FO8, Waltz-8

 My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice and just 8 skaters.  I warmed up with edges and FO8 and scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- most of our time on this.  Really working to improve the push and position.  It's funny how working with a different coach (even, in this case, one you've worked with before) can make things a bit different.  Anyway good progress on the RFO, not so much on the LFO.  I did figure out that a good LFO just doesn't feel the same as a good RFO to me, so I need to quit expecting it will.
• waltz-8 -- Ugh.  The 3s are still really stinky.  We made some progress on the step forward from the RBO.  Most of our time was on the L foot waltz-8, just a couple of times on the R foot.

FO8, FI8, Waltz-8

 My figures lesson on the Chandler adult skate; nice ice and just 7 skaters.  I had Coach Lynne today as Danette is out of town.  It was really nice to work with her again!

I had a good half-hour to warmup, I ran through edges and FO8 and scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- meh.  Actually the flow on the RFO was pretty good, but I really struggled on the LFO. We worked a bit on getting me to really bend my knees more for the push (like, crazy bending :-) ) and that really did help.  Still some posture issues though.
• FI8 -- issues with the RFI, mostly posture.  We did make some progress, but I'm still getting to a point where I'm breaking at the waist.  Urph.  Also it feels like my upper body is rotating toward the end of the circle, I don't know if that's related to the posture issues or not.
• waltz-8 -- whoa.  I don't think I've worked on these in months, and they were pretty bad.  The FO3s are bad.  We worked a bit on the BO edge/step forward and actually did make some progress in getting me to TURN MY HEAD.  Geez.

All in all some good progress!

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!

Final Lesson

I had my last figures lesson with Lynne today, on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.  I got there slightly early so I had time to warm up with edges, scribe circles, and do FO8, FI8, and one circle each of waltz-8.

Today's lesson was a potpourri of all the stuff we've learned:

• waltz-8 -- of course.  About the same, though I did better on tracing the circle on the RBO.
• BO8 -- surprisingly good!  Came in a little short on the first circle but other than that it was not bad.  I really enjoy doing these, so I should def. practice them more.
• BI8 -- all in all not bad.  I deliberately made my RBI circle smaller so I could get around :-) as that push is still kinda weak.
• 3s to center -- most of these 3s are still very forced or skidded.  I often don't come "down" quickly enough after the turn, so even if I have a nice entrance, instead of a nice "shoulder" on the exit from the turn it just goes straight as I skid on the toe :-(.  Lots to do here.
• serpentines -- better than I expected.  COE is still a bit rough, both FOI and FIO.

It was nice to have some time to go through things and see the progress that I've made, and where I still need (lots of ) work.  I'm very sad that Lynne is leaving -- despite my frustrations with the waltz-8, we have, really, made a lot of progress.  My FO8 and FI8 are really solid, and my BO8/BI8 are pretty good, really.  The other stuff is further out.  I know that Lynne will really enjoy her new home and be very successful. I will treasure memories of our time together and look forward to the future!

Waltz-8 and Serpentines

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.  I got on the ice a little earlier than usual, so I had time to scribe circles, do edges, FO8 and FI8.

Today's lesson:

• waltz-8 -- still working the same issues.  We did two sets on the scribed circles, then worked on the tracings from my FO8.  I noticed that when I do bad or early 3s in this figure that it really throws me off for the rest of that circle, so we worked on improving them.  All the other usual corrections still applied.
• serpentines -- still working to improve the FOI change of edge.  I did make some progress on getting the COE to be at the axis and not early, though.

Preliminary Test & 3s

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.

I was running late so I scribed circles and did F edges as warmup.

Today's lesson:

• BO edges - nice!
• BI edges - not bad.  Wasn't happy with the first push so we spent a few minutes working them. I actually did several that were really good!  Not widestepped, only a small BO edge at start and almost perpendicular.  The trick seemed to be to not rush, slow down the takeoff, and really just put the R foot down in the right position and push from there.
• FO8 - random layout.  The first circle on each side was really, really nice (though again the RFO was a bit large). Subsequent circles were pretty good too.
• FI8 -- good.
• waltz-8 -- still issues with the step forward, but generally better.  Flow is better, and I think it looks more controlled.  Turns a bit inconsistent though.  We did 2 or 3 sets.
• 3s to center -- mmph.  The turns were (eventually) better but still not getting control after the 3. I feel like I'm checking okay but then can't hold the free side back so it comes around and then I lose my circle. Urph.

Only 2 lessons left with Lynne :-(.

Preliminary Test, Serpentines

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Cafe as usual.  Nice ice about 5 skaters.

I scribed circles, and warmed up with edges as usual.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- a random layout as usual.  Not bad although once again my first circle was too large :-(.
• FI8 -- a random layout.  Not bad but my circles were wildly different in size.  I'm not sure what was going on. We did a 2nd set and it was much better.
• waltz-8 -- this was about the same as last week (which is relatively good, at least no backsliding).  I'm doing a better job on the BO edge, but I still really need to watch my position on the beginning of it so that I have more control -- it helps if I can consistently count.
• serpentines -- just a few minutes on these.  The very first one (RFOI), I actually made it around the first 1.5 circles!  I've not done that in a long time.  Alas the subsequent ones were not as good.  I am still losing too much flow in my FOI change of edge.  Grrr.

After my lesson I worked some more on serpentines, then a little time on 3s to center.

Preliminary Test, BI8

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café, as usual.  Ice was a little beat up... just 2 skaters tho!

I scribed circles and did forward edges for warmup.

Today's lesson:

• B edges -- initial push on BO was weak, and so was BI.  The subsequent edges were pretty nice though.
• FO8 -- A random layout; pretty good, really.  When I was done I thought I'd done FI8 because they felt like that!  That's a good thing.
• FI8 -- random layout.  Good stuff.
• waltz-8 -- first set was a little rough but after that, somewhat better.  Step forward still weak but I think it's improved from a month ago.  I'm usually remembering to bend my knee on the BO edge and the turns are mostly okay.  Still need to watch out not cutting inside the circle on the RBO.
• BI8 -- after an initial bad start, the RBI was actually really good!  Like, made it all the way around several times, with good control!  Alas the LBI, which is usually better, was a bit lacking the first couple of times, though the last time was improved.  Yay!

Preliminary Test; BO8

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.

I warmed up with edges and scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- random layout.  A little rough on the last circle each side - poor upper body control.
• FI8 -- a random layout.  Pretty good, really.
• waltz-8 -- still working this.  The L side was actually much better! R side was a little better but still rough.
• BO8 -- just a little time on these.  I love doing these!  We worked on not being in "landing position" on the R side (I don't have this issue on the L side).  I realized the reason the free leg wants to go back is that the R shoulder is not staying back, so the L leg is going back to balance the forward R shoulder.  So I worked on a) holding the free leg in front longer and b) really holding that R shoulder back. Some progress on this.

After my lesson I worked a bit on BI8, hadn't touched them in a long time.  It was fun.

Lynne told me a couple of weeks ago that she and her family will be moving to Boston.   She'll be here until after Cactus as she is on the tech panel and has skaters competing.

I'm really bummed!  We've been working together for about 8 years... a really long time.  We've accomplished a lot (even though the waltz-8 is a stinker!) - competitions and just really a lot of improvement from when I started.  A few lessons left with her and then I'll be looking for a new figures coach.

Preliminary Test & BI8

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Cafe.  Life has really been interfering with my skating lately, but fortunately I made it to this session and lesson.

I was running a bit late, so I had just scribed circles and done edges when it was time to start.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- a random layout.  I was not very warmed up, but this was surprisingly good.
• FI8 -- another random layout.  Again, pretty good, although my return to center on the RFI was a little shallow.
• waltz-8 -- These were actually not bad, comparatively.  I'm still struggling on the return to center (step forward), of course.  It seems like I have a hard time remembering and incorporating all the corrections I have, at the same time.  Like... count!  Do a good 3!  Bend the knee on the BO edge! and so forth.  The more I remember, though, the better they are.  Ugh.
• BI8 -- for the last 4 minutes.  The first ones were pretty bad, but after that it was much better.  Still having a hard time on the first circle though; my push is a bit weak.

After my lesson I worked some more on waltz-8 and also a bit of time on BO8.

Plugging Along

I had my figures lesson with Lynne on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert this morning.  Ice was pretty beaten up, but just 2 skaters and 2 coaches.

I warmed up with edges and FO8, FI8, then scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- just a little time on this.  Not bad, although I had a bad push on the 2nd RFO.  Yuck.
• waltz-8 -- as usual, the bulk of our time.  My 3s were better today!  Actually most things were better, including my return to center.  Yay!
• 3s to center -- just 5 minutes.  My flow after the 3 was better, especially on the LFO3.  Still a long way from making it back to center though.

FO8, FI8, Waltz-8

I skated the Chandler Ice Café for my figures lesson with Lynne as usual.  I had some schedule issues so I only skated for 45 minutes and got on the ice later than usual (and lesson was later).

I warmed up with edges and scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- not bad.  I actually had good control on the very first edge.
• FI8 -- nice.
• waltz-8 -- actually a bit better on the step forward.   Still need to count, and to bend the knee on the BO edge better. Also I had an issue on the LBO that I was anticipating the step forward too much, and cutting into the circle.  After fixing that we worked on the 3s since they are still kinda stinky.  I think I'm trying too hard on these, and Lynne says I need to keep my hips more square going into the turn.  I'm turning the body into the circle but the hips need to stay square, then release.

All in all not bad.

Waltz-8 & BO8

I skated the Chandler Ice Café for my figures lesson with Lynne today, as usual.  Nice ice and it was all to myself for the first 30 min or so!

I warmed up with edges, FO8 and FI8, and scribed circles. I was definitely a bit rusty from having been off last week but things came together.

Today's lesson:

• waltz-8 -- about 25 minutes on these, still trying to fix the step forward.  I seem to have a hard time remembering all the different things I need to fix at the same time... in particular today I was having a hard time stepping close to the circle, then, when I improved that a bit, I was leaning out of the circle on the FO edge which made it hard to return to center. Yuck.  Someday I will get these, but today was not that day.
• BO8 -- just 5 minutes on these. Considering how rusty I was they were not that bad, actually. My first RBO was a little small (cut into the circle on the return) but I made it around.

I need more practice time!

Waltz-8, Serpentines

I skated the Chandler Ice Café today as usual for my figures lesson with Lynne. 5 skaters and nice ice.

I warmed up with edges, scribed some circles, then worked on FO8 and FI8.  FO8 was okay for no warmup, FI8 was pretty nice.

Today's lesson:

• waltz-8 -- about 25 minutes on these, mostly working on the step forward.  It seems like there are about 4 things I need to do simultaneously to make these happen:
• Stand up straight on the BO edge
• look where I'm going
• bring the trailing arm/shoulder around right before Is tep
• turn the upper body, set the new skating foot pointing in the right direction, bend and step forward.
• serpentines -- just briefly.  I've not done these in a long time, they were not so great.

Still Slogging

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.  6 skaters.

I warmed up with edges and scribed my circles, and had just started FO8 when Lynne came on the ice.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- hm. Some issues on the first layout, so we did another set that was much better.
• FI8 -- pretty good.  I freaked myself out a little when I was starting the 3rd RFI; I looked ahead at the tracing and saw that my two previous prints were RIGHT ON TOP of each other, perfect!  Alas I was not able to get the 3rd print that close (it was probably 6" away, oh well).
• waltz-8 -- I talked with Lynne about some of what I'd learned in my practice last week and discovered that I was trying to do the step forward the hard(er) way!  I was trying to turn my foot under me from the back-middle of the blade, almost like a back-3, but Lynne said that's not really necessary and it's perfectly fine to do it from the ball of the foot (which is what I observed Mary doing last week when we were all talking about it). So yay!  This is pretty important as it makes it at least theoretically a lot easier to do.  With that learning we kept working and it's a little better.  It will take some time to incorporate all this into my skating.

After my lesson I spent some time on waltz-8 and also a little bit on BO8.

Patch With The Elites!

I skated the Gilbert adult skate today for my figures lesson with Lynne.  As I was signing in who do I see is signed it but Micah T and Daniel K!  Eeep.  Both are senior men who don't normally skate at Gilbert, but apparently there was not a good session for them to skate in Scottsdale.  So... I expected to be distracted and I was! 

I scribed some circles and warmed up with forward edges and then it was time to start my lesson (which was interrupted several times by Daniel zipping through at warp 6!  but hey, he's got Nationals next week so cut him some slack~!).

Today's lesson:

• Back edges -- BO were pretty good.  BI not bad -- we spent some time working on the first push.  I REALLY need to bend my knees more to avoid the wide step.
• FO8 -- we spent some time working to try to make the first circle a better size.  Eeep.  I really need to lean in to that edge a bit more at the very start.
• FI8 -- pretty nice!
• waltz-8 -- actually a little progress on these.  My 3s didn't look great print-wise but I had a better exit edge and they felt more secure.  The L side was much improved, the R side not as much.

After my lesson I worked a bit more on waltz-8 and also some BO8.

Same Ol' Same Ol'

I skated the Chandler Ice Café as usual for my figures lesson with Lynne. Relatively crowded today, about 8 skaters.

I was running late so just had time to scribe circles before we started.

Today's lesson:

• Edges -- pretty good.  Back edges were especially nice.
• FO8 -- several layouts.  We worked a bit to get the first RFO to be a better size.  Lynne mentioned in passing that my subsequent restarts tend to be a little diagonal crossing the short axis, so that's something to be aware of.
• FI8 -- pretty good.
• waltz-8 -- working to consolidate the progress we made last week on getting my turns better.  Slow going.

After my lesson I worked some more on waltz-8 and a little bit on 3s to center.

Plugging Along

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café.  Nice ice and just 2 skaters!  I scribed circles and warmed up with edges.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- random layout.  First RFO still kind of large, and some other issues.  We did another layout and it was better so we moved on.
• FI8 -- random layout.  Some small issues but generally okay.
• waltz-8 -- About the same.  We took some time to work on the 3s as they were being a little problematic and I'm having issues holding the exit, which throws me off a bit subsequently.  We were able to make a good improvement in the 3s -- not so jumpy.  The trick is to come "up" but not too far up!  Still feel the ball of the foot/rocker pressing into the ice.  This helped a lot.

After my lesson I worked a bit on BO8 and serpentines.

Workin' It

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Cafe as usual.  I warmed up with edges and scribed my circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- layout in a random place as usual.   First one was not so great, my push on the R foot was inadequate and I had poor flow.  We laid out another set and it was much better.
• FI8 -- not bad.
• waltz-8 -- about half the lesson on these.  Still working the same issues.  My 3s were kind of inconsistent today which is really frustrating as it tends to throw everything off.

All in all not bad.

Grinding Away

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.  I scribed circles and warmed up with edges.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- a layout in a random spot.   The first set had some issues (hey, no warmup).  A second set was better but still some issues with return to center (was diagonal).  A 3rd set was better and we moved on.
• FI8 -- Urph.  Usually my best figure but the first set not so great (again a layout in a random spot).  Second set was better.
• waltz-8 -- we moved to my scribed circles for these.  These were really inconsistent, unfortunately.  Still cutting into the circle pretty badly, and the step forward on the R side not so good. Left is better.  

After my lesson I worked some more on waltz-8 and then a couple of BO8s.  Not getting around the circle, I'm cutting in too much.

Looking back I feel like I am regressing on some of this stuff, which is discouraging.