Beautifully ripe or mouldy & past it: 5-12 September

[Mrs Redboots]

In honour of the fruit after which the Peach Classic is named!

I think we're probably all exhausted and few of us are skating much. Certainly husband didn't want to skate today, and I only went down as I had another appointment booked for the end of the patch, so thought I might just as well pretend to skate!

Beautifully ripe: Was able to talk to my coach about my goals for this winter. Wish I felt he took me more seriously - but Husband is reluctant to change coaches as, as he says, what could anybody else do with such dreadful raw material to work on? But he (Coach, I mean, not Husband) will work with me on the Foxtrot and 14-Step, as I'm making no progress on these with Husband as he (Husband, not Coach) is a bit pants at partnering them, and as I can do all the other level-6-and-under dances practically to competition standard, it's high time I could do all of them!

Mouldy & past it: Didn't really skate. Did manage some work on the Level 3 Dance Moves, and a bit of Circle Cycle, but that's all. Found it impossible to time the inside-outside change-of-edge exercise in the Circle Cycle, but it was beginning to come.

Lesson tomorrow, plus it's our day for visiting Tashakat's or Saffy's or whatever she's calling herself these days' old rink, so we should get a lot of skating and get our boots back under us. Mustn't slack off too badly now, as the British Adults is in less than a month!

[TaBalie]

Moldy & Past It:

I took fall last week that I thought was just a big bruise to me knees... But over the past 7 days my knees are have been killing me in a deeper way, so I had to cancel my skating and ballet until Friday. I don't think it is a serious injury, but it hurts, so I am now even sure what to do medically. Arg.

[Debbie S]

But over the past 7 days my knees are have been killing me in a deeper way,

I would go see a doctor if your knees have been hurting for that long, particularly if there is still swelling. Hope you feel better soon!

For me:
Ripe - ran through the Bronze moves a couple of times yesterday (rink was open for a few hours) and got through them; also landed some clean loop jumps that actually felt as if they had come off the ground

Moldy - running through the moves test made me realize my endurance is a problem (I was huffing and puffing after each move); I should start practicing more than one session at a time

[FrankR]

Moldy and Past It: I might as well get the bad stuff over with first. I feel that "Moldy and Past It" describes exactly how I felt this morning as our ice schedule has now changed and rather than skating in the early evening, I found myself standing dazed and confused on the ice at the unGODly hour of 5:50am. 8O 8O 8O I felt like I had Linkin' Logs for bones and wadded up rags for muscles. My crossovers are still not ripping into the ice like they're supposed to yet. Oh well. Rome wasn't built in a day...yada, yada, yada. :roll:

Ripe (And not in the Britney Spears stanky way either!): Despite feeling like utter crap on the ice this morning I managed to produce one of every freestyle element that I'm planning for my program except for the combination spin at the end. I'm hoping to finish with a forward camel, catch-foot half-Biellmann thingy, sit, change to back sit, pull my arms behind my back in the back sit, pull up to back scatch with my arms behind my back. I've done bits and pieces of this planned spin but haven't put it all together in one attempt just yet. I'm hoping to build up to it in the next week or so. All in all, considering I had to drag myself to the rink at 5:50am when I was used to skating at night for the past three months or so, and considering I was barely awake, it wasn't a bad session. So, TWO POINTS for me for not killing myself or anyone else! :D

Frank

[NoVa Sk8r]

I'm hoping to finish with a forward camel, catch-foot half-Biellmann thingy, sit, change to back sit, pull my arms behind my back in the back sit, pull up to back scatch with my arms behind my back. I've done bits and pieces of this planned spin but haven't put it all together in one attempt just yet.Sounds very neat-o; can't wait to see it! (And it's very similar to one of my spin combos.)

[jazzpants]

FrankR: 5:30am???? From evening sessions???? You are NUTS!!!! 8O EEEEK!!!

(Of course, you're talking to the queen of "don't give up sleep for ANYTHING...") http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pmoonsleep.gif

[sunshinepointe]

Amen to the sleeping in AND to the "omg that spin sounds so awesome". Although if I had the time and money I'd bother getting up early a few days a week for near-empty ice time.

Moldy Ick - the rink was freezing yesterday and the ice was way too hard. I'm used to a somewhat "cool" rink with medium ice hardness. Dunno, but I kept slipping off of my edges and I couldn't center a spin to save my life. I wasn't the only one with these problems at least.

Ripe I finally have my loop back. It's not 100% consistent, but I land it more often than not. I think out of all of my attempts I only botched 2 or 3 jumps with a 2 foot landing. Now I just need to refine the technique on it so I get more height and flow.

I figured out how to keep my chest down in the camel, but now I can't figure out how to keep my momentum going. I get around 2-3 times and then just fizzle out. I know that you will never "gain" speed in a camel, but if I push any harder into it I'll lose my position. Grrr. I HATE this spin.

My rink is doing a christmas show and my coach and his wife suggested that I do a little something, maybe even with other adults in our group class. I was thinking of choreographing something myself since my coach is limited on time. If it's corny oh well - it's not a competition or anything :)

I also think I'm going to start testing in the near future. I don't want to compete really but I'd like to have "goals" to work towards rather than a mish-mosh of stuff. If it weren't for the backspin I could pass up to Pre-Juv at this point...must start working on backspin soon!!!

Off Topic I had a dream last night that I was doing loop loop and waltz loop combos. Maybe it's a sign of things to come? The mechanics of it make sense...maybe I'll try it on Thursday :twisted:

[FrankR]

Sounds very neat-o; can't wait to see it! (And it's very similar to one of my spin combos.)

Thanks! Let's hope I can produce it. ;) Hopefully it will all come together. I've also been toying with a camel-layback (which you saw when you came to visit at the beginning of the summer). If that takes shape, then I might insert a layback after the half-Biellmann thingy and before the sit as well. That all is contingent upon my becoming a vastly better spinner in the very near future. :lol: I can't really complain. Originally, the catch-foot forward camel was supposed to be in my program last year but I just couldn't get it in time. Already, it's gotten better than last year. I'm just hoping my spinning learning curve increases in slope exponentially. :mrgreen:

Frank

[FrankR]

FrankR: 5:30am???? From evening sessions???? You are NUTS!!!! 8O EEEEK!!!

(Of course, you're talking to the queen of "don't give up sleep for ANYTHING...") http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pmoonsleep.gif

Hiya jazzpants,

I know. It's not fun getting up for that session. :roll: Unfortunately, that really is the best time for me to skate and the sessions are nearly empty so I have to suck it up and get up in the middle of the night to skate. :lol: As bad as it sounds, it's not really all that bad. Once I get used to the routine of skating at that time I'm okay. It's making the adjustment from evening to morning sessions the first week or so that's excruciating.

Frank

[NoVa Sk8r]

Thanks! Let's hope I can produce it. ;) Hopefully it will all come together. I've also been toying with a camel-layback (which you saw when you came to visit at the beginning of the summer). If that takes shape, then I might insert a layback after the half-Biellmann thingy and before the sit as well. That all is contingent upon my becoming a vastly better spinner in the very near future.I guess that means I best get to work on my axel--although my current 3 weeks off from skating will not help in this regard. :P

[Skate@Delaware]

Moldy: The beginning of my routine! My "choreographer" gave up and skated away (my daughter), but I've got several weeks to come up with something...

Ripe: The ice is great and my spins have come back from summer vacation!

[cutiesk8r43]

Beautifully ripe:

had another dance lesson,my flips and lutzes are getting better :)

mouldy & past it:

my axels were not so good today :??

~Cutie ;)

[mikawendy]

FrankR: 5:30am???? From evening sessions???? You are NUTS!!!! 8O EEEEK!!!

(Of course, you're talking to the queen of "don't give up sleep for ANYTHING...") http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pmoonsleep.gif

lol, Jazzpants! I'm also one of the "sleep and go" clan...sometimes I get to work in the morning and realize that I've not fully looked at myself in the mirror :D

There are 3 sessions per week that I *could* go to that all start at 6:00 a.m. but I've never even considered going to them!!!

[Kit kat]

Beautifully Ripe : my sit spins are AWWEEESOMEEEE. but thats basiclly it.

Mouldy and past it : oww. i fell really really really really really hard from the back of my blade getting stuck in the ice. my coach said i like 3 feet in the air but i landed right on my tailbone. ouch. and my camel is a mess. I didnt practice many jumps today. And the bottem of my skate got like chipped off. I have no idea how. I felt like i did absolutly nothing to day. All thiss on the first day of school. ANNND. we've been doing axel prep for a long time, and i still havent got on the harness. I dont know why we did spins for our lesson today. rawr.

[blisspix]

we've been doing axel prep for a long time, and i still havent got on the harness. I dont know why we did spins for our lesson today. rawr.

Am I the only one that is anti-harness? I think I went on it once when I was taking lessons... I could never see the benefit of it. Maybe I'm more of a drylander fan when it comes to learning new stuff. So yeah, Kit Kat, don't freak too much about not getting on the harness yet ;)

Ripe - jumps are feeling much more secure. I think I'll be able to start on axel prep again soon. I used to be pretty secure in my axel but I think I've lost a lot of power in my legs over the last few years, so I'll take it from the beginning.

Mouldy - OMG my spins. I was never the world's best spinner but I used to have a good sit spin and a decent flying camel. Maybe it's 4 years off ice, or two fast blade changes, but it's just scriiittchhh onto the toe pick and horribly off-centre. Anyone else who moved from a crappy blade to a decent blade who has advice? (I went Single-Stars 10 years, Cor Aces 1 month, Phantoms now)

[Skate@Delaware]

I hate the harness :evil: I haven't done any on-ice jumps in it, just off ice but it pulled too much, couldn't breathe, yanked me, and I hate it! Felt too much like a puppet! I guess I hate losing control......and having someone else pull the strings? (control freak) and don't want to become dependent on it (like one girl at my rink-can't jump without it) :frus:

[Mrs Redboots]

My coach uses the harness for some of his skaters - you should see the speed he has to go with one young man working on a double axel & his first few triples! Wow..... He ends up more out of breath than his skater does!

Meanwhile for today:

Beautifully ripe: Managed to do some good run-throughs of our free dance with the Husband, including one to the music, and I think we know where we are rushing things in the step sequence and ending up having to stand and bow at each other waiting for the next bit of music! I also think we may have decided on music for next year, or at least cut it down to one of two songs by Kirsty McColl (or even a combination of both!).

In my lesson today worked on my level 3 dance moves, my solo Dutch Waltz & Canasta Tango for the November competition, and started work on the Foxtrot & 14-step with my coach. Not the world's greatest run-throughs, but it's easier with him than with the Husband!

Mouldy & past-it: Tried to do changes-of-edge with the Husband in Kilian and Reverse Kilian hold. This was not brilliant, and shows why we are having trouble with those dances that contain one (Riverside Rhumba, Fiesta Tango). Back cross-cuts still don't work properly, but cross-rolls coming along.

But oh dear, in the Canasta Tango I went so out of time on the one-beat edges, just like I always do in the Riverside..... I don't think I'm very good at one-beat edges. Maybe I need to practice just skating round in hold or solo when the elite dancers are working on their Paso Doble.....

[phoenix]

Ripe: lesson was spent more chatting w/ coach than skating, but that was actually okay because last week we were both a little snippy w/ each other so it was nice to kind of reconnect. I played the music I'm considering using for my junior freedance test & he okay'd it & said he'd cut it for me.

Moldy: I used my ipod shuffle to play the music for him--found the piece, then hit the back button for him to listen from the beginning.... I realized while driving home that I'm pretty sure I made it skip back one more song, & since he listened w/ the earphones, I have no idea what music he heard!! 8O There's 6 hours of music on that thing, & several Monty Python sketches....... :oops: .......so I'll have to try to email him the music file & ask if that's what was playing when he listened.....oy.

***the ever popular Monty Python freedance*** :lol:

[jazzpants]

Beautifully ripe:

Back to working on my artistic program today!!! YAAAAAY!!! And we were working on sit spins too!!! What a CHANGE!!! :mrgreen:

Secondary coach asked if I hooked up a rocket to my back or put something in my Wheaties today b/c I was moving FAST this morning!!! She looked like this 8O I simply told her "Errr... I'm awake now???" :P :twisted: :lol:

(An 8:15am lesson is early for me... I know. I'm so bad!!! :twisted: )

Mouldy:

Oh, dear! Where did my program go???? Totally missed the RFI3 and turned the wrong direction on anonther section too!!! YIKES!!!! 8O :oops: (Must go thru runthrus more often now too... Skate SF is coming up! And I got Bronze moves in Oct!!! Can you say "MAJORLY stressed!?!?!" :frus: )

[TwirlGirl10]

Beautifully ripe: Not to much. I did a few good run throughs of my program.
Mouldy & past it: My (primary) coach got very very upset with me today for no reason! I was doing my best and I guess she didn't think so. I messed up on my program really bad during my lesson (and this is because she just keeps adding to it!! and I can't remember everything) Mind you I have had this program for maybe a month and am competing with it in two weeks!!!!!!!! I swear sometimes I want to :giveup: Maybe it will be better friday working with my other coach.

[Terri C]

Beautifully ripe:
Finally, a steady lesson schedule for the fall!
Good back crossover to back extension move, considering that this and most of the Bronze moves took hiatus while preparing for Peach.
Decent effort on a camel spin- coaches are now getting Terri on the camel wagon and methinks I will not allowed off!
Backscratch is making it's way back!
Starting to work on flip.
Was asked by primary coach to be a demonstrator at the PSA seminar that will be at my rink on Saturday. I'll be demonstrating the 5 step mohawk sequence.

Mouldy and past it:
Power threes- no continous flow and strength,as the left side is great and the right side sucks.
Was dragged back on the sitspin wagon (*Terri sees NoVaSk8r pumping fist and saying YESSSS!!!*) and will not be allowed off ever again (I was given a reprieve for Peach).
I've come down with a post Peach cold!

[mikawendy]

Mouldy and past it:
Power threes- no continous flow and strength,as the left side is great and the right side sucks.


Hey, Terri--I'll trade you your left side for my right side! My left side power 3s are the ones that really suck for me! :D And they're the side by which I'd skate by the judges, all the better for them to hear my toe picks scraping!!!
(But my 5 step mohawk is equally bad on each side, lol!)

[flo]

Mouldy - everything around here, and my allergies are making me nuts! I have an artists booth at an upcoming festival, so I've been spending more time painting and making tiaras than on the ice.

Ripe - back on lesson with my coach (we took the summer off). We worked on our pairs interp for Halloween classic. It's going to be lots of fun and imaginative. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

[AnnM]

Beautifully Ripe:
I tried the 8-step mohawk pattern for the first time in months today and the clockwise direction didn't go so badly. It was slow, but I managed to place the pattern correctly and keep an even tempo. After all the trouble I've had recently trying to fix my forward inside three turns, I actually pulled off several silent ones on clean & even entry and exit edges. Backward crossrolls were still good as far as technique (hadn't done these for months either); they just need more speed.

Mouldy and past it:
The 8-step mohawk in the counter-clockwise direction. I totally chickened out when it came time to do the outside mohawk and my feet just didn't want to do the back crossover. Forward crossrolls are sucky as well; I can't get a nice extension on the push out while in the crossed position for the life of me. I think it's because there's too much fat on my inner thighs. :cry:

[jazzpants]

Mouldy:

Took a spill sliding on my butt on the ice while doing alt. back crossovers. You would THINK the coach would say "Are you okay?" NOOOOO! He starts clapping and says "YAAAAY!!! Jazzpants FELL!!! YAAAAAY!!!" Even after I got up....he keeps cheering. No asking if I was okay!!! EVIL COACH!!! :twisted: :P (Left butt is a bit sore... and I have an office job!!! OWWWWW!!!! :( )

Ripe:

Bronze Moves went okay except for that one case mentioned. He loved the flow in the forward crossovers and he liked my second runthru on my 5 step mohawks the best.

Looks like people are noticing that my stroking speed is improving... A LOT!!! So it's both my coaches sees that I'm faster now... GOOD!!!! :D (Also bad... now they expect that in everything else I do now... EEEEK!!! 8O )

Interesting coach moment:

I have a lesson today at the beginning of the public session and had to warm up for the lesson... so I just doing some quick laps around the rink and try to warm up quickly before coach comes on the ice and does my lesson. Primary coach shows up, sees I'm stroking pretty quickly and strokes around and matches me. I see that he's trying to get my attention so I slowed down and he says "So why are you stroking around so fast?" Me: "Errr... because I'm trying to warm up for the lesson and isn't that what you do to warm up for your lesson???" :P (Of course, primary coach then has this :roll: then this :lol: look like "Geez, I should have known better to ask that question.")

[sunshinepointe]

Ripe Wheeeeeeeee waltz-loops are so much fun! I did the babiest waltz jump into a teeny tiny loop, but I did it. I don't know if it's coincidence or not but my loop jump overall has improved - my coach told me tonight that I'm making great strides in my loop and he can tell I've really been working on it and he's proud of me :)

He showed me a trick to get more "pop" in my salchow to get it up higher but we never got around to the toe loop. He's pretty happy with my toe loop, but I'd like to see it get even bigger. Maybe I'm just greedy. Lol. He's also working on getting my waltz jump delayed even more...he says I get good hang time ;)

The rink was nice and quiet tonight. The skating director says she's not happy with her ice so she's going to adjust the temperature - it HAS been rather frigid, but today was much better. I was able to work in peace and solitude until my lesson started and I went through basic moves and spins and jumps without dodging too many kids.

My coach also had me do outside edge spirals and says I look like Sasha Cohen 8O I'm flexible and all, but that's a big compliment!

Moldy What on earth is going on with my flip - I have great position in the air, but I'm on the back of my heel on the landing. I can't figure out how to fix it...I did a couple of good flips tonight but mostly the landings were back in the heel. Because of this I didn't bother with the lutz at all.

Camel spin, camel spin, camel spin....ugh, I finally did a decent one, or so I thought, and my coach was like, thats great but straighten your legs. Sigh.

My spins in general have been off. I don't know if its because of the ice, or because of my blades (I desperately need a sharpening!) but I DO know that I've been lifting my right shoulder for no good reason and it's throwing me off. I go through these peaks and valleys with my scratch spins. :roll:

Sit spins were okay, but again VERY travelly.

Random My coach was on his way to the hospital after my lesson to be with his wife - she was induced today and they should have a beautiful baby girl by tomorrow. Congrats to Rosie and Erik Larson on their new little one, Annabel - she's going to be the next great skater of her generation :bow:

[Andie]

All moldy, unfortunately. I skated today, Thursday, for barely over half an hour because I physically wasn't feeling too good (female trouble). When I was traveling to the rink I felt decent enough to skate and tried to pull through, but after 40 minutes there I'd had enough. I feel like I didn't practice adequately and it's like I wasted a trip there. But I guess 40 mins isn't bad.

(Today was my 1/2 hr lesson and I didn't want to cancel it. I hadn't had a lesson since last week Monday.)

[Thin-Ice]

Beautifully Ripe:
I tried the 8-step mohawk pattern for the first time in months today and the clockwise direction didn't go so badly. It was slow, but I managed to place the pattern correctly and keep an even tempo. After all the trouble I've had recently trying to fix my forward inside three turns, I actually pulled off several silent ones on clean & even entry and exit edges. Backward crossrolls were still good as far as technique (hadn't done these for months either); they just need more speed.

Mouldy and past it:
The 8-step mohawk in the counter-clockwise direction. I totally chickened out when it came time to do the outside mohawk and my feet just didn't want to do the back crossover. Forward crossrolls are sucky as well; I can't get a nice extension on the push out while in the crossed position for the life of me. I think it's because there's too much fat on my inner thighs. :cry:

Hey AnnM--

It sounds like you and I need to get together and trade elements. My forward crossrolls are much better than my back ones, and for me the 8-step mohawk sequence is better in the counter-clockwise direction. How about if we each do our strong parts on each other's tests? :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Mrs Redboots]

Congrats to Rosie and Erik Larson on their new little one, Annabel - she's going to be the next great skater of her generation :bow:And such a wonderful choice of name, too! ;) Let's hope she skates better than this one!

Mouldy: Why is it that the more Husband and I dance together, the more we find places where we don't push, where we slow right down, where things just go pear-shaped???? Actually, it's serious progress, but oh, so disheartening!

So last night was dance club, and after an hour's social dancing (and the ice is slow by then, so you have to push hard!) I was exhausted. And we never got to do a Swing Dance together, as my boots needed attention when it was on, and it turned out to be the only Swing Dance of the evening. :(

Ripe: We actually danced a Foxtrot together without having to stop! Okay, it was awful, you've never seen a worse Foxtrot (at least, I hope you haven't!), but we got through it. And a 14-step, although not quite so successful. I'm determined to get these dances to the point where I can do them socially comfortably, then I only have to master the Hickory Hoedown (and I wanted to try that with a different partner on Wednesday, but then couldn't go) to be able to do all the level 6 and under dances and start thinking of adding the Blues and the Tango and perhaps the European & American waltzes to my repertoire. But that's next year... this year is Foxtrot and 14-step.

I'm delighted by the way I can do my intro-3s, they are getting much more powerful and far less tentative. And Husband and I did a really good Prelim or British Waltz together, even though my free leg did go all over the place..... okay, so it wasn't really good, but you know what I mean.....

Anyway, it was fun & tiring.

[dbny]

Ripe:
At last, I'm back on the ice, even though it was just a public session. At first, I was so stiff and uncomfortable that I really just wanted to turn around and quite. In addition to not having skated all summer, except for twice, I'm still not used to my new orthotics. I stuck with it and pushed myself to do the things that were easy for me when summer began, such as F and B crossovers, and the pre-pre edge patterns. I finally loosened up and went on to F power crossovers, did FO and FI threes, F & B power pulls, and spiral stretches. Surprisingly, the moves that came back the fastest and most secure were the F and B cross strokes!

Mouldy:
I really barely did the three turns at all, just enough to prove to myself that I could still do them. The only patterns I skated completely were the FO edges, FI edges, BO edges, F crossovers and F power crossovers. Everything else I just dabbled at. The orthotics have helped my FO edges, but now FI and BI edges need a little attention, whereas they were dead simple before.

[aussieskater]

Ripe - well, as Mrs Redboots predicted a couple of weeks ago, DH and I are now allowed to step through the Dutch Waltz. And after some serious practice, we now expect that we will be able to complete one half of the rink (ie: one full repetition) at close to stumbling speed. We're not doing it to music yet as I for one am still learning the steps.

Mouldy - several things, mostly to do with not having practised it enough yet. I expect that flow and speed will come with time...(a very long time).

Also, we are nowhere near getting it in time to the music yet. Our count aloud has made others who hear us smile, especially on the second half of the first swing roll: "PUSH-2-3-Change-5-s-i-i-i-x-and-a-h-a-l-f-f-f". For some reason, we are not able to complete the first swing roll in 6 counts (3 on the back swing half and 3 on the forward swing half). We do manage it on the second swing. Not sure why.

Mrs Redboots and/or other dancers who post may be able to help with this and the following question: I find tracking when I need to push with my left leg is hard, in that I invariably end up in front of DH, so that if I was to push back at 45 degrees (ie: not straight back and not straight sideways), I would collect his boot and either one or both of us would go down.

It's especially a problem in the fast progressive after the second swing roll in the Dutch Waltz - I've tracked in front to push with my right leg and DH can push with his right leg behind me (good), but I can't get back behind him to push with my left leg for the second part of the progressive. Means I get no power there at all. How do we manage this? (You may recall that DH and I are both new to dance.) DH at first thought I was just not pushing strongly enough (he's much faster than me usually), but when we did the thing hand to hand rather than in Killian hold, I kept up easily, as I had room to put some guts behind the push. Any suggestions?

[sceptique]

Ripe:

Started learning backspin today, and it sort of kind of started out OK - once I even managed 3 rev from a standstill pushoff, but them my left leg twisted around right one and I had to struggle really hard to stay up.

Moldy:

Got "Pinoccio legs" again - stiff like wood. First half an hour struggled through feet crumps - so annoying! Warm up doesn't seem to help much.

What the heck is wrong with my LFI 3-turn? This is the only move where I have such striking difference between left and right leg. RFI is shaky but still more or less there, but LFI.... :frus:

Errr.... I'll get it eventually. Just a couple of hundred more years of practice...

[Skate@Delaware]

Ripe: Got back on the ice again last night(Friday)-it was warmer in the rink...Spent some time teaching hubby edges, 3's and then we progressed to dreaded back crossovers :twisted: I know he swears I'm evil. In between, I worked on my stuff, which was mostly ok. Did some spirals, which were way high!!! And I can go from one blue line to the end of the rink (and smash into the boards!) I'm working on a change-edge spiral, I'd like to put that into my routine as it would take up some time (don't have much in my little bag of tricks for the Halloween Classic).

Moldy: Ok, my spins are crap! For some reason, my free leg is on strike and refuses the command to raise up! Oh well. It will come. I know the strength is there...maybe I should try hypnosis! And there were crickets on the ice!! Ewww! Some were still alive, some had been zammed! Yuk!

Anyway, hubby gave up on crossovers after 5 minutes and got off the ice....said he was tired. I suggested he should work on something else for stamina-like stroking or just skating around. He said he was tired and afraid to fall down. Oh well. :giveup:

So I got my skates heat-molded (finally) after the session. They were pinching my ankle bones and hurting my bunions. Hopefully, that fixes the problem! I will find out tomorrow, during adult skate!

PS-our ice seems a bit harder-the rink manager is right. But I'm still pitching onto my toepicks slightly-but if I try not to, it makes my behind stick out....

[Terri C]

Mouldy and past it:
For some reason, I didn't take the week off from skating after Peach. The way I felt on the ice yesterday, I wish I had. I'm having pressure in my ears and my sinuses.
Five step mohawk:
Got to hold every step so I can get on a edge. Demonstrated it today at a PSA seminar, where I thought it was done okay, but got canned for my posture with my coach giving me the "I told you so " look!

Beautifully ripe:
Power threes- that is one thing that was back on the practice agenda post Peach.
Back to work on the camel and the flip!

[Mrs Redboots]

Mrs Redboots and/or other dancers who post may be able to help with this and the following question: I find tracking when I need to push with my left leg is hard, in that I invariably end up in front of DH, so that if I was to push back at 45 degrees (ie: not straight back and not straight sideways), I would collect his boot and either one or both of us would go down.

It's especially a problem in the fast progressive after the second swing roll in the Dutch Waltz - I've tracked in front to push with my right leg and DH can push with his right leg behind me (good), but I can't get back behind him to push with my left leg for the second part of the progressive. Means I get no power there at all. How do we manage this? (You may recall that DH and I are both new to dance.) DH at first thought I was just not pushing strongly enough (he's much faster than me usually), but when we did the thing hand to hand rather than in Killian hold, I kept up easily, as I had room to put some guts behind the push. Any suggestions?I can think, off-hand, of two possibilities here. The first is you are anticipating on that RFO push - could you be thinking that the run (progressive) ends up towards the barrier and already stepping that way? That first edge should still be going towards the centre of the rink, and you only start to come around with the LFI edge.

Alternatively, perhaps you are not pushing enough into the LFO swing roll - you are on the outside of the curve here, as it starts off towards the barrier and finishes towards the centre of the rink, and the person on the outside needs to push harder than the one on the inside to keep together.

If I were you, I'd practice endless laps of outside swing rolls in Kilian hold. Make them six-beat rolls, too, so that you are also practising keeping your free legs back. It's a bore, but you'd be surprised how even 2 laps per practice session will improve matters!

Here in the UK, we start with the Prelim Foxtrot (aka Novice Foxtrot), which is literally a matter of progressive runs and swings - you start with a LFO/RFI run (2 beats each edge), then LFO swing (4 beats), then RFO/LFI run followed by RFO swing.... which you repeat ad nauseam around the rink, in time to the Foxtrot music. It's actually one of those dances that is surprisingly hard to do well, and it's always good practice for your edges, runs and swings!

[slusher]

To add to Mrs. Redboots who had an excellent explanation, I would think that a little knee bend in and around the top of the curve of the swing roll would bring you back on track. Knee bend = lean, and leaning into the lobes would keep the inside person inside and the outside person outside. Knowing the pattern on the ice is very very important, if you think that you have to aim towards the centre, or the barrier, the lobes do get more lobe-y. Coach has been known to draw them on the ice with marker for the pattern-challenged. (me)

The fun thing about the Dutch waltz is that, well, you're going dutch! If something is wrong, it's not always just the one person, both of you have to work at it.

Mrs. Redboots, I've also been "advised" that the fourteenstep is on my dance agenda for this season, so we can commiserate together. I wasn't pleased to see a x-behind in the fourteenstep, I'm worried enough about the mohawk.

Moldy:

I know it's been discussed elsewhere, but I'm having contact lens problems, one eye is hard to fit and I've been fiddling with different curves and brands, today coach asked me if I could see yet. (I should use that as an excuse). I ended taking the miserable one out and skating one-eyed. Interesting. In a drunken way. I wonder how I can work in obsessive blinking and head shaking into my program. My problem with glasses is that they fog, they do always stay on when I fall.

Spectacularly Ripe:

I landed a fully rotated, perfectly toepicked flip today. Then I did it two more times. I'm very interested to see if it will show up again next week.

[Mrs Redboots]

Mrs. Redboots, I've also been "advised" that the fourteenstep is on my dance agenda for this season, so we can commiserate together. I wasn't pleased to see a x-behind in the fourteenstep, I'm worried enough about the mohawk. Mohawk isn't too bad, as long as you do do the proper closed one - if you do the open Foxtrot one by mistake, it's a bit disastrous. I still tend to do a slight choctaw. I've known the steps of this dance for simply ever, but it's always felt too fast to want to work on it until this year (but with loads of work on the Festival Quickstep & Riolado Samba, which are dumbed-down versions of the Quickstep & the Silver Samba, and hoping to work on a dumbed-down Kilian which is becoming popular here, the 14-step isn't as fast as it once was!). The cross-behind is awful, not because it's there (after all, we're quite used to them in dances like the Fiesta Tango & Golden skaters' waltz, to say nothing of the Rhythm Blues), but because it comes straight after the step to forwards - you want, or rather, I want, another beat to get my balance before going into it! I just aim my feet any old where & hope for the best!

I know it's been discussed elsewhere, but I'm having contact lens problems, one eye is hard to fit and I've been fiddling with different curves and brands, today coach asked me if I could see yet. (I should use that as an excuse). I ended taking the miserable one out and skating one-eyed. Interesting. In a drunken way. I wonder how I can work in obsessive blinking and head shaking into my program. My problem with glasses is that they fog, they do always stay on when I fall.My coach doesn't like us wearing glasses (although Husband does) because one of his pupils wore them on the ice in competition and spent her entire programme pushing them up her nose. And since I went to bifocals.... so I wear contact lenses when on the ice, but take them out when I get home as I don't see so well as with my glasses.

[mikawendy]

Beautifully Ripe--
Had a great practice today! Worked on adding speed to the entry of some of my jumps, and toe loops (and waltz-toe, sal-toe, and loop-toe) were cooperating today. Of course it's likely that "the coach effect" will rear its head when I go to show them to my coach later, lol!

Also got to run through my program with music and without music today. A friend who's competing tomorrow put my music on for me and I put hers on for her. Her program looks great--she's going to creme me at Halloween Classic, I do believe.

Moldy--backspin is pretty cruddy, and my forward scratch hasn't been centered lately. And my waltz-loop is just awful--I'm not converting my weight over to the skating/landing side for the loop.

ETA: Moldy--Arrived at rink today to find that freestyle rates had gone up due to increase in energy costs and insurance rates. This is the second increase at that rink in less than a year, I think. I think the rent for the pro shop and snack bar also went up.

[sunshinepointe]

Ripe Ripe Ripe Ripe (Pardon the bragfest to follow!)

Okay, I had a FABULOUS day at the rink.

Group lesson went VERY well....we were working on FO-BI and FI-BO 3 turns and I actually got them - my group coach was impressed and told me to piece them together, which got me really dizzy, but it was fun.

Public session after was just FUN. I was doing toe loop-toe loop-toe loop-toe loop-toe loop-toe loop...well you get the idea...I just did as many as I could, trying to make each one even better than the one before and it was SO much fun. I kept going until I just got way too dizzy. My regular coach was watching while he was in another lesson and winked at me. They must've looked good ;) I took into account the advice some folks gave me in another thread and they felt very big today.

Waltz jumps were great. Very floaty. Salchows were good - I'm getting much better height.

MY LOOP IS BACK BABY! And BETTER than before! I was crunching out GREAT loop jumps today. Good speed, good height, good flow out of them. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

My flip has resolved itself - not only am I not landing in my heel anymore, but I'm flowing out of them with nice speed. It's a miracle!

Sit spins - awesome! After they resurfaced I did a bunch of "butt spins" to make the kids laugh.

Scratch spins - getting back to the way they were. A little girl I know skated up to me and she said "I can't even see your face when you spin! I only kne it was you because your braids were sticking out to the side!". Woohoo! I'm still a little tilty with the shoulder, but I'm working on it :)

I did one of my spirals and my friend told me I almost have it at 180. Gotta keep stretching!!!

But the best part about the day was that I was having FUN - that's the way skating should be every time. I played with the kids, I had a "private lesson" from an adorable (albeit bossy) 7 year old who said I was her "best student ever" lol. I also just felt like I was flying in everything I did, and all eyes were on me. Yes, I'm a bit of an attention....person. :twisted:

I didn't have room to work on my camel today or the lutz, but I'm happy with what I did. I couldn't believe how quickly the session was over and I was just so elated when I was leaving.

I think the adult crew is going to do a group number with "step out solos" during the holiday show and I'm very much looking forward to it - I've never done a show before! Maybe I'll ask my coach to throw a little solo number together for me...or better yet, choreograph it myself. ;)

Okay - enough rambling. NO MOLDY FOR ME TODAY!!!!!

[aussieskater]

I can think, off-hand, of two possibilities here. The first is you are anticipating on that RFO push - could you be thinking that the run (progressive) ends up towards the barrier and already stepping that way? That first edge should still be going towards the centre of the rink, and you only start to come around with the LFI edge.

Alternatively, perhaps you are not pushing enough into the LFO swing roll - you are on the outside of the curve here, as it starts off towards the barrier and finishes towards the centre of the rink, and the person on the outside needs to push harder than the one on the inside to keep together.

If I were you, I'd practice endless laps of outside swing rolls in Kilian hold. Make them six-beat rolls, too, so that you are also practising keeping your free legs back. It's a bore, but you'd be surprised how even 2 laps per practice session will improve matters!

Here in the UK, we start with the Prelim Foxtrot (aka Novice Foxtrot), which is literally a matter of progressive runs and swings - you start with a LFO/RFI run (2 beats each edge), then LFO swing (4 beats), then RFO/LFI run followed by RFO swing.... which you repeat ad nauseam around the rink, in time to the Foxtrot music. It's actually one of those dances that is surprisingly hard to do well, and it's always good practice for your edges, runs and swings!

Thank you so much for your help. Reading your post, I had a sense of deja vu - yes, I did think the first (fast) progressive heads to the side; and yes, I probably am not pushing hard enough on the second roll.

And, yes, we do endless laps of swing rolls in Killian (and hand-to-hand); and yes, it has made an enormous difference, with a lot more improvement still needed. (Mind you, for those thinking about taking up dance, spending 2 hours straight doing *nothing* but 6-beat swing rolls around the perimeter in Kilian hold does get a *little* boring....)

I have to say, though, that that particular exercise proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that dance provides at least as much exercise as freestyle (more, given my pathetic freestyle). I get tired doing those laps, because you just don't stop. And as for the thighs...maintaining the knee bend the whole time really works the quads!

Any sage words on why we're not getting the first swing roll done evenly or in six counts (see original post re counting to 6...and a half)? We can do it in the laps (finally), but not after the last (fast) progressive before the first swing when attempting the dance.

Novice foxtrot sounds like fun. I'll ask my coach about it when I see her tomorrow.

[jazzpants]

Mouldy: I went to my alternate weekend rink today b/c I had a funeral to attend. WAAAAAAY too many teenage kids for my (or a few others') comfort. It's date night!!! :frus:

Lost blade guards. Probably still at home rink... better check with them and/or get new ones...

Ripe: What I can do with the moves seems solid!!! I feel ready for moves tonight... Spins are okay... well, when I'm not spinning into some rut from the ice b/c the session was so busy that the ice was already slush when I got there. (Got on the ice a half hour after the session started....) :roll:

[Melzorina]

Ripe: Oh yea, I had a fab lesson, even though I was supposed to work on my program but more of that in the Mouldy section. I officially started my parallel (camel) with my coach, which went very well, he said it was excellent for my first real attempt, I love love love it! I actually got about...5 revolutions!!! I started my chage foot spin too but it isn't happening just yet. Also got back to work on my loop, it's been neglected for so so long. I'm actually feeling the ability to land it sometime soon and get it consistent.

On Mondays, I have a free period first thing in the morning, I was thinking that I could go skating for the morning session and walk to college afterwards. And the same with tuesday evenings. :D

Mouldy: I got my program music on my minidisc, and lo and behold, it DIDN'T WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil: :evil: :evil: Very very p****d off!!!

[briar4012]

[QUOTE=aussieskater]

Any sage words on why we're not getting the first swing roll done evenly or in six counts (see original post re counting to 6...and a half)? We can do it in the laps (finally), but not after the last (fast) progressive before the first swing when attempting the dance.
QUOTE]

It might be something to do with how you start the swing roll...The last step of the progressive is a left outside edge and therefore the left hip is leading and your weight is over the skating foot with your free foot extended back and turned out. From here you must draw up and re-bend for the next step with your weight still over the skating foot but as you get to the end of the re-bend you change so your right hip is now leading strongly and push onto the right foot(e.g.start the next step which is the swing roll). Again your free foot must be extended back and turned out or you will not be able to hold a strong edge. If your weight is in the right place when you change from the last step of the progressive to the swing roll you will have more power on the swing roll, and the turn out will allow you to bring the edge round more tightly to complete the swing roll in time.

I hope this makes sense, it's easier to demonstrate than give a written explanation!

Anna :)

[Mrs Redboots]

Any sage words on why we're not getting the first swing roll done evenly or in six counts (see original post re counting to 6...and a half)? We can do it in the laps (finally), but not after the last (fast) progressive before the first swing when attempting the dance.What Briar said, but also, it's a matter of practice! When you start off your laps of swing rolls, start as though you were starting the dance - Left, right, then do a progressive run, a 3-beat edge, and then start the first of the swing rolls. If you are still having problems, even though you are just doing swing rolls in waltz time, not dancing, then it's almost definitely to do with weight shift - and make sure that you are starting the swing towards the centre of the rink, not stepping straight towards the barrier. And also make sure your feet are really close together as you change feet (my downfall!).

Novice foxtrot sounds like fun. I'll ask my coach about it when I see her tomorrow.If she is originally from Britain, she'll probably know it as the Prelim Foxtrot; it only changed its name about 3-4 years ago.

Lost blade guards. Probably still at home rink... better check with them and/or get new ones...You and my husband, who left his in North London - anybody else?

As for us, we had a good practice this morning.

Ripe: Coach has given us some new steps to put into the transition between the end of the first section of our free dance & the start of the step sequence, which I think will work very well. I've bought an MP3 player so I can listen to the music while we work on it, at least on those sessions where it's safe to do so. It got to the stage where we were better to leave it, and work on it together, rather than waste any more time in the lesson.

We had great fun playing with changes-of-edge - this time we even began to work on inside-to-outside changes-of-edge in Kilian hold, and did outside-to-inside in waltz hold. Which was fine when I was going backwards, but didn't quite work when the Husband was..... We also played with bracket-3-brackets on 2 feet, in Foxtrot & waltz holds.

Mouldy: Our lesson was late starting, so only got 20 minutes; we'll make it up on Tuesday though. At which point, the Husband announced he was on duty at Figure Club on Tuesday evening - now he tells me! - so it will be Tuesday evening, not Tuesday morning!

We didn't really run through our compulsory dances; instead, we played with the Foxtrot and the Prelim (aka British) Waltz (level 5 dances) since the music for those was playing. But we had a good skate. Won't start panicking about the British Adults yet.....

[sceptique]

Ripe

Had the first session with my other coach (I finally decided to have two sessions a week, but with different coaches). And he suggested we do a bit of "fun stuff" - things that are slightly challenging for my level. So we ended up working on jump combos: waltz - half loop - salchow and toe-loop - half loop - salchow. I really loved it!

Mouldy

We tried also a loop and a flip, but I kept doing halfs - landing on left foot instead of my right one. After the lesson I tried about 100 loops or so - and all of them were two-footed. No instant wins!

[skatergirlva]

Ripe
I was in Pennsylvania this past weekend, visiting my in-laws. I skated at a rink in Ardmore (The Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society rink). It was very cool. There are no boards, which was very strange, considering I have been know to slide into them on my Novice moves. :) However, it was such a fun rink because the sun shines in through windows on the side and also on the roof. There were only about 3 or 4 of us there. I landed some nice double loops and a few axels. :) I also did practice my moves and I helped my husband on his forward crossovers and I showed him how to do back crossovers. I told him that he could be my pairs partner.

Moldy
My layback was giving me issues, but so is life. :)

[LoopLoop]

I helped my husband on his forward crossovers and I showed him how to do back crossovers.
Hey, if you got him to do back crossovers there's definitely hope for him! Want to try with my husband next? :D

[sunshinepointe]

Mouldy

We tried also a loop and a flip, but I kept doing halfs - landing on left foot instead of my right one. After the lesson I tried about 100 loops or so - and all of them were two-footed. No instant wins!

I've actually heard that learning the half loop first can make learning the loop harder because your body gets into the habit of putting the "wrong" foot down. What worked for me was really lifting the free leg high, which also helps with height, and refusing to land on anything but the right leg - if I fell, I fell. Surprisingly, I didn't fall and I landed my first loop right away. See if it works for you :)

[sceptique]

I've actually heard that learning the half loop first can make learning the loop harder because your body gets into the habit of putting the "wrong" foot down. What worked for me was really lifting the free leg high, which also helps with height, and refusing to land on anything but the right leg - if I fell, I fell. Surprisingly, I didn't fall and I landed my first loop right away. See if it works for you :)

Thanks, I'll sure try next time!

I think, what my body is confused about is how you can take off from and land on the same foot. All other jumps so far - waltz, toe, salchow - have different take-off and landing feet, so I do keep putting down my free foot before I realise - oops! wrong!

I won't get on ice till Saturday :cry: so I'm going to review ISU videos and "habitize" the technique off-ice.

I didn't "learn" half-loop - we just put it in combo between waltz and salchow, and the coach said that it was really good - bold and high. The irony is that out of the combo I can't quite figure out where my free leg should be - I noticed that it swings back right after the take off and I rotate with legs apart. Well, it wouldn't be so much fun if it were easy, would it?

[skatergirlva]

Loops...maybe our husbands should just practice together.

[Skate@Delaware]

Loops...maybe our husbands should just practice together.
I'll bring mine! Although not sure he'd want to come now....I did a good imitation of a zamboni after tripping on my toepick while demonstrating how forward crossovers should flow...down I went, onto my elbows and almost hitting the boards.

Scared him more than me-I was more amazed that I didn't majorly hurt something. He then got off the ice for a coffee break.:giveup:

[jazzpants]

No way in hell I'm bringing my husband to skate. Hubby is not very coordinated... and I'm in no mood to take him to the ER AGAIN!!! :evil:

He'll tell you that "it's her thing, I'm staying out of it!" (Very true! I like having something that's of my own. Yes, I'm greedy!!! DEAL WITH IT!!! :P )

[jazzpants]

Ripe:

Got blade guards back from home rink on the way to weekend rink. (Home rink was majorly busy as usual!!!) 8O
Bronze Moves seems steady.
Put in order at dance supply shop for my new skating dress for my new artistic number. :D
Mouldy:

The ice!!! It was crap!!! I found out that no one had resurfaced it during the last normal resurface break! I took a tumble on one of the craters on the ice going into a toe loop on a runthru of my program (which I have NEVER, EVER done before...) Can't spin on it either! There was never a time where I wished the session would end earlier... :evil: :frus:

[Raye]

I agree with you Jazz - My hubby does not skate either and echoes the words "It's her thing" on a regular basis. On the flip side - you won't ever get me on a Squash or Tennis court. That's his thing. 8-)

Pain about the ice, though. Have you scheduled your test yet?

[Terri C]

Had lesson with Coach today where she told me about things that I missed at the PSA seminar she hosted at our rink, like the judge that came will judge Adult moves on standard track( :roll: :evil: ) and quoted the judge as saying "the standard is the standard." Boo hiss! Oh and the sitspin will not count unless the skating thigh is parellel to the ice! :roll:

Otherwise, worked on power threes and technical "catch up" as I call it. Coach wants me to work on a backscratch to forward scratch spin combination (using COP as leverage) and a waltz loop combo that I want badly to put in my freeskate program!
I also worked on flip takeoffs and camel spins- yes people, Terri worked on camel spins minus a coach prodding her to do so!

[jazzpants]

Had lesson with Coach today where she told me about things that I missed at the PSA seminar she hosted at our rink, like the judge that came will judge Adult moves on standard track( :roll: :evil: ) and quoted the judge as saying "the standard is the standard." Boo hiss! Oh and the sitspin will not count unless the skating thigh is parellel to the ice! :roll: Yeah, right!!! I could see that judge grabbing out a protractor to measure whether the leg position is parallel to the ice. :roll:

My understanding was "recognizable sit spin" was the rule for the Adult Bronze FS tests! What that means though depends on the judge. If that PSA judge wants "perfectly parallel or else it won't count", he'll have a hard time finding a pre-Bronze adult who has that. :roll: (Certainly NOT me...and I was told by a few adults that I have a pretty decent sit spin for a pre-Bronze skater too...)

Otherwise, worked on power threes and technical "catch up" as I call it. Coach wants me to work on a backscratch to forward scratch spin combination (using COP as leverage) and a waltz loop combo that I want badly to put in my freeskate program!
I also worked on flip takeoffs and camel spins- yes people, Terri worked on camel spins minus a coach prodding her to do so!Why not? My primary coach didn't know I was working on a lutz on my own for the last 3 months (two footing the landing) until he asked me to do a half-lutz (just to see if I could do it) and I accidentally (no quotes!!! It WAS accidental and I'm sticking to that story!!! :P ) did a full rotation instead. Primary coach says "I asked for a half-lutz, but since you could do a full rotation... do a lutz again!!!" :twisted: Oops!!! :oops:

Same with flips. Three years ago he tried to get me to do a flip and I couldn't fully rotate to save my life! Fast forward to early this year (took a break from Bronze Moves and Skate SF) and he realizes that I had the rotation but am two footing the landing. Now he wants me to land the sucker on one foot. (And you know how often he coaches me on jumps given my Bronze Moves tests is high on the queue....) However, he also has this obsession with my backspin... :twisted:

The axel is where I will ummm...let my coaches do their magic... :halo: (Boc boc boc...)

[sk8pics]

On the flip side - you won't ever get me on a Squash or Tennis court.

I used to LOVE to play squash! Played for years, until I tore the muscle in my left calf and then they tore down the building. I swear, the two events were not related. Shame, though, I was never as fit as when i was playing squash.

As for me, ripe means I'm back on the ice after a 2 week break while my skates sojourned in San Francisco. As a souvenir, they returned with new tongues and insoles. Which brings me to

Mouldy Yikes, they are like brand new skates because now I can't bend! Actually it's better now as today was my third day on the ice. My coach told me some things were actually better than they were before my break, so that's good. But it all feels hard again. Getting better, but boy. Of course tonight got a mini-lecture about not bailing out of cw forward xovers for no reason :roll: and I tried to explain that if I'm feeling insecure (which I am) and trying with varying degrees of success to hit an outside edge (failing much of the time) and I think someone is going to step right in front of me and I won't be able to stop and will fall over my edge, then I'm not going to be particularly aggressive. :roll: He's right of course too, but just not tonight!

On Friday I get new blades and then I'll decide about the Halloween Classic. Might have too much adjusting to do...

Oh, I almost forgot, the best thing of all: With much trepidation, I tried a one-foot spin, the first since the boots came back. I'd felt like my balance was a little off with my right foot because of the stiff leather, but I DID THE BEST 1 FOOT SPIN I'VE EVER DONE! Completely totally centered, tight little circle, more revolutions than ever before, completely under control. It was so cool! We need a happy dance smilie!

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

[dbny]

I used to LOVE to play squash! Played for years, until I tore the muscle in my left calf and then they tore down the building. I swear, the two events were not related. Shame, though, I was never as fit as when i was playing squash.

Me too! Before kids and skating, I used to play for an hour at lunch time, as did many of the women in my office. The squash club was right across the street. I quit for a few years and went back because of a challenge. I was winded in 10 minutes. Still won the challenge, as the other player turned out to be all hot air :)

Ripe:
FO threes are pretty much back to where they were before the summer. Managed three or four very nice two foot spins.

Mouldy:
I had to push myself to try anything. I still feel like I'm a hundred years old and never skated before. FI threes are very tentative. Did spiral stretches twice and felt crippled after the second set.

Ripening:
Found out yesterday that I would have a class to teach today after the freestyle session. I got the Basic 1's and had a lot of fun with them. By the time class was over, I felt like a skater again. Guess I need to warm up with marching :roll:

[Debbie S]

I DID THE BEST 1 FOOT SPIN I'VE EVER DONE! Completely totally centered, tight little circle, more revolutions than ever before, completely under control.

Congrats! Maybe you could give me a lesson. :) My spins today were traveling halfway across the rink. I guess it was helpful to see how many revs I was getting (5-6 on scratch, 5 on sit - woohoo!) but still. :roll: I even had this problem with 2-foot spins. I am contemplating doing the Pre-Bronze Spin event at HC and decided to see how those spins looked. Yikes - I know I don't practice 2-foot spins very often - well, really not since my Pre-Bronze FS test - but it's supposed to be a simple spin. I felt like my legs were spinning in opposite directions! :frus:

Ripe:
Got a bonus 20 minutes of practice today b/c of the late afternoon schedule and a gap between FS session start times. Ran through Bronze moves twice, and did power 3's for a third time. I also landed a couple of good loops, meaning I actually felt like I was in the air during the jump - lol.

Modly:
Aforementioned spin issues. And based on Terri's post above, it looks like my skating thigh is definitely not low enough on my sit spin. :twisted: I think my blades need a sharpening, b/c it seems like I'm getting a lot of drag, with some skidding too.

[icecatepairs]

I think I'll take Franks cue and start with the mouldy...

MOULDY: apparently the official new uniform for the adults at the american academy figure skating club is crutches . :cry: ..maragaret and i have a matching set..so i guess mouldy would be surgery , crutches and the watemelon that used to be my knee..and the really bad moves test run through i did on my last day on the ice...oh yes and the fact that we are back on am sessions with the summer schedule over no more evening sessions for us.

RIPE: The kids are back in school and that means better sessions in the later mornings. Ripe also includes the week of clean run throughs I had of my new program with all my new jumps, and getting my camel spin in my opposite spinning direction last week right before surgery. :lol:

Oh and I have seen parts of the spin frank is talking about and it looks really cool when he pulls up into the scratch spin with his hands behind his back. i almost killed myself trying it that tuesday we played "show us a new move and we'll all try it " on the adult session. (glad you could drop in tim..it was fun) we'll leave that spin to frank..and no one could do his flying foward . camel either. even one of the resident celebrity skaters wouldn't try it in public.. but we all have the job of not letting franks costume be the mouldy part of the next post....

[Mrs Redboots]

I agree with you Jazz - My hubby does not skate either and echoes the words "It's her thing" on a regular basis. On the flip side - you won't ever get me on a Squash or Tennis court. That's his thing. 8-)Ah, but he does the perfect Skate Husband thing, coming with you to competitions and putting you on the ice!

One Skate Husband of my acquaintance even helps his wife put her skates on, and dries them off for her afterwards.....

Skating Husbands, on the other hand.... well, they do have some advantages, but they don't hold your purse for you or write down your marks....

[sceptique]

My other half recently started to show some traces of interest in skating, or rather his whining during public sessions ("can we go home yet?") is becoming less frequent. The only problem is that I stay at the rink for 4-5 hours, and there's not much for him to do there all that time (there is only certain amount of time you can practice backward stroking before going nuts!). He could join me later, for an hour or so, but we only have one car, which means I would have to take the motorbike.... and it's too cold and too far, and sometimes it rains. So I have to make him to renew his CBT first, so I could take the car and he could take the bike.... too complicated. :lol:

[Skate@Delaware]

Moldy Update: I think I need to mention to my "new" coach that I want her to help me with a routine for the Halloween Classic (in addition to working on pre-bronze moves, which I won't be testing on until spring anyway, due to lack of testing sessions in the area)....I can't seem to put one together without dear daughter laughing and saying it looks stupid...... The only really good move I have is my spiral (it's really high now) but I do want a waltz jump in it. I will be doing no-test so I'm not going gung-ho on this....sheesh, you'd think it would be easier to fill 1:30.....

Now, next year may be another story!!!

[sokolova12]

Hello all, My name is Ekaterina, I am 35 years old and I just started skating a week ago. I took lessons when I was 8 or something, now after some health problems, and financial ones, I am able to start skating again.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what boots and blades to purchase?

[Debbie S]

Does anyone have any suggestions on what boots and blades to purchase?

Welcome! You might have an easier time getting answers to this if you posted it as a brand-new thread (since this thread is devoted to a different topic, it might get buried here).

To quickly answer your question, that will depend on what jumps and spins you are working on, as well as the shape of your feet, etc. The best thing to do is go to a good boot fitter in your area - ask the instructors or skating director at your rink for recommendations.

[Debbie S]

I will be doing no-test so I'm not going gung-ho on this....sheesh, you'd think it would be easier to fill 1:30.....
Remember, 1:30 is a maximum, not a requirement. Your program can be shorter. Don't feel pressured to take every second of the allotted time, especially since it's your first program. Good luck!

FYI, UD and Wilmington have test sessions pretty frequently, although I've heard that the UD judges are very tough.

[sokolova12]

Welcome! You might have an easier time getting answers to this if you posted it as a brand-new thread (since this thread is devoted to a different topic, it might get buried here).

To quickly answer your question, that will depend on what jumps and spins you are working on, as well as the shape of your feet, etc. The best thing to do is go to a good boot fitter in your area - ask the instructors or skating director at your rink for recommendations.



Thank you, I will do that

[Raye]

Ah, but he does the perfect Skate Husband thing, coming with you to competitions and putting you on the ice!
....
This is true and I very much appreciate his supportiveness (is that a word?).

I could watch him play tennis and/or squash all day. He is good at raquet sports. He tried to get me interested in tennis some years back, but I spent the whole time chasing the ball all over the place, and seldom hit it. And the squash ball is so much smaller - if I can't even hit a tennis ball, what hope do I have of hitting the squash one. :giveup:


Mouldy: Spins....aaaaack. :frus: Also; I need both the freeskate and interp programs to be 30 seconds longer in order to use them for a couple of Canadian competitions that are coming up. I had gotten quite used to the 1:40 length. Huff puff :?? :roll:

Ripe: (more like ripening - not quite there yet) The new footwork I got yesterday for my lengthened freeskate program. It's challenging but it looks SOOOOOOO cool - at least when the coach does it - and it started coming together this morning, in time to the music even. :D :D

[Skate@Delaware]

Remember, 1:30 is a maximum, not a requirement. Your program can be shorter. Don't feel pressured to take every second of the allotted time, especially since it's your first program. Good luck!

FYI, UD and Wilmington have test sessions pretty frequently, although I've heard that the UD judges are very tough.
That's good to know about both things! I will be mentioning to my coach and asking for recommendation. My music is cut to exactly 1:30-it's beautiful and I'd hate to cut it down anymore than that, but I can. I am putting in a spiral and that eats up a lot of time (or it seems to anyway). I'm pretty un-ambitious as far as the rest of it so don't expect much-it's more of an ice-breaker program for me (all I've done so far have been shows! Feathers anyone?)

We do have skaters from my humble little rink that skate at both rinks but not adults who have tested (I will be breaking new ground/ice). I'm looking more at Wilmington or Aston anyway.....didn't get a good feeling at U of De the few times I've been there (sorry!). And as far as I know, The Pond doesn't test. (Skated there over the summer).

[mikawendy]

On Friday I get new blades and then I'll decide about the Halloween Classic. Might have too much adjusting to do...

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

Well, I hope you decide that your blades will work out so that you can go to Halloween Classic. I didn't go last year, but friends told me it was great fun and the people in the hosting club are really nice. I'm going this year.

[mikawendy]

That's good to know about both things! I will be mentioning to my coach and asking for recommendation. My music is cut to exactly 1:30-it's beautiful and I'd hate to cut it down anymore than that, but I can. I am putting in a spiral and that eats up a lot of time (or it seems to anyway). I'm pretty un-ambitious as far as the rest of it so don't expect much-it's more of an ice-breaker program for me (all I've done so far have been shows! Feathers anyone?)

Well, your other option, if you don't skate the entire 1:30 is to let the music play for a teeny-tiny bit in the beginning before you start moving, if you'd rather not cut the music. (I think that's legal. I've been poring over last year's rule book to look things up about questions I have about my program, but it all starts running together in my mind.)

[Skate@Delaware]

Well, your other option, if you don't skate the entire 1:30 is to let the music play for a teeny-tiny bit in the beginning before you start moving, if you'd rather not cut the music. (I think that's legal. I've been poring over last year's rule book to look things up about questions I have about my program, but it all starts running together in my mind.)
I have thought about doing that-the beginning starts very light and it is a bit hard to hear (my hearing is starting to fade out now, I'm afraid I will be very deaf in about 10-15 years :cry: ). I think I can get about 10 seconds from that. Then hold my position at the end for another 5-10 seconds.... If I go kersplat that will also gain me some seconds :lol:
I see my new coach tonight-I will talk to her and ask her about some choreography - we may end up cutting it anyway (down to a minute, which I can handle).

[sk8pics]

Well, I hope you decide that your blades will work out so that you can go to Halloween Classic. I didn't go last year, but friends told me it was great fun and the people in the hosting club are really nice. I'm going this year.

I'd like to go, so we'll see. Always good to know (at least sort of, on line, LOL) someone else who's going! My boots are feeling more normal today, and my lesson schedule seems to be shaping up, so hopefully the blades won't be too much of a shock!

Pat

[sk8pics]

Then hold my position at the end for another 5-10 seconds.... If I go kersplat that will also gain me some seconds :lol:


Terry, I had to laugh at this only because I am always telling my coach, "Okay, the idea is NOT to fall, right? Because if I fall, by the time I get up the music will be over!"

But anyway, I wanted to say your coach can always help you do some final graceful sort of movements with your arms at least so it doesn't look like you are ending 10 seconds early! Good luck with it!

Pat