Husband tried to pretend he knew better than Coach and that it was still hopeless. I told him he'd better go and test it himself, solo, if he wanted..... so we moved on to our new free dance!

On Time: Well, we've choreographed the first 15 seconds or so.... fun! Coach is taking the music home to have a listen and get some ideas. I said I wanted us to push our boundaries a bit - we can always take stuff out if it's too hard, but we won't know if it is until we try. Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.....

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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!

On Time: Skated in my new skates for the first time yesterday. They feel lighter and by the end of the session, my back crossovers sounded less scratchy.

Fogged in: Couldn't do much in the way of either freestyle or moves. I managed some very small waltz jumps and toe loops at the end of the hour. Forget the salchow or loop. Spinning felt weird, when I tried it - of course, the blades are newly sharpened and are 1/4 inch shorter than my previous blades, so it's a lot to get used to. And today, I've got shin splints - ouch! Has anyone else had this happen when breaking in new boots?

On Time: Okay, I haven't posted much lately because I didn't want to jinx it.....but a great improvement has appeared & has stuck around for a few weeks now, so I think I can claim it as my own & not just something that's passing through!

It isn't really one specific thing, it's just that my balance has greatly improved & it's making a huge difference in my dance.

I think what's done it is that a couple weeks ago I went back to basics (yet again) & spent about 2 weeks just doing edges & progressives, focusing on the rebend/change of edge before the new stroke. At first I could only do this very slowly, which showed me I hadn't ever been really balanced & had been somewhat falling onto the new foot. Now I can do it reasonably fast, & it makes for much more secure edges.

I've been taping my practices & having my coach tape parts of my lessons & studying those has been a huge help. And also very gratifying to now see a reasonably bent knee both forwards and backwards in my exercise drills. I am very, very happy!!

Debbie: someone just last week told me a good exercise for shinsplints: in bare feet, put a towel on the floor & use your toes to grab it & pull it toward you, a little at a time.....IOW, your foot/heel will remain in the same place all the time, & your toes will kind of reach, grab & pull, then reach again, grab & pull, little by little. Hope that makes sense! Might be worth a try.

On Time or Fogged In BOTH coaches have decided I should re-test American Waltz again on the test session the end of the month.

So I skated a bit this morning to practice bits and pieces (having Finally gotten my blades sharpened on Sunday), and realized that when I stroke onto LBO to do back swing or back swing roll, I really am not solidly over my skating side. Come to think about it, that was always the weaker edge on the Tango cross-back chasses, also.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

On Time:
I think I have a schizoid left foot . It was OK this morning. Maybe it has to do with how tired I am.... I can always hope.

Anyway, I was prompted by a post on another board to watch Charlie Butler's "Physics on Ice, Vol. 1" again last night after not having seen it for a few years. It was a real eye opener in many ways, and I went to the rink this morning with specifics in mind, and DH to watch and critique. I've been very lazy with my extension, and also have been moving my arms past my shoulder position on F crossovers. Didn't realize it was wrong till the video. I worked on both and improved both. Charlie talks about "exploding" off the BI edge in B crossovers, and that was something that I remembered, but don't usually do, because I'm not comfortable with the speed it produces...duh. On the almost empty morning ice, though, and the wider than usual rink in the park, I wasn't afraid to do it, and also got to demo it to a couple of other adults who were interested.

Charlie goes into this in great detail, and I worked on it too, and did improve, but need to do just what you did, Phoenix, and keep at it daily!

Fogged In:
Broke at the waist when changing feet on B power pulls, and by then I was so tired that I didn't try again. My stamina is still not what it was before the bronchitis .

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on time: performed my old programme for new coach - it was probably actually just about the best I have ever done it, despite not having skated it through for some time - (since before Christmas when old coach left).

I think he was quite impressed as I landed all the jumps and have lots of 'arms' and the spins were fine. I was so out of breath at the end though - and it's only 1min 30secs - I must do something to improve my stamina.

Coach got my flip back for me after a little work - he does seem to be good at pinpointing exactly what I am doing wrong each time which is very helpful. Ended the session by doing all my single jumps followed by a cherry (toe-loop) and much to my surprise and coach's, I even landed the Flip-Cherry. I'm scared to try it again til next lesson though as without coach's methods of leading me up to these things I doubt I will land it.

Also practised Lutz take-off and landing, minus the rotation - that's OK but not sure what will happen when I try to rotate too

fogged in : nothing really - had a really enjoyable skate and am getting used to new coach's different style of teaching.

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'skating is not just a sport - it is an obsession'

That one is very good for also building up the muscle in your arch!! I did that one when I had plantar fasciitis (painful!!!!) You can also PUSH the towel out with your toes.

Another good one (you can do anywhere) is to sit down and just pull your foot UP slowly-you can do that as many times a day as many times as you want. It builds up the muscle in front (anterior tibialis). Please do both legs. Plus, you get a bit of stretch through the calf.

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

As do I! Phoenix, I salute you!

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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!

DOH!!! Sorry to hear about it, Debbie!

I don't know about shin splint in new boots but I had them with my old black boots while waiting for my second/current pair of purple boots!!!

Also, I don't know about Klingbeils, but my understanding from both Riedell and Harlick is never to jump during the first few session of breaking in new boots, no matter how comfortable the boots feel. Harlick says it makes it harder to mold to your feet.

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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!!!

For today: on time - the Rhythm Blues. By myself!! And I knew it well enough to teach it to DH, who will do it with Coach on Friday. Whee!! Also on time (or even early) - the Dutch Waltz, together. We almost had too *much* edge in the swing rolls - came around so far that we were almost past perpendicular to the barrier! And yes, I think (?) we set down on the edge rather than stepping in. Best of all, Coach was watching from the side...which means that I'll find out we stepped in next week. (I reckon this is an "on time" because it's a whole lot easier to ease off on the edge at speed than to add more edge...)

Fogged in - not much. Had a great session.

Talked to my coach about dance lessons. He says okay, but first I need to learn a few more moves and turns.

So today I learned the waltz 8 footwork in a straight line. (And, um, my first three turns.)

Fogged in: I'd fooled around with 3-turns before, but I think my coach forgot that he's never shown them to me. So it was a bit of a shock on 1-2-3, turn-2-3.

The LFO 3-turn is escaping me. I expect this will be easier once I learn it on a curve. I think I am ending up with my shoulders rotating the wrong way.

On-time: By the end of the lesson I could do the first 3-turn at speed with a minimal of scraping, and the whole first half of the pattern.


Not bad for the first lesson in three months.

Wheeeeeeee what a fun lesson today. Not sure why, but it just was.I’ll take it considering how awful Saturday felt. It was about 30 below in the rink so I took my time warming up and stretching out. Then we got to work - Beth could tell I need my blades sharpened so I’m not totally crazy. Worked on crossovers, perimeter stroking, and the new 3 turn pattern. I wrote about the specifics in my journal...no need to bore you here. Let's just say everything was better by the end of the lesson - but everything still needs a ton of work.

The best part of the lesson though? I had mentioned that one day I’d love to coach, and Beth was like, “Why wait?”. She said I can assist during group lessons to start getting experience with coaching. Then in a few years when I pass my tests, join the PSA and have some credibility I can start with group lessons and privates already having some experience under my belt. Bonus - I get free ice time for helping out. 1 free freestyle session for every class I assist with - since I don’t skate on freestyle I’m hoping to get two publics - the freestyle is 12 and the public is 6 so I don’t see why they wouldn’t do it. Either way I’m very excited about it.

After my lesson I worked on jumps on my own. My waltz jump is really starting to get a lot better and I’m feeling much more confident with it. Salchow from the line was good - not from back crossovers. Loop jumps were very good. Flips kept getting two footed, but I was working on the entry and whatever I was doing wasn’t working - I was trying to control the 3 turn more and it was throwing off everything else in the jump.

Spins are still terrible - I can’t even center a basic 1 foot spin. I’m hoping it just has to do with my blades needing a sharpening. I was able to do a crappy camel or two, and a crappy camel-sit. I also did a couple of backspins that weren’t too shabby.

I think I might videotape my moves on Friday and also a couple of jumps and spins to see if I improved at all since last month. I’m more interested in getting a baseline for my pre-bronze moves so next month I can see if I’ve improved. I’ve never taped anything other than jumps and spins so I’m bracing myself for whatever I might look like. On the plus side there was a girl working on Intermediate MIF and my coach said my crossovers were about as good as hers - although to me hers looked quite sad so…I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not lol.

Here’s to Friday!

On Time: back swing rolls much improved. I'm starting to consistently get the re-bend on the push to the next back swing roll. Next is to speed up the timing during the whole drill so that I'm doing them to proper speed for the American Waltz.

Parts of the American Waltz better today, probably from working on the re-bend on the back swing rolls/back swings. Now to control my shoulders on the step-forwards into the 3-turns and do nice neat "touch and go" turns.

Fogged In: Got a new suggestion for an exercise from Phoenix... so I tried part of it today. Basically it's getting up some speed then going down the long axis of the rink backwards on 1 foot (changing feet halfway down the rink), while rising and rebending, concentrating on not only good posture and proper weighting on the blade, but keeping a good strong extension. Luckily the early morning session was relatively empty. I quickly realized that my front extension with my left leg isn't as strong as my front extension with my right leg.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

Why are you NOT doing them on a curve???!

3 turns are ALWAYS done with good solid curve going in and coming out. Which edge you're on determines what kind of turn it is.

Probably because the PSA video on MIF tells you to teach three turns on a straight line first . There are quite a few teaching tips on those videos that I don't agree with, and that is one.

There is a Novice move that is done on the flat and is called bracket-three-bracket. I've never understood why they insist that the turns are either brackets or threes, since no edges are employed. Even taking into account the shoulders and direction of rotation, the turns can't be determined without the edges.

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I'm working on that move & it's a little deceiving--you are on an edge just before & after the turns, it's just very brief. If you look at the tracings you'll see what I mean.

For last night's session:
Fogged in: Took a while to "feel" right on the ice and get warmed up.
On time: Ran through my program (wearing my alternate dress, which I like better) and it was very nice-coach said "it's a done deal." I'm to do 2 run-thrus every time I skate. Talked about the warm-up for the competition on Sunday...half a lap of fwd stroking and crossovers, half a lap of backwards crossovers, jumps (waltz, toe-loop, salchow, 1/2 flip), spins, spiral. I skate at 6 p.m. and now the whole family wants to come (only because my hubby promised a dinner at Annie's on Kent Narrows, but we end so late we might not be able to go.) He did mention going beforehand, but I'm not sure how my tummy will be. Although, before shows I do eat about 2-3 hours beforehand. We are planning to get there about 2 hours early.

Worked on waltz-loop for about 20 minutes (out of a 30 minute session). She tweaked a few things, such as my push-off foot needs to point more, as does my landing foot. I did manage a few entirely off the right foot! Not getting all the way around as my upper body isn't behaving. But there is progress! I am finally getting my weight over to the right side! And, on one, I accidentally got my free foot in back, but I kicked it to the front to "save" it(she laughed at that). As long as I don't hunch over, the position is right and my weight is in the right spot. The massage I had last week, and the weight-lifting I've been doing has been helping to strengthen those muscles. She did notice my posture was much better!

Hit backspins for the last bit. I was actually able to do several one-revolution! Then she had me try a one-foot spin on my left, then switch to the right foot....AND I DID A 3 REVOLUTION BACKSPIN!!!!!!! I was so happy I screamed and people thought I fell and hurt myself (my daughter called me a freak-so what).

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

This was for yesterday, but I wasn't on-line to post it then!

I'm now in the "Phoenix Camp" with a lot of exercises to do to increase my power and flow and speed. Coach thinks if I make a point of working on them every day, everything will improve. At the moment I have to do one lap of forward outside swing rolls, focussing on extension, on bringing my feet together and really bending my knees into them (got some better edges than ever before on those!) followed by a lap of forward stroking on outside edges but as fast as possible. Then I have to do it all backwards!

As for the cross-cuts, coach and I reckoned it was like anything else in skating - first of all you can't do it at all, then you can do it about once in a hundred tries, then you can do it about once in ten tries, then you gradually improve until you're doing it right about 9 times out of 10, at which point you test it. I'm at the "once in ten tries" stage, but am beginning to know what is going on with it. Can't always fix it if it starts wrong, though.

Back cross-rolls are really improving now. Not sure if they're quite up to test standard yet, but not long. They need a tad more flow - I'm having to regain momentum on each push, instead of maintaining it - but I passed my forwards x-rolls with less flow than these ones have!

Coach has given my Interp routine the go-ahead and thinks I should go for it. He wants more oomph in the middle bit, though, but I think it will come. Of course, how it pans out depends on what the judging panel want to see - if they want great skating, that's me b&gg&r&d!

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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!