Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13 | Golden Skate

Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

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Cinderella On Ice

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Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Can it really be Monday again? Then it must be time to tell us about your great (incredible) and not-so-great (impossible) lessons and practices throughout the week. Be sure to stop here and tell us all about them so we can applaud your successes and your efforts.
 
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starshinexavier

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Just wanted to pop in and say that I have 4 more days left until my ice hiatus is over!!!!:D

Happy Skating everyone!:D
 
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Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

INCREDIBLE - This morning I had a very productive skate. The highlight was I made it through my whole program three times (NOT in a row, but close together and without dying!) and then after the last one at the end of the session I skated endurance for 6 whole minutes with a lot of sweating but very little fatigue. Woo hoo, I think I'm finally making some progress there. Now if I can just complete all my fresstyle elements while I refrain from throwing up on the judges, I'll have it made in the shade next week!

Starshine - those four days will be gone in no time. And then, major fun city for you. I can't wait to hear all about the class.
 
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starshinexavier

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Cindy, don't worry, you'll get a full report. It's 3 days of coaching madness, both on and off the ice. It's at a college about an hour away from where I live, but sadly I have to drive home each night instead of staying in a hotel. I'm really starting to get excited. It'll also be nice to see Paul again after not seeing him, or skating with him for a month. And once I'm done with the clinic, I'll get to start working on my assisted coaching assignment, helping my coach's students. I can't wait!!!

Congrats on those great run throughs! You're gonna be so ready for your tests! They're on July 18, right? Nonetheless, I think you'll do great! What kind of outfit are you wearing for your test?
 
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Lanechka

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Incredible - Well, today my coach showed me the back scratch which I got in about ten minutes. It wasn't as hard as I thought and now that I know the sort of thing I gotta do to rotate, it's a lot easier, although today I was very skittish with my jumps for some reason (I was very sleepy!). I won't be seeing her for two weeks as I'm visiting my mom. Coach is having me do loops on one foot. We worked for an hour today. Went through all the jumps--waltz, loop, toe, flip, salchow. All are doing well. Mohawk sequences were a pain, but I got it eventually.

Impossible - Mohawk sequences suck. Just so you know. ;) Nothing too bad today. Not too many falls, thank goodness.

And good for you, Cindy! Yay for you! :D I want to work on a program once I get some jumps and stuff consistent... I haven't talked about that with The Coach(tm) yet...

<strong>-Lanie</strong>
 
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Glacierskater

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

I am so jealous of everyone that got to skate today. Our rink closed on Sunday and Monday. Good job on your run throughs Cinderella.

Lanie,
You and I are working on the same elements it sounds like. Any pointers for the loop? That was has ben dazed and confused.
 
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Lanechka

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Glacier -- can you do a back spin? :) Those helped me a lot just within about 10 minutes! And when you do the three turn, do NOT cross the feet, just keep the left foot OFF the ice in front, squeeze the thighs just a little bit, and just go for it. :)
 
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Glacierskater

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Lanie,
I can do a backspin. For me it would be the right foot off the ice in front...I am a CW jumper, spinner. I had not put the concept of the backsppin to work on this jump though. I will work on that in my next practice. Thanks for the tip.

Glacier
 
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Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Lanie - wow great job on the back scratch. When I do it, I do it quite well, but it is one of those things that sometimes eludes me. Like today, but then I just had my blades sharpened and spinning is always a kind of trip.

Glacier - good luck working on that loop. I agree with you and just hate it when the rinks are closed.

IMPOSSIBLE - At my practice today, I was struggling a bit with my back scratch because of the afore-mentioned blade sharpening. Also, I'm still struggling with "flowing" through my program rather than "forcing" through it. Even though I can tell that I'm gaining more endurance, I honestly cannot remember that it was ever this hard to do a program! Please, oh please, don't tell me that I've gotten "old"! :(

INCREDIBLE - Even though I didn't get a chance to put my music on, I ran through my program several times and mostly was pleased with it. I tried to work through the footwork sequences and get the arms in gear with the feet (sometimes successful, sometimes not), though at least one time I looked like a goose when you chase after it! I've been much happier with my spirals and jump combos. I decided in the car afterwards that I really need to work on the artistic side, and that when I skate on Thursday, I'm going to act like I am performing for an audience. I think I've been too self-conscious to do that, but what do I care what the little kids think? How else will I get a presence on the ice? So tomorrow (my day off), I'm going to recite positive affirmations in my head and see if I can build up my courage.

Speaking of courage and completely off-topic, I was totally bummed today by the death of those conjoined twins in Singapore. Those women wanted to be separated so badly they were willing to risk their lives. I felt incredibly sad that they were not successful. Made all my "problems" seem like smoke.
 
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rachelstarlet

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

I want to write more but I have to be brief... more tomorrow as I plan to put in a full day of skating (after work, yowch).

Impossible: They redid the ice over the weekend, let people skate on it yesterday morning, then decided it wasn't thick enough and added another layer (or something? I'm not too familiar w/ how that stuff works) so it was a bit funky in places today. Oh yeah, and yesterday I went to skate and got turned away. Bah. But I got a coupon for a free skate.

INCREDIBLE: This deserves to be in all caps: I LEARNED THE WALTZ JUMP TODAY!!! Woohoo! I went with Tricia just for practice but Joy was there and came over to us after awhile and said "I'm bored, what are you guys working on?" and gave us an impromptu lesson - for free! It was great. She helped w/ back crossovers for a bit but then said "I think you guys are ready to learn the waltz jump." I'm surprised at how easily it came compared to some of the other stuff. I'm not really getting all the way around (well, "around," meaning I'm not getting a full 180 degrees - maybe more like 165 or something) and my setup is a little wonky (still skittish about deep outside edges) but STILL! It's my first jump, albeit a very basic one, and it was just the little boost I needed to get through the rest of the day (work, blah).

Okay, I'm off! See you all tomorrow!
 
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Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Rachel<strong>STAR</strong>let - WOO HOO on the waltz jump, girl. In no time at all, you'll be a flying machine!

Great work!
 
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Lanechka

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Cindy, no, you're not old! Just wonky sharp blades don't help with anything..

Yay Rachel! The waltz is fun. Good for you! :D

<strong>-Lanie</strong>
 
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Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

<strong>Lanie</strong> - you sweetie, you. You get all the bonus points today!
 
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Glacierskater

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

CINDERELLA:
Aren't you the one that has the GOLD goal by - what? - the end of the year! We are never too old! IF you can dream it you can do it. Within reason..I will never land a quad, but I have no desire to! You can accomplish this goal that you have set for yourself. Some day are spiral days, and some are 'chasing goose days'...that mental vision of you doing that made me laugh out loud! You brought up a very good point though. I need to really focus on running through my programs like I am in the spotlight. I am so guilty of stopping or talking to my coach all the way through it. I need to stop that. Keep up the good work. One thing about getting blades sharpened it that it is always easier for me to get really deep edges afterward. Right now I am losing my back outside edges. I think that I need to have mine sharpened as well.



RACHEL: EXCELLENT WORK! I remember doing the waltz jump for the first time. It really felt like I was getting somewhere. It was liberating, and it was fun! If you want to challenge yourself, try doing them the other way when you get comfortable with the first way. Excellent work!
 
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rachelstarlet

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

My legs are tired, my feet are blistered, and I really need a long hot shower, but I feel great! I skated for sooo long today. I'm becoming a tad obsessed. Hah. Anyway....

Basic Skills, Week Six

Impossible: Joy was out of town so we had Jim this week, and we worked on (among other things) a two-foot spin. He helped a lot with where to position my weight and balance and such but I still have a gut feeling I'm not going to be a very good spinner. It scares me more than jumping for some reason. But, though I'm not good at it, it's kinda fun to practice. So I guess that's something. Also I fell hard on my backside while attempting an inside three turn right in front of the skater boy (see below; I don't know what else to call him - his name is fairly distinctive and I want to make sure I can admire him from afar w/o anyone in real life knowing! haha) who was helping me w/ it. D'oh. Except then I realized that I've seen him fall dozens of times while he practices jumps, so oh well.

Incredible: Jim taught us a little alternating crossover pattern and I worked on that both forward and backward and I can tell just from doing it tonight that my crossovers are going to improve sooo much from it. Practiced waltz jumps, which are fun, but Tricia's are improving so much faster than mine so that's kinda frustrating. But I can do three turns and mohawks way better than her :) . Also, sorry to taint the board with silly teenage girl crush babble (haha), I spent a lot of time talking to the older son from the skating family today, and discovered that he's just as much of a nut as me about following competitive skating on TV and stuff. Finally! Someone to put up with my babble. He told me a lot of interesting technical stuff about different skaters' jumping techniques that I'd never noticed. Anyway, that was a nice extra to the skating session. I met a few other people today too. Everyone at the rink is so nice. I wish I didn't have to move to a new place so soon for college - I feel like I'm just getting to know everyone!
 
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Lanechka

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Cool, Rachel, about the x-over pattern. My coach taught me a mohawk pattern that should help me. :)

And about the crush--cool! There are hardly NO guys at my rink...if they are they're hockey players and they'd rather make me tumble than talk to me.
 
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Yazmeen42skater

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

rachel: Congrats on your first jump. I sympathize on the spinning--I'm always more afraid of losing my balance with spins than jumps.

Well, I certainly used my head this week...LITERALLY

Incredible Skater Hulk: We worked on stroking and crossovers this week--improving stroking and do fast strokes and working on an Intermediate move, a progressive crossover pattern where they get faster and faster, both sides, forward and backward. Major improvements in all areas according to my coach so I was happy. We also found the KEY problem with my two foot spin. Apparently, I was essentially doing a 3 turn on two feet and then trying to spin from the backwards position. We worked on just slowly moving into the spin and I got 4 revs hardly trying!! It will actually be fun to bring it up to speed. That was all on Tuesday, and then...

The Impossible Dream (Nightmare): Our rink has drips from the ceiling when its really hot outside and on Tuesday, they were numerous and mounds we call "ice mines" develop fast after the ice cut. I was coming around on end at high speed when my left toepick jammed right into a big one. I stumbled onto my knees (padded, Thank God) and slid, head first into the boards. I have a lovely little sore spot on my forehead, and the muscle aches in the arms and ribs were especially achy today, but no major damage, thank goodness. Luckily I was two foot gliding when I fell; Otherwise, I might have tumbled forward and hit my head on the ice. I iced my forehead for a bit and then sucked up my fear, went right back out and skated again. That was a smart move as I had no fear today. We worked on the stroking and crossovers again today and all went very well.

Lucky for me, I'm a hard headed cuss to begin with!!!:evil: :cool: :rollin:
 
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Lanechka

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Aiee, Yazmeen! Ouchie, I did that once, banged my head into the board falling on a flip. Ow ow ow.

I'm leaving in a little while to the airport where I'm going to Sacramento to be with my mom for two weeks... we have to drive 1 1/2 hr to the closest rink! She lives in the middle of nowhere.
 
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Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

<strong>Glacierskater</strong> - Thanks for the encouragement after the "chased goose" look I practiced on Tuesday. See my report below to see that I took your kind words to heart.

<strong>Rachelstarlet</strong> - Great workout and clearly you are now hooked on skating! Glad SkaterBoi was so accommodating. There are very few boys at our rink, so I don't see the young girls getting to interact much. They were scarce when I was a kid too, though my very first crush was on my skatefriend's brother (who also skated) and to this day I still have his picture which he signed for me. Don't worry that some things progress faster than others. Keep plugging away at those basics and soon you will find that everything improves remarkably!

<strong>Yazmeen</strong> - Ouch, ice mines. I remember them well. On summer Sunday mornings we would go to do patch (figures), but first everyone would spend 1/2 hour scraping the bumps off our pathetic ice. Glad you "hulked" up and got right back on the ice what threw ya!

<strong>IN-CRED-EE-BLAY</strong> - Oh my gosh, this morning was just the most wonderful practice! It started off a little odd because I didn't get to bed till 2 a.m. because of a work project, so I only had 4 hours' sleep. Then I got there and my coach had called to say she would be late and we'd have to span over into the next session to get my lesson finished. She warned me not to wear myself out before she got there, so I worked on all my moves and I was especially pleased with my power three-turns around the end caps. Then I started working on chunks of my program, focusing especially on the connecting moves and getting my arms to look like something other than flopping spaghetti (or the chased-goose look). When she got there, I was so warmed up that she asked me to do my program. WOO HOO! Not only did I complete the whole program with hardly a "bobble," but the endurance conditioning I've been doing must have kicked in because I did not feel like I needed to lie on the ice and stage a small death! :D Oh, and she said I looked powerful, but graceful out there and praised me for smiling and emoting the whole time!

Then she had me run through all my jumps up to the lutz and they were all "on," and then my reverse spin which was above average.

Then after they made ice, I ran through my whole set of moves and she said that they would have passed if they had been my test. So I'm burning them into my brain and planning to do them "just so" next Friday when I test.

Then as if the day could not be better, a woman I don't even know and don't think I've ever seen before (she had something to do with the hockey camp going on at the other rink), smiled at me and said, "You are a lovely skater." OH MY GOSH, I almost floated up to heaven. As it was, it brought tears to my eyes and I thanked her profusely. You know, when you're an adult skater, sometimes you kind of miss the unconditional encouragement you used to get from your mom and dad. So this unsolicited bit was just so nice.

I've been reading a book called "Inner Champion" which is how to develop your mental attitude to compete in figure skating. One of the things it suggests is to post positive affirmations on your mirror. I'm going to write down that woman's quote and stick it right up there.

<strong>IMPOSSIBLE</strong> - Not a darn thing!

Sorry to be so long. Just had to share!
 
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Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Incredible/Impossible Lessons & Practices 7/7-7/13

Sorry that I seem to be posting so much, but I guess it's just because I'm skating a lot these days!

<strong>INCREDIBLE</strong> - Wooba wooba wooba!

Don't have a clue as to what that means, but I am feeling so full of beans right now after my skating practice. I'm not even sure why, as I don't really feel that I did the best job I can on my program, but skating is just a euphoric high in and of itself!

<strong>IMPOSSIBLE</strong> - The problem with the program is that my timing was off, and I didn't feel that I had the same great "game face" that I exhibited yesterday. Part of the problem is that when my music started, everyone just scurried off the ice and stood by the sides to watch. Eeep! Also, about 23 little hockey boys stopped their trek to the other rink and watched as well. It made me nervous! It made me shaky. It was excellent practice for the tension I will feel next Friday during testing, so I have learned a good lesson. I have to remember to b-r-e-a-t-h-e and relax and get into a zone. I didn't do that today, but I know that I can. So next time I need to practice practice practice getting into the zone.

<strong>INCREDIBLE</strong> - On the other hand, my Moves in the Field were awesome! There are 5 sets of them, and I presented them the way I would if I were testing (no breaks, finishing each one with an attractive front T-stop, etc.). In my mind, I would have passed them. So now I've decided to burn them into my brain AS MY TEST. So next Friday, as I do them, I will do them the same as I did today because "that is my test."

As you can tell, I've totally cracked up. Just bear with me and hopefully by the 19th of July I will be a sane person again!

Hope everyone is well today and that you'll share what you're up to in skating land.
 
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