FO3s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler 1:15 FS.  Nice ice and just 4 skaters.  I scribed circles and warmed up with edges.

For today's lesson we spent our time on FO3s.  We mostly worked on the scribed circles, but also a bit on the wall.  Danette held my hand and we worked on similar things to my work with Holly -- getting the right feel (down-up-down) and trying to get me to turn into the circle more.  Ugh.  Not a lot of progress.

Moves, Jumps, Spins

 My lesson with Holly on the 9:15 FS at Gilbert.  I had private ice!  There was no ice cut though, so it was kinda bumpy.  Ugh.  I warmed up with stroking and perimeter XOs.

Today's lesson:

• circle-8 -- ugh.  Between the ice being rough and... me, it was Not Good.  We tried some at center ice and also elsewhere on slightly better ice, but it was just not good.  I couldn't make it around any of the circles.  Geez.
• power-3s -- we worked on just the L side. These are actually improving.  The first 3 is sort of okay, but I still need Holly's hand to do the subsequent ones (geez!).  The back lobe actually is good!  Like, a real crossover and step forward without any two-footedness or putting my foot down.  So that's something.
• jumps -- a couple of waltz jumps and a really good salchow, actually.  YAY!
• spins -- just one as we ran out of time.  It started well but I didn't bring my free hip up so... not so great.  Eeep.

FO3s, Serpentines

 My figures lesson with Danette on the 1:15 FS at Chandler.  Nice ice and just 3 skaters (all men!).  I warmed up with edges and scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO3s -- we worked these on the circle mostly, and then a little on the crease.  Ugh!  They are even worse than in my freestyle skates.  By that I mean my inability to make myself turn if I glide for any distance first.  Urgh.  It's all mental.  I need to just make myself turn into the circle more and bend my frickin' knee.  I know how to do this.  So frustrating.
• serpentines -- just the last 5 minutes.  I couldn't do more than a half circle after the change of edge.  My COE is so sloppy!  It takes forever and really slows me down.  Grrr.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Mostly good ice (except by the Zamboni door); about 12 skaters.  I warmed up with stroking, perimeter XOs, and circle-8 (it was good!).

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs --  not bad.  We worked on making the BXOs have deeper lobes and more time on one foot.
• circle-8 --  first couple were not as good as in warmup (or yesterday), but it got better.
• power-3s --  eeep. We tried this in the pattern, just the L side.  The first two I did I totally reverted to 'bad' 3s.  The third one I set up correctly and then couldn't make myself turn.  Gaah. So we went and worked them at the crease again.  I can make myself do a more-or-less 'good' 3 from the standing start, and the back lobe was okay, but again I couldn't get myself to attempt the turn on the 2nd lobe.  Grrr.

Perseverance

 Since it's spring break, I skated the Chandler Ice Cafe for freestyle practice.  Nice ice, about 10 skaters.

I ran through some of the Bronze moves, including perimeter crossovers, 5-step mohawk, and BXOs to BO edges.  I also did a great circle-8! Whee!  

After that I spent some time on LFO3s.  While these were not great, at least they happened.  For most of them I went on with the back lobe of the power 3s and I have to say the step forward is actually improved.  Go me!

I finished up with some spins and an okay waltz jump, and a little time practice FXOs.

It was a good skate, and nice to see folks that I had not seen since January or so.

All The 8s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the 1:15 FS at Chandler.  Great ice, about 5 skaters.  I scribed circles and ran through all my edges.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- actually much improved.  I had my patch blades sharpened over the week of 2/21 and I think it's helping.  Danette said my flow was better.
• FI8 -- pretty nice except for a short loss of balance moment on the 2nd RFI.  Erp.
• BO8 -- not bad.  Still some issues with flow and I wasn't quite making it around.
• BI8 -- not bad.  Circles are a little small and some control issues for sure.
• Waltz-8 -- ugh. We had not looked at these in a while, and it showed.  I don't hold the exit from the 3, partly because there's little/no flow out of it.  Eeep.

Danette wants to look at the waltz-8 next week.  The Sherwood Invitational *will* have figures again this year, so I have a lot of work to do.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Good ice, but a bit crowded... maybe 10 skaters? I had about a 10 minute warmup so I worked on stroking and perimeter XOs.

Today's lesson:

• 5-step mohawk -- we spent a bunch of time on these.  The mohawks themselves are actually much better.  We worked mostly on getting a better (i.e. not scrapy-up-on-the-toe) 3rd step (BO edge).  I had to remind myself to bend into the 3rd step more and push onto the edge.  That helped a lot, but I still tend to scrape when I'm getting ready to step forward.  Ugh.
• circle-8 -- actually really good!  I made it around all 4 circles.  We spent a little time on the final RFI to improve the push and flow.
• LFO3s -- just a few minutes on these to finish up.  For not having worked on them for several weeks, they were not bad.  I still need to work to roll down off the rocker more promptly after the turn.

BI8s Again

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler 1:15 FS, as usual.  Great ice and 4 skaters.  I scribed circles and warmed up F edges.

Today's lesson:

• B edges -- still the LBO lobe is large. Ugh.  BI edges were really nice though.
• BI8 -- still more time on these.  My initial push wasn't quite as good as last week, so we worked on it.   I really need to bend into this move and not wide-step.  I am doing a better job of getting an initial BI edge though.  While there's still a short BO portion it's much smaller than it used to be, so that's good.  I really do NOT want to look into the circle on the LBI.  Ugh.  Still, it's getting better.