First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

[starshinexavier]

First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

A new week of skating is among us. Tell us about your First Place and Last Place lessons and practices!

 

[starshinexavier]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

<strong>First Place:</strong> -did a pretty good job at the expanding exercise for Sr.Silver skills. It's totally different from when I tested it, and I did not too bad.
-Good lesson, and run through of the interpretive. Fixed things my coach didn't like, and now she likes it, so all is good in coach-land.
-Nice axels, and nice 2 sals when I landed them on my feet. Did a nice loop/2 loop too.
-Able to last through our little stroking exercise with the music. Kept on almost crashing into Paul, Rachel and Wray though. Oopsie!
-just had a ton of fun tonight. I don't know what it was, but I just totally enjoyed myself.

<strong>Last Place:</strong>-very, very dramatic wipe outs on the 2 sals. I sometimes over rotate my shoulders, causing me to slide kinda like I'm laying on my side, or sliding into a base only backwards. The one time I did that, I collapsed into a heap on the ice and accidentally banged my head on it in semi-frustration. Paul saw it and laughed at me, while asking if I was ok. :rollin:

The test list went up today, and on Tues, June 10, at 4:15p.m. I will be testing my interpretive. I'm not nervous, as I have 3 more practices left, and I know who my potential judges are(Blind, little old men). Will that be a good thing? We'll find out next week. Until then........

Happy Skating.

 

[Cinderella On Ice]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Sarah - remind me to clear the ice when you come out! As best as I can tell, I can expect you either to crash into me or slide under me like you're stealing bases!!! :rollin:

Seriously, great practice you describe here. You are SO ready for your interpretive. Those little ole blind men won't know what hit them. Will mom be taking pics and can you post them afterwards?

 

[Yazmeen42skater]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Last place: After more than a week off the ice, I just can't seem to wake up after returning from Vegas (my allergies in this lousy, rainy Pennsylvania weather aren't helping, either). Yuck!

First place: Started the ISI Freestyle 2 dance step sequence today, and did pretty well with it, for a fogged out allergy head. :x I was able to do the sway (essentially a left power pull) with no trouble. The back crossstep is a bear, though--Coach said its actually a Juvenile USFSA skill, so I didn't do too bad for the first try!! Its good to be back on the ice, but I wish my head would clear up.

 

[starshinexavier]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Yaz: Sounds like you had a blast at your conference! Congrats on passing your judging exam! WTG!!! You'll get back into the swing of things once that head of yours clears up. Keep at it!

Cindy: I'm not THAT insane when I fall on jumps. You don't need to clear the ice! I always try to have a 10 foot jumping circle around me so that I don't take people out. Plus, by the time I'm jumping, the ice is so hard and chewed that you stick.

Thanks for the compliments about the interpretive. It's pretty much ready to go. Just need to practice a tinge more. I don't know if my mom will be taking pics, but I hope she does.

<strong>First Place:</strong>-Good lesson. Coach happy with things. I do this one move where I look to the left, then to the right, and she was trying to get me to open my shoulders more, and I kept pulling my shoulders back and she told me "Stop trying to look like a hooker with your boobs poking out like that!" :lol: <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT="">
-Nice axels and 2 sals. My bud Matt saw me land a 2 sal and clapped.
-Good run through of the interpretive. Got a nice compliment on it from one of the more seasoned coaches at the club (she enjoys the music and the drama I bring to it).

<strong>Last Place:</strong>-The entire spins session. Moni always picks spins to do that I don't like. Today we did camel spins, camel change camel, flying camels and laybacks. The camels worked ok, the change camels were pitiful, as were the flying camels and laybacks.
-My knees hurt during stroking, but thankfully I got to stop and rest for a bit during the session.

A lil off topic, but I got to see my bud Matt today. He's a competitive Ice Dancer, and since he trains in another city, I don't see him often. We chatted for about an hour, catching up on things, and talking about skating. It was really nice to get to talk to him.

Happy Skating!

<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT="">

 

[Cinderella On Ice]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Last Place - I continue to have a difficult time getting out of bed in the morning, and today was no exception. When the alarm went off at 6 a.m., my every instinct was to dive back under the covers. Luckily, I talked some sense into myself. I've got TONS of work to do if I'm going to pass Adult Gold moves in July -- let alone, finish up Bronze, Silver AND Gold freestyles by January. So I hoisted my lazy butt out into the world and went skating.

First place - of course, the minute I step onto the ice, I am a transformed person. One who is infinitely happy and must be dragged back off again later. I practiced all my moves and felt like I'm making some progress on the clockwise Power Circles. I am just so "left" oriented, that going clockwise on anything makes me dizzy, slow, and out of control. So I'm really working hard on it. I did a quick run-through on my jumps, and mostly seem to have re-captured my on-again, off-again back scratch spin. I was pleasantly pooped when done, and I hope my coach will notice improvements tomorrow at my lesson.

 

[sk8er1964]

First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Hi everyone - sorry I've been gone so long. Had my budget time at work, then my audit (I'm in government finance), plus my son's hockey and baseball --- whew. Anyway, I'll try to post here more regularly - you guys are a good bunch of folks (I've been lurking )

Cinderella - sounds like your goal is to join us at next year's Adult Nationals. Cool!!!! I forgot, what age group are you? II or III? Because if you're II, you'll need 2 doubles to be competitve. If you're III, a good axel will write your ticket - a double will pretty much guarantee you gold . Unusual spins are a hit too. The judges do like to see good general skating at our level, though, and will reward good skating over bad jumps and spins.

I'm sure you can pass the freestyle tests fairly easily. I did the Pre-Bronze, Bronze and Silver frees in one day, the Gold MIF two months later, and the Gold free the next month. The judges like to see adults testing at our level. I think it might make them a bit more generous than they are with the kids (and if they aren't generous in your area, come up here). I know you are stuck competing at Gold, like me, so IMO you shouldn't have to take the tests anyway, just like I shouldn't have had to... but those are the rules.

Aren't the Gold MIF's fun??? I'm doing Intermediate MIF's now, to test sometime this year.

Yazmeen - so glad you've been happy with your competitions. I forget, do you do ISI or USFSA? Any thoughts about AN in Lake Placid (you'd have to be at Bronze)? And Starshine, you've been doing very well - sounds like you have that special something where presentation is concerned (if you can bottle it, can I buy it?). If I've missed anyone, I'm sorry - I'm going from memory here .

Now...

First Place:

My coach is a beautiful skater. He has these long lines and wonderful extensions. This is one of the reasons that I asked him to teach me. Well, for the last year I have heard "I'd like you to bend your knees more" and "you could improve your extension". He has absolutely hated my crossovers and power circles (yes, the ones on the Adult Gold and standard Intermediate tests). I barely passed them on my Gold MIF's (if I remember correctly, I may not have passed the clockwise ones...)

Anyway, I heard the magic words today. "Your knee bends were where they should be, and your extension was good" YIPPEE! Only on counterclockwise, but it is a hugh milestone for me.

Last Place - nothing this week. Brackets are bad, but Coach gave me a game plan to improve them. Still can't jump for another week due to the injury - am worried about whether or not the 4 weeks off jumping will be enough. I've got me some doubles to master! However, at this point I'll do whatever is necessary to get healthy.

 

[rachelstarlet]

first one!

Today was my very first Basic Skills class. I can finally write in these things!

First Place - My friend Tricia and I are the only ones in the adult class, so we get super attention from our coach, Joy. She was really excited about what we already could do, so I think we're going to move quickly (I hope). She's 46 and started skating at 30, so she was very encouraging about starting now, when we're old enough to have the drive to do it but young enough to still be able to pick it up fairly quickly (I'm eighteen).

Last Place - My skates are sitting in the Pro Shop, waiting to be sharpened! Joy noticed me skidding around a bit and suspected I needed a sharpening, and when she looked at my blade, she discovered I pretty much didn't have any edges at all. Duh. So I got rental skates for the second half and started slipping around everywhere... I have to relearn what I learned on dull blades. So even though it'll be better in the long run, it was a bummer and kind of embarrassing.

But all in all it was very exciting - watch out for me at Adult Nationals in 7 years!

 

[Yazmeen42skater]

Re: Good skating, everyone!!!!

Sounds like everyone has been doing pretty good this week!!!

sk8er1964: I only do ISI at the moment. I hope to take my Pre-Bronze tests this coming season.

Rachel: Good first class, and don't worry about the skates. Your own will probably be much better than rentals, and you'll likely get used to the sharpening in no time. On average, you'll need a sharpening about every 25-30 hours as a newbie. You'll know, because you'll start slipping a bit. You may need it more often when you really get into edge work. Good luck and WELCOME to the sport (also known as the addiction--you've been warned!!!!)

Dead Last: Still the weather and the rain. If anyone mentions the word "drought" in our area this summer, I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. That is, of course, if we actually HAVE a summer!!! 50 degree weather in June...BRRRRRRRR!!!!

FIRST RATE!!!! Lesson today was working on both dance step patterns for ISI Freestyle 2 and 3. Paula taught me the outside mohawk (left to right) which, much to my surprise, I caught onto fairly quickly. I'm a little flat on the second edge, but it was darn good for a newbie!!! The FS 3 pattern requires it as its a series of "left-right-left-right" foot changes that stay "outside" the circle while completing a circular pattern. Paula commented that the outside mohawk is actually a difficult skill for this ISI level. (I'm so consistent--mohawks I get quickly, 3 turns take forever). I'm also starting to get the back cross step required for the FS 2 pattern. Paula said both of them were perfectly appropriate for competition in their current shape (she made me laugh when she said she saw far worse ones than mine at our last competition that were technically passable!!!). We also did toeloop and salchow and both are pretty solid--Yay!!!!

All in all, a great morning, and I was even AWAKE this time!!!

 

[starshinexavier]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Cindy, keep up the work on the clockwise moves. They will get better as long as you keep working on them. You'll get them down pat in no time!

Sk8er, Good work on the knee bends and extention!! With the brackets, make sure that your hips and shoulders are square. It'll help you keep your balance. I hope that when you start jumping again that your jumps will come back right away.

Rachel, welcome to the skating world! You'll have a lot of fun with your basic skills classes, and will learn a lot! Keep us posted on your progress!

Yaz, good job with the dance patterns! Might I ask, what dances are the patterns from? Good job with the solid sal and toe too! It's too bad about the weather there. It's like that here too (Southern Ontario) and I'm sick of it too. I want spring to come, but no, I'm still waiting for it. It'll get here in August with the way things have been going.

<strong>First Place:</strong>-my coach's dad was there today and watched my interpretive. He really enjoyed it, and he said that my moves matched the music really well. It was nice to perform infront of a new person before my test, as a way to get all practiced up for it. Especially since I tend to tense up and be scratchy when nervous.
-Remembered my creative skills exercise from 2 years ago, and was able to skate it with little problems.
-AWESOME 2 sals!! It took me a while to get going on them, but they were really good!!!

<strong>Last Place:</strong>-my dances were pitiful today. I could not do either of them to save my life!
-2 loops a bit off today. I'm over-rotating my upper body a bit, which is causing me to be off balance when I go to land. I did land one, but I had to fight really hard to get my free leg extended into the landing position.

That's it for me for skating this week, so until next, Happy Skating!

 

[Cinderella On Ice]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Star/Sarah - Totally cool on your interpretive. You hit the nail on the head when you talked about tensing up and getting scratchy when people watch. That is exactly what happens to me too! That's why it's good to have new people come and watch you. And as for those here-yesterday-gone-tomorrow dances: so many things in skating seem to be like that, that I'm sure they'll come back to you before you know it.

Yaz - Yow, you are really making progress. It's great to hear the toe loop and salchow have come along so nicely, and now you're adding those great mohawks. Paula must be pleased to have such a quick learner.

Rachel - WELCOME to the world of skating. I wish you all the fun, thrills, passion and satisfaction that skating has brought each of us. It is the best addiction anyone could ever have. Congrats on you and Tricia starting off with some elements under your belts. There is so much to learn, that skating is never boring, and it sounds like you're going to pick things up really quickly. My guess is we'll be seeing you at Adult Nationals in no time at all.

Sk8er1964 - M, so glad you're back! We've definitely missed you. YES, my plan is to be at Adult Nationals, one way or another. I have convinced another adult at our club that we should work together to support each other to pass our tests. She needs to learn her sit spin and a loop or flip in order to pass Adult Bronze (freestyle and moves), and I still need to pass Bronze, Silver & Gold freestyle and Gold moves. We're going to develop a detailed on- and off-ice training plan with interim goals, and then check in with each other twice a week to be sure we're on target. Her name is Deana, and I hope we'll all be getting together in April in Lake Placid. I just turned 46 in May, so I'm in Level III. I don't expect to be competitive my first time out, but I'm now landing my axel consistently, so I don't think I'll be embarassing myself either. But one thing at a time...

You are just SO inspiring with how quickly you passed all the tests. I'm not sure, but I have heard from others (and mostly skating mothers) that the tests in our area are extra-hard compared to elsewhere. Something about the Chicago area. But since my goal is to learn to skate correctly and well, I guess it's fine with me if they judge a little more harshly, because it just means that I'll be that much closer to doing things right. YES, the Gold MIFs are a blast. I now especially like the power circles because every time I do them, people (even the young kids) all go WOW, you are going so FAST!!!

Oh, and super congrats on the knee bends. That is just the best compliment you could ever get!!!

OK, now for my practice today.

First Place - Yay, those clockwise moves are definitely feeling more comfortable. I think if I continue to do them 3 to 1 (practicing each clockwise move 3 times for every 1 time I do the counterclockwise), they will really come along. My camel spins and camel/sit/back spit were really "on" today. Good sit spins too. I landed three axel/toe loops today. Woo ha! And a couple of great lutzes. So I was feeling pretty pumped.

Last Place - my back spin went the way of Starshine's dances. They were just g-o-n-e. So we left them and moved on to other things.

One last great thing--we've convinced the powers that be at the rink to add an adult contract ice session on Friday afternoons to take the place of the adult public skate that they canceled. I'm so excited not to miss out on that great practice time. There are usually no more than 5 of us on the ice at one time, so there's plenty of room to do whatever you need to.

 

[Yazmeen42skater]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

starshine: I'm not sure they are formal dance patterns as much as just step sequences. When I have a minute this weekend, I'll write the order of the moves down so you can get a feel for them. As you progress in the Freestyle levels at ISI, you get more complicated step sequences. I really enjoy this, and footwork is becoming my "thing." I really like it!!!

 

[Figureskates]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

First Place: Waltz jump now is good technically and I am getting speed as well as height. Continued practice should help there.

Not really last but I will call it 3rd Place: My Sal. It is beginning to come together. I was working on it this time last year before Lyme Disease layed me low for 5 months. Hopefully this summer I will get my Sal and NOT get Lyme Disease again...

I wish I could type!!

 

[Yazmeen42skater]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Figureskates: First of all, WELCOME to Lutz Corner!!

I don't know if this helps, but the bestest suggestion my coach gave for the sal is to hold both the initial edge of the 3 turn and more importantly, the backward edge. She challenges her students (including me, as of this past Thursday!!!) to hold the back edge as long as possible before executing the jump. Much to my surprise, the sal not only ended up cleaner, but it jumped higher. The holding of the back edge in essence sort of pushed me into a better takeoff and landing. I hope this makes sense, it really worked for me.

So GLAD to see you posting here!!!

Hugs,

Yaz

 

[starshinexavier]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Cindy, Hurray for those clockwise moves! You'll be flying through them in no time! And you'll be passing that test in no time as well! Good job with the axels and lutzes! You're just a jumping bean! By any chance can I have your camel spins? I was joking with my bud Paul about doing spins for me if I ever do any more freeskate tests, since his spins are AMAZING! Even more amazing is the fact that he's an ice dancer, and hasn't done freeskate in over a year. I don't think the judges will believe that he's Sarah though. I don't think he'll pull off the purple halter dress as well as me either. :lol:

Yaz, that would be great if you'd write down the steps to the sequences. It would give me a better picture of what kind of things you do on your tests, especially since I'm a Canuck and don't know how the ISI tests work. That would be greatly appreciated!

Figureskates, WELCOME!! It's always great when new people post in our practice threads. Good job with the waltz jumps! Don't worry about the sals. They will be fabulous really soon! The timing on them can be tricky, and once you're back in the swing of things, we'll be having to watch out for you!

Happy Skating!

 

[Cinderella On Ice]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Yaz - good advice on the sals. Everyone always tries to "swing" right into them instead of setting that back inside edge and getting the proper knee bend.

Sarah - Thanks for the visual on Paul in purple. I guess if he has enough beading and crystals, he'd look good in anything. :rollin:

Figureskates - Welcome! We're a very inquiring bunch here, so we hope you'll tell us all about your progress on the jumps (and everything else). In fact, tell us a little bit more about yourself and if you have any goals you're working for. I'm a returning skater (skated 7 years as a kid) but now I'm 46 and have a whole different body! I'm working hard to be able to compete at Adult Nationals in April, but it's a long road.

First Place - I had a GREAT Gold Moves practice today. The power circles are really coming along. Both of the backwards ones and the counterclockwise are pretty "on." And I'm making great progress on clockwise, though it's nowhere as powerful as the others yet. But it gets more comfortable every time, and I spent the last 10 minutes of practice just doing clockwise crossovers as fast as I could to get that "bounce" feeling. I also made great strides on the Move with the back power stroking/back inside and forward inside 3-turns. My spins were on-again, off-again, except for a wicked camel/sit/back sit and my flying camel. Woo hoo!

Last Place - Still amazed that I can do a "perfect" back spin that was so lovely that another woman's coach came and circled it on the ice with her big marker (like a "frame") and then I went and did three more that looked like tornadoes gone amuck!

I LOVE skating!!!!!!

 

[Figureskates]

Re: First Place/Last Place Lessons and Practices June 2-8

Cinderella, I am 57 and have been back skating for about 5 years after a 30 year hiatus.

I would love to qualify for Adult Nationals next year at Lake Placid. In any case I will be at Lake Placid anyway since my club hosts the event and i usually am at the registration table so I get to meet most of the skaters and can duck into the rink and watch too.

Yazmeen, you hit the nail on the head. One of my biggest problems, which my coach continues to get on my case about, is that I do not hold my edges long enough. This was one of the big problems with my waltz jump. When I stepped onto a forward outside edge was I rushed the jump from that point instead of holding it then bringing my arms and free leg through.

I plan to take lessons all summer and go up to the Adult Skate week in Lake Placid this August, which will be my 4th time.

 

[sk8er1964]

Brackets

Starshine - thanks for the advice on the brackets. It has helped.

Get to jump again tomorrow. Looking forward to it but kind of scared at the same time. The injured area feels pretty good, and I don't want it to start getting bad again, especially since my physical therapy benefits have run out. I'll just have to take it easy.

 

[starshinexavier]

Re: Brackets

sk8er, I'm glad I was able to help! This past season, I coached a girl who was on Sr. Bronze skills, and one of the exercises contained forward inside and outside brackets, and she had difficulty with them. We worked a lot on making sure that her hips and shoulders were aligned, and once she was square in the brackets, they instantly improved. Good luck with starting back on the jumps. As someone with chronic knee and ankle pain, don't do too much, and if it hurts, STOP! It's not worth getting injured again.

Happy Skating!

 

[Yazmeen42skater]

Re: Brackets

Figureskates: I with ya, friend!!! My waltz jump MASSIVELY improved when I finally learned to hold that first edge going into it--suddenly, I had a real jump instead of a "toe waltz hop."

Practiced yesterday at Wintersport. Worked on my three turns for the first time in many months--ooch, ouch, talk about rusty. Just did the forward outsides, but they started to feel better. Worked on the FS2 and 3 steps and they are progressing nicely. Also did some sals and toeloops. I need to work with coach on the arms for these as I don't have it all quite together, but they're still pretty good.

Hubby was back on the ice for the first time in more than a month, and speaking of waltz jumps, he's developing a nice one for a newbie at jumping (of course, its not perfect, so he was grumbly--he's an engineer, he's not satisfied!!!)