Edit posting...Never mind... I just read that it's official... Go celebrate your b-day first, vesperholly... then go take that pre-Bronze and Bronze moves test. Should be an easy pass for you.

__________________
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!!!

Actually, don't these changes take effect Sept. 1? In which case FS tests can't be taken yet w/o adult moves since the crossover isn't in effect yet.....

btw, what are the crossover rules? what standard MIF field test exempts you from what adult MIF test?

We were talking about this issue again today at my rink -- in the Pre-Bronze Move, are the alternating 3s replaced by a Waltz 8? Or that new Forward 3-turn pattern?

Inquiring minds, you know...

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

I'm still PO'd about the time and effort I put in to learn that *%#*Novice move to pass my Gold test! I learned the slide chasse pattern very quickly. I spent over a YEAR getting that Novice move passable. I guess if I hadn't yet passed, I would have been celebrating the rule change.

Yes but know you are better prepared for the novice, once you've past the intermediate moves.

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Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

Both. There are now 5 moves in the Pre-Bronze test. Still marked as pass/retry.

thanks -- I will pass that along -- I wonder when this will go into effect??

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

It starts in Sept this year, which marks the start of the new skating year. I highly recommend your coach (or you) getting a USFSA rulebook for the 2005-2006 year, so you can get the patten for the new move (and all the other moves) neatly organized in a binder.

__________________
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!!!

Everyone should actually get a new rulebook every year... there's more in there than you know.. not to mention, it saves having to ask people who PROBABLY know what elements are on what tests no matter when you take them!

If you thought the Novice consecutive 3-turns pattern was difficult, welcome to the hell that is rocker choctaws. I could do the 3-turn pattern immediately (*do*, it took me two years to get that move *passable*) but the rocker choctaws are HELL. Practice lots and lots of back inside rockers with your free foot held tight to your skating foot (toe to heel).

I am excited though, now I can create a fun 1:30 Bronze program and not have to worry about where to put jumps/spins because I can do all of them consistently. Too bad I've already passed PJ and must compete Silver (really, I should anyway even though my axel sucks) because a 1:40 program in Bronze would be fun.

I agree. I was taught this move a couple of years ago when I was working with a dance coach, but found it extremely difficult and finally gave up. Someday I may try again. It looks really cool when its done properly.

I'm sorry, Patty. . .

But I hope you don't mind if *I* celebrate!
YIPPEE!!! Bwaahaahaahaa--!

There, had to get that out of my system.

Bitc*!

Can you post a link to the blog you mentioned?

A lot of these moves are hard. I offered to repaint the boards at my rink after clipping them so many times learning the gold/novice pattern (the one they just did away with.)

To all of those frustrated adult skaters out there .... BE GLAD that the USFSA is listening and making adjustments to these moves tests. They DIDN'T do it because we whined ... the changes are based on test results and percentages.

If you have a move that is challenging for you, and we all do, get to work. Don't wait around for the USFSA to dumb down the rules. If skating was easy, everybody would be doing it. Take all of this rampant frustration and channel it towards something positive for a change.

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"Gravity is a harsh mistress." -- The Tick

The blog that I mentioned about is this one...

http://www.marie.org/rink

But the original source of info I got it from was thru the Competitive Adult Skaters Yahoo Groups.

http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/compadultsk8s/

__________________
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!!!

Does anyone know which of the moves' grandfathering proposals got passed. (A, B or C?) The three listed are listed under 7. of this link:

http://www.usfsa.org/Story.asp?id=27717

TIA.

__________________
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!!!

Hi Patty--

If it makes you feel any better, I've been working on that novice move for my gold MITF test for about 18 months, and now my coach wants me to test it this summer--BEFORE the rule change. I, of course, am prepared to take it in the summer, fail on account of crashing into the boards on the CW novice 3's, and then re-take it in September at Peach!

I'm probably the odd one out, but I find the rocker choctaws easier than the inside 3 pattern--somehow, I never feel like I'm spinning out of control when I do them. That said, they're still wicked hard.

If you have any tips on how to maintain speed through the end patterns, I'm all ears. I am practically crawling on the ends, and it's not like I don't do the side pattern with speed. Grr!

My tip for the 3-turns is to find a cadence with the turns. If you get into a steady rhythm, there's no need to spin these around super fast. The quickness from the test actually refers to how quick the 3-turn goes from one edge to the other, not the rapidity of the end pattern as a whole.

I used to do 5 lovely quick rockers across the end, nice easy cadence, but because I am tall I had issues w/ looking slow. I doubled my foot speed and the cadence over the course of 6 months, it was not easy especially the CW but I finally managed to pass and the quickness was noted so if I can do it, anyone can. The strange thing is a did 6 which is the max and I had an even cadence but the rocker choc was really quick. I don't know that the wall has ever recovered.

Now I have fun w/ the choctaws, I am just getting solid edges but they are still weak.

__________________
Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

I dont' think they were an either/or thing - I think they all passed. I didn't read closely though. My read was that they each listed slightly different ways of crossing over (different starting conditions).

Don't quote me though

Sara

With both the inside 3s and the rocker choctaws, my coach is always after me to make sure I get a good cross-under (before the BI3 or the rocker). I haven't been told I have a problem with speed on the end patterns yet, but then again, I doubt I'm doing the moves at novice-test quality yet.

Thanks for the advice on the 3-turns--I have a pretty good sense of cadence on my CCW turns, but my problem with the CW inside 3's is that I tend to panic, hold my breath, and then get very shallow in my knees towards the end of the pattern. Of course, this means that I start jumping turns, skidding turns, or just lose control of them altogether. It's a total mental thing, and I know it--I just can't seem to get over the "impending train wreck" moment of panic-stricken terror as I do the final crossover going into the end pattern.

To quote Bridget Jones, Doooooooooooom.

I used to be hesitant of that first turn, too. Top speed back crossover directly into a 3-turn is difficult. I practiced doing a big, deep crossover with a lot of push, holding the BI edge with my free foot tucked under, then BI 3-turn, over and over again. Getting this step right sets you up for the entire end pattern, and when you have it down it will give you a nice amount of speed, too. It should have a sweepy quality.

The problem with the quick rockers is that there is FW crossover into a rocker turn before the end pattern. It's so hard to maintain any speed out of a rocker turn. I'm paranoid about my edges so I do a true rocker, but I can't do one at top speed so I slow down before it and end up crawling.

It also doesn't help that I sprained my left ankle very badly last summer on this exact move (did RFO rocker, step down, and went to do the BI rocker and my blade got caught in the ice while my body kept going. OW).

I'm cracking up as I read this because it describes EXACTLY how I felt when I worked on this move!

Here's the official stuff:

http://www.usfsa.org/content/2005CombinedROA.pdf

(For the competitive adults skaters... page 30-34 is relevant to you.)

__________________
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!!!