Swing Rolls & Program Work

My lesson with Holly on the 8 a.m. FS at Chandler (I got on at 8:15).  I warmed up with stroking and crossovers then did some bad salchows.

Today's lesson:

• swing rolls  -- we worked on these for a while to get the one in the dramatic program to be better.  I think I was doing these with the wrong arms (we worked on this briefly last week?).  For the FO swingroll, I need to have the free arm forward at the beginning, then as you bend the knee swing the free leg forward and switch the arms so the skating arm is forward.  Hm.  This does seem to help.
• program -- We ran it once and it was relatively okay, though it's still definitely a bit tentative.  Then we discussed interchanging the salchow and the waltz jump, and we ran it that way.  I like this a bit better as the salchow is a little anxiety-inducing and putting it earlier kind of makes the rest of the program less daunting.  So I think we'll keep it that way.

Edges & BO8

My figures lesson with Danette on the 7:30 a.m. FS at Chandler.  We started right at 7:30.

Today's lesson:

• edges -- not bad for no warmup.  As usual on the back edges, I need to be more consistent with keeping the free leg in front during the first part of the edge.  
• BO8 -- a bunch of time on this.  The RBO is actually not bad and I was getting around okay.  We worked a lot on the LBO -- once again the issues are to look into the circle, keep the free leg in front and lean into the circle.

After my lesson I worked another 15 minutes on BI8 and BO8, including exercises on the wall.

Dramatic Program Work

My lesson with Holly on the 8 a.m. FS at Gilbert (I started at 8:15).

I warmed up with stroking and crossovers, then a spin and some work on elements from the dramatic program.

Today's lesson:

• footwork -- I told Holly I wanted to work on the footwork in my program as I feel it's too slow and tentative.  So, we worked first on the swingroll/change of edge into the cross and hold.  Cross and hold is still not really happening but we did improve the swingroll part so that it's a bit faster and more confident; Holly had me moving my free arm forward during the swing roll and then back on the change of edge, which helps.  Then we went on to work on the alternating FXOs after the waltz jump.  I realize every 10-year-old does these as their warmup but I'm still not comfy doing it at speed, especially with the arm movement (my inside coach says "if you did them in YOUR warmup they would improve, too!").  Some improvement.
• runthrough -- after all that I ran the program at the end of the session.  I was a little behind (not sure why other than that my swingroll portion was too large/long) but overall it wasn't bad.

Program Review

My lesson with Holly on the 8 a.m. (?) FS at Gilbert.  Apparently the session now starts at 8, according to the book, though the online schedule is either wrong or offline depending on where you look.  Anyway I had a 45 min sticker so I got on at 8:15.  Gilbert is switching to a new ice management system soon (Feb? March?) so there will be some confusion for a bit I guess.

I warmed up with stroking, then worked on some stuff from my dramatic program.

Today's lesson was all review of the dramatic program (competition is 4 weeks from Sunday).  We reviewed it without music, then ran it with music.  We then spent some time working out an alternate ending for the judges being on the other side -- basically after the spin I'll go straight out toward the end of the rink (no curtain), do the salchow, then come back to get the prop, skate around with it and finish on the blue line.  After working through that we ran it again and it was mostly okay.

All in all it's okay.  I just need to be faster, and get a good spin and salchow.  Eeep.

Preliminary Test

My figures lesson with Danette on the 7:30 a.m. FS at Chandler.  We started right at 7:30 so no warmup (eep).

For today's lesson we ran through the Preliminary test:

• edges -- generally not bad.  First lobe of BI edges is still a bit small.
• FO8 -- still not quite getting around the RFO circle.  LFO, just barely.  
• FI8 -- okay!
• waltz-8 -- meh.  Of course we spent some quality time on these. 3 turn very skidded and the step forward and return to center remains pretty bad.  We spent some time working on that.

After my lesson I spent some time working on BO8 and also a bit more time on the step forward from the waltz-8, working on the circle.  Ugh.

Program Review

My lesson with Holly on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.  Okay ice, just me, Q, Addie and another girl (Sophie?), although by the time my lesson started I had private ice!

I warmed up with stroking, then did some salchows and spins.

For today's lesson (it was shorter than usual due to a car issue) we ran my Light program a couple of times.  My spins were really good!  Then we reviewed the changes necessary to accommodate full ice vs. 3/4 ice for showcase.  Basically after the salchow instead of coming down the center I head to the end of the rink and then curve around in the spiral so I finish in front of the judges.  This also takes into account that the MidWinter judges are placed on the other side of the center hockey box than at Autumn Antics.  So we ran it that way.  It was actually pretty good!  Spin was good and salchows were at least okay.

Push; B8s

My figures lesson with Danette on the 8:30 a.m. FS at Chandler.  I warmed up with edges and FO8/FI8.  Session wasn't that crowded but lots of moves and dance going on so I didn't scribe any circles.

Today's lesson:

• push -- I related to Danette my thoughts on my lack of push and we played around with that a bit, pushing from the blue line forward.  It was about the same.  Next she had me push to a back flat... eep!  Hadn't done that before and it was weird; same push as for the BO edge.  At least it wasn't a totally wimpy push.
• BO8 -- back to these.  A bit better -- I just need to remember to look inside the circle, especially on the LBO.  It makes a huge difference.
• BI8 -- just a little time on these.