FO8, FI8, BO8

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Cafe.  Nice ice and about 10 skaters.

I warmed up with edges and then scribed circles.  I had not skated patch for like 3 weeks so a little rusty, mostly on the FO8 edges.  Not bad though.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- Not so great.  Danette had me do them on my scribed circles, and then a random layout.  Had some issues with circle size, and I have some balance problems pushing onto the LFO; I tend to break at the waist a bit and be off balance.  Need to lock my core more and get down into the ice a bit more on the push.
• FI8 - better.  Again, scribed circles and layout.  In general these are just better.
• BO8 -- surprisingly not too bad.  Again, scribed circles and random layout.  I need to remember to flex the foot/ankle more after I pass the arms (while returning to center) so I have better control.

All in all not bad, especially for being off for a bit.

3s and Mohawks

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Good ice, about 12 skaters.

I warmed up with stroking, then worked on perimeter XOs.

Today's lesson:

• 3s -- we spent about 20 minutes on 3s, most of it on the RFO3 since we have previously spent a lot of time on the LFO3.  Ugh.  Trying to do these with some control and flow is an adjustment.  It's going to take a lot more work I think.
• mohawks -- more time on these.  Holly is trying to get me to really plie' and face into the circle and have both feet on the ice for a moment. Yikes.  Also going to take some time.

Perimeter Stroking, 3s, Mohawks

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  I warmed up with stroking and perimeter XOs.

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- I had shown a judge friend my video (Thanks M!) of my perimeter XOs from my test.  I asked about the comment about being on two feet too much on the BXO portion.  My friend surmised that this comment was probably about the fact that my weight was often in between my feet and not on a strong BI edge after the BXO.  I'm pretty convinced that's a correct analysis. After a discussion with Holly, we worked on this to get a stronger and more obviously correct 'balance position' per the judging form.  I think we made good progress.
• 3s -- we continued to work on these.  The LFO3 is there maybe 60 - 70% of the time.  Ugh.
• mohawks -- just a few minutes on these, trying to get me to really bend my knees and plie' on them.  Eeep.

Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler adult skate today for freestyle practice.  Good ice, about 10 skaters.

I warmed up with stroking, then worked on perimeter XOs.  I asked a judge friend to give me some feedback on the BXOs for this (from the video) and got some good points that made a lot of sense to me -- in particular, on the BXOs (and to some extend on the FXOs) the comment I got about 'too much 2 foot skating' is probably really more about having my weight firmly on one edge or the other so that I'm... on an edge, and not on flats.  That is, if you look at the pattern on the test form to really make those BI edges distinct and the change between them also distinct.  Anyway I worked on that and made some good progress I thought.  I also worked a bit on BXOs to BO edges and then some on my 3 turns.

Working The Weak Spots

 Coach Danette is out this week, and Coach Lynne was visiting so I had a figures lesson with her today on the Chandler adult FS.  8 skaters; ice was kind of rough for some reason.  I scribed circles, then warmed up with edges.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- we worked on flow, and pushing harder. I definitely need to stand up straighter and get my hips forward/under me better.
• step forward -- next, we worked on the step forward in the waltz-8.  Lynne had me practice just turning the head (my head does NOT want to turn) and body without doing the step, to build control.  Eeep.
• BI8 -- finished up with these.  I need to keep the feet closer together on the push, and really bend the knees and dig in on the push.  Body position after that is okay.

A good lesson and nice to work with Lynne again after all this time!

Perseverance

 I skated the 1:30 p.m. FS at Chandler today -- good ice, 9 skaters.  With Cactus Classic this week it was pretty busy.

I warmed up with stroking, then did perimeter XOs and BXOs to BO edges.  After that, I worked on my 3s, mostly on the LFO3.  It's definitely improving, but still not 100%.  I'd say it's about 70% good.  I think I just still don't quite trust this. I tried some RFO3s and eep, not so great.

I finished up with a waltz jump as I realized I'd not jumped in forever.... it was good!

BO8s

 My lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult FS.  Good ice, 14 skaters.

I scribed some circles but didn't really get a warmup before my lesson.

Today's lesson:

• edges -- FO were a little rough, others were fine.
• BO8 -- we'd not looked at these in a while so that's what we did.  Eeep.I am not making it around the circle -- it doesn't help that on the LBO my circle is going out waaaay too large.  We worked a bunch on posture, and trying to get me to look into the circle as I start (and on the LBO, especially, to stay turned into the circle).

Basics

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  I warmed up with stroking, perimeter XOs, BXOs to BO edges and circle-8. Okay ice, about 14 skaters.

Today's lesson:

• 3s -- we continued working on FO3s, first the LFO and then the RFO.  I am getting more control on these.  I do need to practice a lot more though :-)
• mohawks -- the thing I learned today is that I really have not been bending my knees nearly enough to do these well!  A good start today.

Patch Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler adult FS for patch practice today.  7 skaters; ice was a bit torn up but not too bad.

I worked on edges, FO8 and FI8.  Ugh.  I'm having real issues with flow and I don't feel very controlled.  I felt not very graceful, lol.

I spent the last couple of minutes working on 3s, they were not so great.

Sunday Ice

 Melissa told me that there was adult skate today at Gilbert, so I went... awesome! Fresh ice, and only 4 skaters.

I warmed up with stroking, perimeter XOs, circle-8 and BXOs to BO edges.  After that I spent the remainder of my 45 minutes working on 3s and mohawks (mostly 3s).  I am working to do them from a neutral position so I get away from the "push-and-turn" mindframe I've tended to be in.  I did have some success, I'd guess 40-50% were good.  Needs more work for sure!  After these are fixed I'll still have to really fix the BXOs in the power-3s.  Actually I should decouple and work on them at the same time.  Eeep.

Social Time

 I skated the Chandler adult skate for patch practice.... except that I spent almost all of my time socializing!  This is what happens when I don't have a lesson, apparently.

I did run through edges, but honestly that was about it.  I'd not skated in my patch skates for several weeks and it was a bit wonky for a while.