Waltz-8

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler adult FS.  I warmed up with edges and FO8/FI8.  FO8 was actually better on the RFO, I was doing a better job of pushing and sitting back on the edge.  FI8 was okay.

Today's lesson was just on waltz-8.  The L side is not that bad other than the step forward. The R side is kind of okay, except that I'm developing this complex about the RFO3 after I restart.  The first one is always more or less fine, but the subsequent ones... I get weirded out about the edge, or my body position, or something and I force the turn because it just doesn't want to go.  Or I just can't make myself turn. Yuck.  Lynne suggested I work on practicing 3s to center as that would help me do the turn after a long(-er) period of prep.  Good point.

I have been falling a lot more (mostly on 3s).  I don't know if this is a good thing or not.  Mostly I get too forward on the turn and fall on the exit.  I need to stand up straighter.

We also briefly discussed the upcoming Sherwood competition.  Lynne wants me to do the waltz-8 and at least one other figure (maybe FI8?).  Ugh. I know I will crash and burn on w-8, but she has a good point that it would be good for me to do it under pressure.  Yuck.

Patch Perseverance

I skated the Chandler adult FS for patch practice.  I wasn't feeling well last week so I missed Wednesday and Thursday... feeling better now although my L ankle has been bugging me a little the last couple of days.

I warmed up with edges, then some work on FO8 and FI8. Still issues with my push although it did eventually improve -- I did a better job of bending the knees and digging in, and better at sitting back on the blade earlier.

From there I spent a bunch of time both at the boards and on the big circle working on the step forward.  A little progress, I think.  After that I went ahead and worked on waltz-8.  Had to fix my 3s a bit, then working on the step forward.  The LBO was better, the RBO just a little better.

Finished up with 5 minutes on BO8 but all I really worked on was the RBO.  Push is still too weak.  Grrr.

Patch Perseverance

I skated the Chandler adult FS for patch practice.  Nice ice and only 5 skaters today!

I worked on FO8 and FI8 for about 15 - 20 minutes.  Push is a little better but still only marginal.  After that I spent most of the session working on waltz-8.   3s were okay, I worked heavily on the step forward and return to center -- including just practicing BO edge/step forward.  Ugh.  Still dropping the free side and leaning out of the circle most of the time.  Grrr.

Perseverance

I skated the 7:45 a.m. FS this morning at Chandler. Not in my plan, but a friend begged me to come so.. I did!  Nice ice and just 4 skaters.

I ran the Bronze Moves, then worked a bit on XOs and jumps.   No great breakthroughs but a nice skate.

Bronze Moves, Jumps

My lesson with Holly on the 7:30 a.m. FS at Gilbert -- our new timeslot.  Nice ice and just 4 or 5 skaters!

I warmed up with stroking, some crossovers and some work on circle-8.

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- meh.  Still slow, FXOs still stinky.  Other than that not too bad.
• power-3s -- still stinky.
• BXOs to BO edges -- mostly okay.  Still too slow and need to bring the pattern into the boards more.
• circle-8 -- uck.  This was my best move when I tested and now it's just awful.  I don't know what's going here. 
• 5 step mohawk -- still scratchy and uncontrolled, but better than it was.
• more circle-8 -- we spent several minutes trying to improve my push and flow, without much progress. :-(
• jumps  -- a couple of waltz jumps (okay) and a number of salchows (meh). My salchows are not as good as they were a couple of weeks ago -- either I just step over them, or I jump too late.  Grr.
• 3s -- a couple of minutes at the very end -- just working on the RFO3 to get it more controlled.  Yuck.

No lesson next week due to scheduling issues :-(.

Preliminary Test

My lesson with Lynne on the Chandler adult FS today... nice ice, 5 skaters.

I warmed up with edges and FO8/FI8, followed by some 3s.  My FO8 was horrible and 3s were not cooperating on the R foot.

Today's lesson:

• blade issue -- I had Lynne look at my R blade. It is a little uneven, but only at the very front end of the blade so it's not likely to be an operational problem. *phew*
• FO8 -- yuck!  We worked on it for probably 10 minutes before I was mostly getting around okay, esp. on R foot (but not exclusively).  It's all upper body position, plus Lynne said that when I started the first time, I set my R foot and then turned it out as I actually started!  Eeep.
• FI8 -- not bad, actually. Could have a little more flow.
• waltz-8 -- only 10 minutes on this.  Actually the L side was not bad but I was having issues with the RFO3, especially on the restart -- I come in a bit fast and on a bit of a flat so I could not get myself to even attempt the turn. We spent a lot of time on this. Yuck.  I'll have to spend quality time on this on Tuesday as it was just a massive time suck :-(

Perseverance

I skated the 7:45 a.m. FS at Chandler this morning.

As usual, warmed up with some stroking and then ran Bronze MIF.  Ugh.  Slightly better than yesterday:

• perimeter XOs -- pattern was better.  FXOs still weak, no underpush.
• power-3s - I got through them.  Little control though.
• BXOs to BO edges -- okay
• circle-8 -- yuck.  I could not get around the circle to save my life (R foot).  Geez.
• 5-step mohawk -- slightly better.

I had about 5 minutes left at the end so I did a spin (meh) and some waltz jumps.

Perseverance

I skated the 7:45 a.m. FS at Chandler this morning.  The amusement for the day was one of the girls begging me to remove a large cockroach that was on the ice by the boards.... lol.

I spent almost all of the session on Bronze Moves.  Perimeter XOs .... meh.  My BXO pattern was a bit short and I feel sooooo slooooow.  Power-3s were horrible as usual.  BXOs to BO edges were kind of okay.  My circle-8 was awful - couldn't get around ANY of the circles.  5-step was about the same as ever.

I just had a couple of minutes at the end to do a couple of waltz jumps.  Not happy with my landing, there's no check or flow. Yuck.

Patch Perseverance

I skated the Chandler adult FS for patch practice today.  Nice ice.  9 skaters (eep).  I just got my patch blades sharpened over the weekend, the first sharpening for them since Dec. 2015 (!).  Well, I was off the ice for a good long while and I don't get that much patch practice.

I spent about the first half of the session warming up with edges and then working on FO8/FI8. Yuck.  Not getting around on the R foot, and it didn't improve much.

After that I spent about 20 minutes working on waltz-8. It took me about that long just to get my turns back!  I also spent some time just working on the step forward from BO edge.  Bleah.

I spent the last 5 or so minutes working on BO8.  Push is still lacking and I'm lacking some control on the second half of the circle.  Yikes.

When I was wiping my blades down after the session I looked closely at my blades and noticed that the front of my R blade seems to not be straight -- it slopes from outside to inside slightly.  Don't know if this is new or old or what (I suspect it's been there a while).  Also not clear if it's actually significant. I'll show it to Lynne on Thursday and see what she thinks. Worst case I might have to send them to Jim to be fixed :-(.

Waltz-8; BI8

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler adult FS.  I warmed up with edges and FO8/FI8.

Today's lesson:

• waltz-8 -- almost the entire lesson on this.  Not sure what to say about this other than I continue to be really inconsistent about this.  It's all about my inability to really control my upper body movements so that I'm consistently over my skating side.  This is very frustrating.
• BI8 -- just a little time on these.  I generally have decent control on these (I really enjoy them) but I mostly need to develop a better push.

After my lesson I was talking with Hannah about my waltz-8 issues.  She suggested something she had tried for her Senior MITF -- to really develop a "script" so to speak of focus areas that you repeat to yourself as you do the move.  The point is to focus on the next thing (so, avoid thinking ahead or behind) and to identify the one thing you most need to remember for that next element.  I sort of do this anyway but this would be an effort to make it more detailed and consistent.  I'm going to try to do this because, frankly, I need to do *something*.