F8s

 My lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Beautiful ice and just 6 skaters.  I warmed up with edges and scribed circles. It was nice to be back after 3 weeks off.

Today's lesson:

• FO edges -- I had warmed up with these but they were a bit wonky so we spent some additional time on them, focused as always on posture.
• FO8 -- most of our lesson on these. Made some improvements in the flow and posture but it was hard to be consistent.  Still, after time off it was okay.
• FI8 - just 3 minutes on these.  Much better, as usual, than the FO.  Still need to work on being stable during the return to center and watching posture on the push.

F8s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice, 6 skaters.  I warmed up with forward edges & scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• B edges -- these were actually pretty nice, other than the first BI lobe being a bit small.  Danette commented that the BO lobes were lined up nicely. Yay!
• FO8 -- most of our lesson.  Push is still too weak, but posture was a bit better than it's been.  Yay.
• FI8 -- just a couple of minutes on these.  They are so much nicer than the FO8!  Still not quite making it around the whole circle, but close.

3s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult freestyle. Nice ice, 6 skaters.  I warmed up with forward edges and scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• Back edges -- not bad, especially for a week off.  I'm doing a better job of getting the free foot in front.  The first BI lobe is still a bit small, but better.
• 3s -- the rest of our lesson. We worked them first on the wall, and then on the circle (R&L).  These actually were much better on the R side -- like, I had some control!  And they were happening!  The L side was a bit rougher, which seems odd since it's my preferred direction to turn.  Oh well!

FOBO

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice, 6 skaters.

I warmed up with edges and scribed circles.

Today's less:

• FO8 -- about 2/3 of our lesson on these.  The LFO is getting better, posture-wise.  RFO not so much.  Danette really wants me not to start the new circle early, but to wait until I am completely back to the long axis.  Ugh.  Still not making it all the way around -- it's about 3/4.
• BO8 -- eep.  I really need to figure out how to stay upright when pushing backward.  A couple of times I almost pushed my feet out from under me because I'm so hunched forward.  Yuck.  On the positive side the flow is usually pretty nice on these.

Edges, Step Forward

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  A bit crowded (10 people!) but good ice.

I scribed circles and warmed up with forward edges.

Today's lesson:

• Back edges -- these were generally okay.
• Step forward -- we worked most of the lesson on these, specifically in the context of the waltz-8, so the BO-FO step forward.  Ugh.  Not a whole lot of progress, but I sure at least understand what I'm doing wrong... I'm not standing up straight (where have I heard this before?!) so when I go to step forward I'm already breaking at the waist so it's really hard not to step out of the circle.  Also, I'm not turning my foot enough from the BO to step to the FO.  Ugh.

A bit frustrated with these, but oh well.

F8, BO8

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice, 6 skaters.  I scribed circles and  warmed up with forward edges and BO edges.

Today's lesson:

• BI edges -- just to finish up the edges.  Pretty nice, actually.  Danette said I had good flow.  I do need to work on making the lobe sizes more consistent though.
• FO8 -- we actually made some progress on improving my posture and this also helped my flow, I got around about 3/4 of the circle.  I still need to get a better push.
• FI8 -- as usual these feel much better and I was making alllmoost all the way around the circle.
• BO8 -- Actually not that bad.  I did manage to push my feet out from under me on the transition to the LBO.  Lol.  

My takeaway from all this is that I really can fix some of these longstanding issues but I need to be more focused and consistent.

3s & The Stick

 My lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Beyootiful ice and just 5 skaters.  I scribed circles and warmed up with edges.

For today's lesson we worked entirely on 3s in the context of the waltz-8 (but, mostly, just the 3s part).  Danette had me holding the hockey stick and really making me turn into the circle.  I really need to turn a lot farther into the circle than I realize.  We spent about 25 minutes just drilling the 3s on the circle, alternating feet.  The last 5 or so minutes were spent doing the 3 and then continuing with the waltz-8.  Ugh.

My problems with the waltz-8 are now 1) the turn and 2) the step forward.  I think a big chunk of the step forward issue is posture -- if I'm not standing up straight how can I expect to turn and push onto the new edge?

Anyway, while certainly not my favorite lesson it does feel like it was worthwhile.