USFS has posted the new proposed moves in the field changes at http://usfsa.org/Shell.asp?sid=42287.

IMHO, I like the idea of doing both directions of the 8-step consecutively, but I'm not so sure about the loops on the Intermediate test.

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I've got mad salchow disease!

Thanks for posting! I can't wait to look through them.

glad to see (at this time) no proposed changes for the adult levels


yet.

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

I was looking through these last night. I like the changes to the Novice test, although the step sequences on Senior look downright impossible (to me, lol). I like that they're at least trying to incorporate some of figures into MIF. I'll be very interested to see what people have to say about this at GC next year.

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

Yeah, but any of us wanting to go beyond Gold MIF will have to contend with this. I wonder whether there would be any merit to having Standard, Adult and Masters standards for MIF the way they do for ice dance tests?

Thanks for the link!

There a several things I really like about these proposed MIF changes that I hope go through.

Preliminary: The fact that they are contemplating reducing the number of circles for the crossovers is great. I always have my kids warm-up their crossovers before their test this way, as it really does save some time.

The forward circle eights is a great addition to this test. As a coach who did figures when I was younger--then shortly thereafter saw MIF almost completely replace them--I can see a major difference in the skaters who have done figures and those who have not (body alignment, edge quality, control, etc.). Few moves now a days emphasize what figures brought to the sport and I'd love to see even a dabbling of figures come back, especially at the lower levels where a skater is still developing these qualities.

Pre-Juvenile: I like that the forward/backward perimeter crossover stroking is being cut down, but I'm not so sure I like the transition into the backward crossovers. Perhaps its the skater, but it seems as though there's far less forward crossovers than backward ones. I'd like to see a required three or so (forward and backward).

I agree that only one pass down the rink is needed for the 5-step mohawk. I never really understood why they made the skater go all the way around since both mohawks are covered on the first side.

Again, I love that the qualities of figures are carried over to this level in addition to the forward circle eights in Preliminary.

Juvenile: I'm not sure how I feel about the power circles being moved down, but I think that it'll definitely encourage more power at this level, which is always nice.

Intermediate: As a synchro coach, I like that twizzles are being introduced (finally!) And, I like that skaters will be required to perform inside and outside on both feet.

I'm also glad they're considering getting rid of the backward power threes.

This appears to be a challenging set of elements, and while many of the current moves are subject to being deleted or moved down a level, there's enough difficulty to here to keep this test as one that separates the easier moves (Juvenile and lower) from the more advanced that truly push a skater.

Novice: I'm lovin' the back inside/forward inside three-turns/rocker choctaw sequence! Wow! I'm glad to see they're eliminating the seemingly unnecessary backward/forward perimeter crossovers. After all, the judges are primarily focused on the quickness of turns rather than the crossovers. (Not that judges completely ignore them, but they're already expected to be good.)

Again, I'm all for those back twizzles!

And, yay for those brackets finally getting eliminated! When I was testing MIF, those were my nemesis and I was (un)lucky enough to have to skate them on Intermediate and Novice as that was about the time they had moved the striaght-line brackets up to Novice from Intermediate. I ended up never having to skate the current Intermediate brackets until I started teaching them to my skaters. (Um, way easier!)

Junior: The new straight line footwork sequence is awesome! Way to incorporate some intricate turns into a unique pattern. I can see how freestylers would enjoy this move, and how it can help them in developing footwork for their Intermediate and higher levels.

Senior: Well, I like how they incorporated all the turns from the lower levels, such a twizzles, for the new circular step. I like that it'll actually push skaters to skate at a senior level on another level beside quickness (edge quality, control, quickness, flow, etc.)

On the other hand, there are some changes that I'm not so crazy about.

Juvenile: I don't have an issue with the pattern of the 8-step; what concerns me is if skaters will be able to develop the ability to skate against the circle [with their back] as is emphasized on the current pattern.

Intermediate: I'm not so sure about those loops (as in skaters being able to successfully perform them) at this level. Perhaps introduce them at the Novice level.

Novice: That spiral pattern is just bizarre. Skaters are going to have to generate a lot of power to maintain their flow and speed, especially since the FI to BI spiral appears to leave little room for a true push.

Senior: That spiral sequence appears to be far easier than the current one since several turns toward the end of the move have changed and been replaced with that FO spiral.

Also, I feel its important to remember that many of the moves are clearly not at a passing standard (for instance, the forward/backward perimeter crossover stroking).

This is a BIG concern with me. I'm currently on Novice, and honestly have never done loops before, or even twizzles (forward only) really up until this year. Any adult wanting to go onto Novice from Gold will be introduced to a whole set of elements they've likely never had to do before. And standard track skaters who are in the middle of MIF tests will face the same issue.

Do you think older judges who are familiar with figures and judged them will be harder on tests with the loops and figure elements, rather than a judge who isn't as familiar with them?

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

This is a very valid concern. I wonder a.) when these changes would go into effect and b.) if there will be some sort of phasing out, so to speak, where skaters on the current track or at a certain level will finish with the current MIF whereas skaters just beginning moves will start with the proposed MIF should they pass at GC.

I can see it being a bit of a set back for those skaters who get all the way to Novice or higher and then have to basically set themselves back by learning all the newly-added moves (twizzles, loops, etc.) I know at my rink there's a big push for skaters to finish their MIF ASAP, especially those at the Intermediate level and higher for this very reason. I, for one, have a skater on Novice and I'd love to see her get her Gold before these changes go into effect.

Well, the standards are likely the same, so it's possible. For example, on the loops, judges will still be looking for an even loop with no scratching or points, so I'm not so sure it's an issue of judging "harder" or simply upholding skaters to an established standard.

That is where I am at...I am hopefully testing my Novice in February, so ideally, I would like to finish up my Senior before these changes go into effect. GC is in May-ish, and I would anticipate these would go into effect in September if they pass, so that there could be coaching seminars on them...we'll see...if that is the case, that gives a little bit of time...not nearly enough for me to pass Novice, Junior, and Senior, but a little bit of time none the less...

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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

I belive you're correct with the dates that the changes would go into effect should they pass. I believe September was the proposed effective date at the last GC when the moves did not go through.

I think I might learn the step sequence on junior, it looks fun!

I'm on junior, this should push me to get off my behind and finish MIF before the changes go through...although I've been saying I'm going to really focus and finish them for quite a few years now (ha ha).

I've been working on loops and twizzles for a while now d/t having to skate under IJS in synchro the past few years, the intermediate patterns are pretty close to what I (and a lot of the skaters at my rink) do down the length of the rink in warm-up. If coaches have had kids working on these already like they are at my rink, it might actually not be too bad for those intermediate or novice-ish kids who now have to test them. Although the junior loop pattern doesn't look terribly fun...

BUT there are a lot of adults or college-age skaters who got into skating at the end of figures and are just now learning loops, or coaches of younger skaters who never taught them.

I really just wish they'd scrap adult MIF tests, make it all go along the same tests as standard (from pre-pre thru senior) but with a lower passing average, and make it like dance tests. You can test standard, but choose to switch to adult test track at any time (and do all tests there on out at the adult standard). And now that we have more of a natural progression from adult gold to masters in terms of competing, do it with the free tests, too. Hopefully this is something that will change as more and more of us who have skated for many years grow up and stay active in the sport through college and afterward. I think it would make everything much less confusing, make it even easier to transition into adult skating for those who skated as kids/teenagers. Given the growth in college skating programs and competitive opportunities (intercollegiate conference, collegiate nationals, colleges fielding synchro teams at the junior, senior, collegiate and open collegiate levels), adult skating is only going to continue to grow.

Even leave Juvenile as an "adult gold" distinction people are considered having an adult gold medal for....I don't see a problem with that, getting to that level for the true adult skater who didn't skate their whole lives (or maybe didn't start until they were a teen or college student) is a HUGE accomplishment that should be rewarded.

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

Hmmmm...I'm on Intermediate now, & could very possibly pass them before Sept. 1. BUT--if I have want to be able to teach them maybe I'd be better off doing the new patterns myself so as to be more current.

I can't do FO loops.....at all!! Uh oh.

ITA! IMHO, it would create a better foundation for each moves level (e.g. learning power pulls BEFORE cross strokes). Plus, it would probably be a heck of a lot easier on the judges not having to remember that adults have different patterns than the kids!

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I've got mad salchow disease!

I'm on Senior ... thank god! Taking out the quick mohawks on the spiral pattern actually makes it a whole lot easier, but that step sequence is SKARY. I stink at toe pick steps.

It concerns me that there is no stroking whatsoever after Juvenile. Stroking fundamentals should mature and develop, hence the perimiter stroking on Intermediate and Novice, and the power circles on Junior. As for loops ... young coaches who never did figure are going to be at a distinct disadvantage here. It kind of makes me laugh that after the rush rush rush to get rid of figures and pretend they never existed, lots of figure elements are being reintroduced.

When these moves were proposed at GC 2008, implementation was scheduled for September 2009, not 2008. Perhaps it will follow the same time frame, implementation in September 2010? Are any of these proposed changes even different from the 2008 ones?

Good point, I think you're right. That may well be what happens here.

Yes, hugely, completely different! Better, IMHO. Much, much better. The progression makes more sense, seems better thought out, and doesn't throw things in at seemingly random places.

I wholeheartedly agree! I think this may have been the necessary revision to get these new moves approved.

Can we Canadians take your Moves in the Field in place of our Skills? They look so much easier than our Skills. For instance, our Preliminary Skills cover most of the stuff all the way up to Juvenile Moves in The Field. Junior Bronze has some things all the way up to Novice Moves in the Field.

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There is always a learning curve when asked to judge new elements. These new MITF that are based on figures look so far removed from the actual figures that I doubt that there will be many problems for the judges learning how to judge them (once the standard has been established) - I mean, loops done on a line? Circle 8s where you go immediately from a FO 8 to a FI 8? No tracings?

It reminds me of when I first started trial judging Moves - I had never ready seen Moves done, but had done figures as a kid - the 3s from the Preliminary-Juvenile tests seemed absurd to me - turns not really on the top of the lobe, not really clean turns, no tracings, etc. but in time I got to know what the standards were and what I needed to be looking for and emphasizing at each level. Having done figures gave me a better of idea of how the skater might correct certain mistakes, but there is no way that these new Moves resemble figures except in a very superficial way.

I may have looked through these lists too quickly, but does it seem as though they have eliminated the Waltz 8? I though that was a good move for emphasizing control of turn and edge. Maybe I didn't see it on the list.

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What about the adult skaters that truly started skating as adults, at 30, 40, or older? I imagine it must be hard for someone who started skating as a kid to put themselves in the shoes (or skates, lol) of someone who didn't, but realize that some of the moves (like the consec spirals and alt 3s on the Prelim test) are going to be very hard for adults who didn't skate as kids to master at passing standard. Those back circle 8s on the Pre-Juv test look hard, but I don't think I'd have a problem with a Silver skater doing those. But keep in mind there is a reason for some of the standard track moves not being part of the adult track, or at the adult track at a diff level (Pre-Pre spirals on Silver instead of Pre-Bronze).

I hope the changes don't go into effect until 2010, so that way I might have a chance to pass Gold and at least try Int. I wasn't planning on testing Novice or higher anyway, so no difference to me there.

No, it's still there. There were no changes to the Pre-Prelim test.

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

Skaters who don't do clean 3 turns on the top of the lobe shouldn't pass a moves test, either!

But that's why there would be an adult passing standard. Or leave pre-bronze-gold as is, but offer a slightly lower passing average for intermediate-senior (but I think if you're doing that, it's silly to have some of the same things repeated from gold to intermediate, like the brackets and slide chase pattern).

I actually think the consecutive 3s are important. They are HARD, even, in my opinion, harder than the double 3s (those two should be switched around in terms of what test they fall on) because it takes a lot of control to do them properly and hold the edge back to the axis. But they are important in properly learning to execute a 3-turn.

The spirals are maybe not terribly important, although again, I think they do a lot in terms of teaching edge control, posture, and stability. I obviously wouldn't expect an adult to get the leg up as high as I'd expect a kid (just a recognizable attempt at a spiral position), but I think the pattern in itself does have a function.

It was interesting--a coach in my area just out of college and just starting to work with some adult skaters was working with an adult (as in true adult skater who didn't put skates on until age 30) working on gold dances who wasn't doing clean 3-turns in one of the dances, he had a scrape/slide on the turn. This coach said to me (I happened to be right there at the boards taking a sip of water) that he noticed adult skaters really struggle with doing clean, fast 3-turns properly, even as they get into higher levels (particularly dance), and asked if there was anything in the adult test structure that could be causing this. My thought initially was maybe not having to solo dances if you were testing adult track (and in general, not having to solo the European at all any more...you can't fake your way through a solo European without strong, solid, proper 3-turns). I wasn't familiar enough with adult MIF tests so I didn't even think of the lack of the prelim tests...but I wonder if this and some of the other patterns that are "missing" have something to do with it.

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

Are you saying that the double 3s should be on Prelim and the alt 3s should be on Juv? Um, shouldn't skaters (adult or kid) should learn solo forward and back 3s (Pre-Juv) before they start on double 3s?

FI and FO 3s are still on the Pre-Bronze test, it's just a different pattern that doesn't require that BI-FO transition at the line - that was the adult-unfriendly part of that move, not the actual 3-turn.


Well, I can't comment on dance, but in terms of MIF, 3-turns are part of every adult MIF test. I don't know what level that adult is on in MIF, but it's hard to pass Silver and Gold (and the lower levels, too, depending on who's judging) w/o proper 3-turns. Like in all tests, if 1 turn is skidded or scraped and the rest are clean, the move generally gets passed, but if the problem is present throughout, the move usually gets failed. As someone who had to take Silver MIF 4 times, I can attest to that.

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

Wheeee, I tried the new Intermediate twizzles tonight! They're challenging, but definitely doable, and actually not as hard as I'd thought they might be. (I should temper that statement w/ the comment that I've worked on twizzles consistently for 4 years.)

Though I can already see where people will struggle most--on the FO twizzles, you have to check out on a back inside edge, and then step to a forward outside edge--it's the exact same step as the alternating 3's in prelim--just swap out a 2 1/2 twizzle instead of the single 3 turn! Not easy.

Now, the loops on the other hand....who can teach me FO loops??? Anybody have any exercises to build up to them?

Loops just take time, my coach has her 8th figure test and she taught me loops quickly, it just take a lot of practice, knee bend and timing. The model on the jr moves was way off center and placement from the pattern. It will be interesting to see if this even gets out of the committee, last year it got killed/pulled before it even got the floor to be voted on.

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Who me? Couldn't be....
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I'm with you. I didn't start skating till I was almost 30 and didn't start testing till I was almost 40 since there was no local club, no coach who would travel to tests, and I was too busy having a baby and working to spend much time driving around the state looking for a coach and a club and traveling to them. It takes me--and I see this in a lot of the adult skaters who are learning for the first time as adults--substantially longer to learn new skills and retrain my body to do things it seems to think are impossible than anyone under 30, or even 35. The adults I coach who skated or did gymnastics as kids pick things up at about twice the rate as those who did not.

I'm also finding that the deterioration rate of my body is increasing exponentially every year. My shoulders seem to be disintegrating and I wonder if my back and knees are far behind. I've started trying to do at least 3 of the Silver moves--cross-strokes, power pulls, and the back outside 3 patterns--without stopping, the way I would have to in a test, and I really don't think there is a lot of hope that when I'm another year older I will have the endurance to get through all of those plus the 8 step (I'm not worried about the spirals). I am just exhausted after I do them. It's not that I'm in bad shape--I skate about 10 hours a week including coaching and refereeing hockey--it's just that the extensive, repeated pressure on my mature joints and muscles is really hard on me! I don't expect to ever be able to pass the standard moves and by the age I will be when (if) I pass Gold moves I will be done. I am already probably done testing freestyle because I can't consistently do another jump, and let me just say that I am trying like HECK to do it even though my legs hurt ALL THE TIME and I have arthritis in two of my toes, and if adult moves are abolished I might as well quit the USFS.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but I get so frustrated with folks who don't realize how incredibly hard adults who did not skate as kids have to work to get through ANY tests, including adult tests. Maybe there should just be a separate adult tracks for people who passed ANY tests under the age of 30 and those who are starting after age 30.

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