Shiny Blades
-Landed 2sal+2loop and 2flip+2loop first try after not attempting them for a while!
-Had a lesson on Novice moves. My coach said I have a good foundation for the slow rocker choctaws and was pleased with my forward inside back inside rolling 3s. She also told me I have pretty spirals
-Some of what my coach has us working on in terms of edge work and pushes and the run of the blade is finally starting to sink in. She's pointed out the improvement, but, more importantly, I can FEEL it.

Rusty Eges
-Not much! Really stiff and sore all over from the fall I took yesterday, but it didn't seem to affect my skating too too much.

Oh, and we came up with a plan for my testing. From now on, we're gonna bring in a tough judge to evaluate me before my tests. I'm retaking Intermediate Moves July 22nd, then throwing Novice moves out July 28th. I'm hoping between feedback on the July 28th Novice moves (I'm assuming I'm going to fail, although my coaches have all said my Novice moves aren't in bad shape) and the evaluations, I MIGHT be able to get to Novice by regionals!

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Youtube Videos

Shiny blades: We finished my program Wednesday! It's freakin HARD. As in jam packed with connecting steps, less than 10 crossovers in the entire 2:10 min program, every spin or jump has a non-traditional/difficult entry. Once I get it down, we'll go back and add more arm/body movement (and, according to my coach, even more difficulty, like more revs on twizzles). But I LOVE it! The first 30 sec and my step sequence are pretty solid so far. My coach got a tad carried away with the spin combos he put in there and those are watered down for now, but they'll get there.

Jr moves were good today. We worked on those blasted choctaws and my utter lack of control over my free hip. They're getting better.

Shiny blades/rusty edges: Axel. Still not there, but getting closer/better. I can tell the differences in the take-off that we've worked on.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I am living vicariously through you all. Sounds like you had awesome skates. Knee is much better. I can do stairs now

ibreakhearts - glad you're okay and good luck with your tests. Sounds like you have a solid plan.

Rachelsk8r - your program sounds Wicked Awesome!

Petlover - way to improvise! I hate it when they forget the nets.

Rusty
It's hard to practise with a couple teenagers playing basketball on ice The 'sled of death' made an appearance too.

Frustrating session early on. Working very hard on corrections to basic technique from lesson on Thursday. I got mad at myself because I understand what coach wants, but wasn't able to do it. I left those things for a while, worked on jumps & spins, came back to them later.

Shiny
Did a really good (for me) camel spin. I struggle with these, and to get 5 revs in what felt like a good position, was great. And did a really good change foot upright spin, with the backspin part centred and well balanced even down to the exit.
Jumps weren't bad. Corrected waltz jump is feeling pretty good. Toe-loops felt weird, and I was landing off balance, so I don't think I understand what coach meant about that yet. Loops felt great, like I was really getting some height and distance. Flips were not so great.

After that, I went back to the basics and they started working better again. Finally got a step fwd from mohawk the way it should be, yay!

A nice session, though somehow frustrating. I want to be able to integrate the corrections to technique and be able to apply them immediately and consistently.

The longest journey begins with a single step...

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

What's basketball on ice? Sled of death? Lol I'm imagining hockey players with the balls...

congrats on camel! Camel is such a stinky spin for me.

I've been to Katz's rink, so I can answer regarding the sled of death. It's like a kid's wooden go-cart onto which someone has mounted skate blades instead of wheels. Kids can drag it around the ice during public sessions. From its well-used appearance I have to say that 'sled of death' is an apt description. As for the basketball, if I remember correctly there is a basketball hoop mounted on the wall at one(?) end of the rink. I remember we speculated as to its use when we were there!

Oh gosh. Hockey nets ON the ice? You mean laying them flat on the ice? If so, they are a real hazard! Someone ought to complain!

BTW congrats on the bigger toeloop and stag falling leaf!

OMG. I have one word for the rink owners - LIABILITY!

Rusty:
In ice dance lesson, coach very pointed asked me "When are getting those blades sharpened?" I was wobbly but it wasn't the blades. I forgot the time for the lesson was earlier than usual, so I didn't have any warm up time.

Shiny:
As we progressed with the edge practice, I got steadier. I knew I didn't have my weight far enough back to hold deep edges on those dull blades.
Did the usual one time thru for the prelim dances. Waiting until the fall to test is going to be harder than I thought.

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Hoops at both ends! There are actually two sleds of death though I've never seen both on the ice at once. Imagine, sled races

Rusty
continuing frustration at just not being able to make all coach's corrections work immediately. I know what to do, why can't my brain just tell my body to do it?!

Still most edges are okay, except back insides. Still trying to get the mohawks so that I can immediately step fwd again. Improving but not fast enough for me. Backspins +

Shiny
camels definitely improving (though coach hasn't torn this spin apart yet, so I don't yet know what I'm doing wrong). Waltz & toe-loop felt okay.

I enjoyed helping other adult skaters today. One lady (mother of young skaters), I'm helping her learn how to skate ( I am not coaching - no money or other payment. With 2 daughters skating, she can't afford a coach). She told me today she is a visual learner. That helped me know how best to help her learn. Another recreational skater was asking for tips, and told me he is a yoga teacher. So of course he was going to best learn by relating to how his body works, he was a kinesthenic learner.

Isn't it interesting how we're all so different in the way we learn!

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

Rusty: New blades this morning. Yes, well.

Shiny: New blades this morning!

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

Hi Mrs Redboots

So how are you getting to the new blades?

londonicechamp

This post is for the entire weekend, from Friday-Sunday...I'm only posting now because I got home late last night and did not bring a computer with me (smart move, no time, utter exhaustion each nite).

Shiny blades: Skating and being around such high-level skaters, National, Jr National, & Olympic Champion skaters as well as their coaches made for real excitement!!!! I was not familiar with all of the skaters, but that did not matter, as it was the STYLE of skating that I (and my girlfriends) were familiar with-freestyle, dance, moves, & figures.

I'll hit the highlights of things learned & done that really made this a special time (I was in Group 2):
Spins (Robin Wagner)
-I finally did something that resembeled a sit spin; with my free foot crossing over the skating foot and actually turned out
-Did several CENTERED scratch spins with free leg HELD HIGH! These were also a lot more revolutions than I had been doing
Moves (Edward VanCampen)
-I'm doing back crossovers very wrong, my weight is not in the right place at all; I can't explain it as I got very frustrated
Figures (Edward again)
-these were soooo cool! Learned to set up a scribe, draw out the circles and set up for the edges (inside, outside, fwd, bacwards). THESE 4 things will really help especially the backwards edges, he also showd the 3-turn figures and at the end I asked him to show the loop
Toe Jumps (Robin)
-Learned there are 2 ways of doing the 1/2 flip; landing on the same foot or doing the 2 toepick landing.
Choreography (Nikolai Morozov)
This was so interesting, he was so funny! I learned how I can finally start to look more "relaxed" when I skate and more natural which has been so hard for me
Off-Ice Jumps (Valentina & Javier-these are the pair team from Spain I didn't catch their last names but they were very nice)
A lot of their presentation was similar to stuff in the Poe book, however I learned an exercise for the waltz jump that we ended up doing later on the ice with Vlad doing jumps...it was spooky how these things were starting to come together!
Strength Conditioning (Tim)
This was ok, I do a lot of this stuff, only thing about it we were doing some of the exercises and he was going around the room but when he got to me and I wasn't doing one he started jazzing me about it but I told him my back was still weak from my herniation & operation....then he said oh, don't do this & that if you have a weak or bad back.... I thought he should have said that before
Footwork (Olga Orlova & Oksana Baiul)
This class was fantastic! I learned a better way to do the mohawk-crossover footwork, TWIZZLES, then the rocker, and last thing was a turn on the ice on toepick (thought we'd go down for sure and my friend did fall but she is ok)
Combo Jumps (Vladimir-aka "Team V")
He made it easy because he uses great building blocks to start small and build up from there....adding on one step at a time. The interesting thing about his method he uses it on everyone from youngsters to adults. He doesn'd dumb down his method-it's straight forward.
Ballet Stretch-Kenya
This was possibly one of the nicest ballet classes I've ever taken. This woman was very nice and presented the class very relaxed, it was geared to skaters. She gave us specific exercises for our FEET and HIPS!! Yay! It felt good to stretch out (it was a 2nd day class) as we were really getting wiped & tight by now).
Power Stroking-Vladimir
I thought this would be a disaster with all the people we had on the ice...but it ended up being ok. He gave us specific "drills" and we did them to his count, so with everyone being on the same count it worked out. Forward & backward crossovers on the center circle, then we did them down the rink adding leg extension. Next was power 3's so that wasn't anything new except the 2nd time he added a swing roll at the beginning/end to make it look nice.

OVERALL-My coach will love to hear that almost everything I heard at camp is the same stuff she has been beating into my head over & over again! I really enjoyed being with so many other adult skaters, of all the different levels & ages! It was sooooo refreshing to see such wonderful skating! I can't wait to see everyone again and wish we didn't live so far apart!

It was really funny, on the 2nd day a lot of the skaters wore blue/turquoise tops or something with blue/turquoise! It was like "girlfriend" day!!!

Rusty Edges: I love the camp, but each night I had a severe headache like a migraine; it was either from dehydration or the area. The first day, they did not have enough food at lunch for everyone who bought lunch. I was starving so I got my plate and sat down, 15 minutes later my friends came back from their "lets walk outside to warm back up" walk and there was no more food. It was better the 2nd day. My only other downs were about the hotel. They said they had wifi-they didn't (I like it in my room so I can txt my family & listen to sirius radio); they kept kicking us out of the hot tub/pool area so they could have private pool parties-that sucked!; our coffee pot was not restocked even after I called several times (I like my coffee); the skid strips in the bath tub were not in the right spot, so when you got in you almost slip & fall, then when you get OUT of the tub, it's a bigger step down than you expect....THAT was a huge surprise! (I wonder how many falls they actually have because of those 2 issues?)

All-in-all I had a great time and we are planning on going back next year!

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

Wow, Skate@Delaware, I'm so jealous! I always wish to go to a camp in the summer & never end up able to do it. Closest I get is the state PSA seminar, which isn't really all that much fun. Maybe next year??? I wish someone would put something together in Chicago!!

Anyhoo,

Rusty Edges: I've decided it's time to do something about my incredibly weak left forward inside edge--how weird is that? Yep, can barely do it when free leg is in front, a'la coming out of a BO 3 turn. So every time I practice I'm doing all kinds of exercises that work that edge. Maybe by the end of the summer it will be stronger.

Also, had coach look at Paso--I've been working really hard on it & was thinking it was coming along nicely....yeah, not so much. I had the whole pattern shifted, and of course some of the edges aren't deep enough for his liking. So we worked on that, and now though I understand how the pattern needs to go I can't figure out how to set it up correctly w/ the entrance steps I'm doing--so need to have him fix that this week.

Shiny Blades: Even with that, coach was happy with me & my hard work is paying off as his first comment of the day was "It looks like your legs are really strong today." I love being able to hit the ground running in a lesson and feel like I'm ready to work hard right from the start.

The best compliments I get: 1) Coming back from an exercise & he's nodding his head and smiling (and I get "Good!" in Russian), and 2) at the end of a lesson he says, "Good lesson today." I love hearing that!!

Rusty Edges indeed! Off the ice since the 10th and was only able to get back today instead of the intended session on Friday because of a very late arrival (3 am Friday morning) from out of town. Lordy, was I wobbly!! I did nothing but edges & crossovers, plus a very few Bronze moves, for the first 45 minutes. Dance Buddy then showed up so I could clunk through a few Fiesta Tangos and Swings. . . Strangely enough, the few spins & jumps I tried were not as bad as I expected. Nice surprise.

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

Hackensack addendum:
-Anyone who thought about attending the weekend under the dance track, they only had 6 dancers and had a whole rink to themselves!
-It was the first time I was able to actually do a really decent backspin from a 2-foot spin
-the twizzle lesson was fun, once I found out which way my arms & legs were supposed to go
-lunch was great and I lost a few pounds!!!!
-I'm still jazzed about going and a friend I saw today while running errands thought I looked "refreshed" instead of 1/2 dead (maybe he should have seen me last night!)
-moves are still evil!

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

Thank you for the report on the Hack, S@D!!! OH MY!!! I'm gonna have to make a trip to the Hack for their camp next year!!! LOTS of celebs coaches!!! And of course, Edward's "figure loop" is very fitting end to the figures section of the camp!!!

So S@D, did he go all "drill sargeant" on you on the crossovers??? He did with me, but I had a private lesson so he has the liberty to torture, er...instruct and er....motivate me as he pleases!!! (I will be back for him!!! Don't worry! I love the guy!!!)

And where is John (and Silvia too for that matter...)?

Very weird about the food on the first day!!! I know they probably keep a tight schedule and you want to socialize with your fellow campers. That said, I don't know if I want to buy their food...especially since I know I can get my FAVORITE BURGER at White Manna on River St. (Leisurely 15 minute walk.) (Okay, if that's not your thing, there are tons of restaurants @ Main St. too!)

If I plan on going, I am expected to stay at Villa "Jazzpants' in-laws." Saves money and it would be a good excuse for the hubby to go visit them. (Hot tub hoggin' isn't really "allowed" at hotels. That said... )

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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!!!

Yes, I really, really, REALLY wanted to see one in person (no one at my rink can do them except my coach and she won't show me in lesson cause it's my dime) so it was a real treat, as well as the "Schaefer Push" he used for the figures. He did comment that my back edges were ...... really bad (awful was a word he used) and I agreed. He did offer advice-if you do not have a scribe you can use the circles.
No, he did not, as I fell so far behind and was so confused/flustered in the marked difference between HIS back crossovers and the style my coach teaches, I just gave up. I think he just ignored me after that pathetic attempt. I did call him a nazi (no offense to anyone) he said "do it right or you fail-end of story" and I guess he is right.
We were told that they were doing camps in Europe then relocating to Atlanta, Georgia....So, people in the South, have fun with that!
Yes, but the food had been catered this year, from Boston Market (my favorite treat food) so it was really good: roast turkey, meatloaf, roast potatoes with dill, cole slaw, tossed salad, corn bread, brownies; 2nd day there were boxed lunches with sandwiches as well as the rest.
I looked online and noticed a Hyatt a bit closer than the "Castle Mordor-Marriot" and with the USFS Rewards program I think there could be a good price. Plus, they are on the river.

I think a question to be asked of returning campers is: have you improved since you came here last year and was it from tips you received here at camp, from an increased interest in skating, or from what reason (please state reason being as specific as possible)... because this information might be very beneficial to them.

I thought for next year's camp they should consider adding a bit about the psychological effects of injuries and how to overcome them; mental preparation for competitions, etc. There was a question from the skaters to the elites but I don't think it was addressed completely.

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

The year before last (2007) Adam Rippon's mom--who is a life coach--gave a seminar on the mental/psychological aspects of competitive skating. Unfortunately, many of the camp attendees seemed to find it too general and not specific enough to skating. Kind of a shame.

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

Adding in here...
Plus I tend to think that the adult skater mindset is different, as we have jobs, families and various other adult responsibilties.
ETA... I attended the camp in 2004. While I had a fabulous time, with the 8 hour drive from Virginia Beach, and increasing gasoline costs, I tend to hope that a adult camp could happen somewhere closer to home, (VA/DC/ MD/ NC area).

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Shiny Blades

I finally get my London ice skates, which arrived together with other stuff on Wednesday early evening. Hooray!!!!

My coach said that my forward and backward crossovers are definitely better, especially with the edges.

Scratch spin: much better too, can now have 5 to 7 revolutions, still trying to do it from backward crossovers. Can do it during lesson, but cannot always do it during practice.

Backspin: Just started to learn it with wide leg position holding out, currently managed 3 to 4 revolutions.

Waltz jump: the jump is definitely higher, and there is now momentum there.

Half flip: so so, still trying to get used to my right toe pick into the ice.

What a difference the ice skates that I regularly use in London makes, compared to my Singapore pair, which I have not used for more than 10 years.

Rusty edges

Trying to get lunge lower.

Coach said that I need more stretching exercises (warm up) before I get onto the ice.

Coach said that she is now on "borrowed time" coz of the school holidays, and she is hoping to fit me into once a week regular slot pretty soon.

londonicechamp

Hi SkatEn

Hope you had a nice lesson yesterday.

Very nice to have met you yesterday before your lesson.

I shall be there always on a Thursday, about same time as you saw me yesterday.

londonicechamp

I would be most interested to hear specifics of the off-ice waltz jump exercises.

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http://www.swizzlesandtwizzles.blogspot.com