Dropped 3-tuns, new corrections for Ice Dancing intermediate level

I've had few new (and old) corrections on yesterday private lesson.

Firstly, you know how I was saying in my last post, that I feel my skills for the Ten Fox are good enough for the level, and all I need is to put a little more power and pay attention to partnering? Actually, it seams that I scrape the 3-turn... badly. May coach showed me the tracing on ice (in the Ten Fox pattern) and it was soo bad. That would be a good reason to fail the test. When I do the dance on my own, I'm never able to find the tracing. When I do the 3-turns on their own, I can find the tracing and it looks correct more often then not. But in the dance, I do the 3-turn after steps harder then and outside stroke, plus I have more speed, so it is a more difficult set up. I have to fix this before thinking of testing.

Here is the post I wrote about the dropped 3-turns. I'll go over the mistakes I make often now, and what I should be doing correct them:
- good forward outside edge on the entry stroke. That would include a good push from underneath yourself, so re bend on the skating foot, but then flip it on the inside edge as you actually put the new foot down. This will make space for the new foot to be set on an outside edge. I am able to do this consistently, but I'm not doing it in the dance... the problem I think,  is rushing, getting overexcited or nervous, and actually stepping, not pushing from underneath.
 - maintain this outside edge, not flatten it. Well, firstly, if I don't set it on an outside edge to begin with, it's kind of impossible, at least for me, to fix it. But let's say I do that right. To maintain the edge I should keep on the back of the blade (and I often find myself forward, again probably from the bad push) and press into the ice keeping the knee out. Yes, I'm letting the knee fall in, then of course the edge will flatten. It's possible I do this even worse with the partner as I may worry I'll hit his knee with my knee. But even on my own, this is not a skill I do without really concentrating on it. Another reason I think I lean forward is that I know I have to get closer to my partner just before turning the 3-turn, so leaning forward does get my upper body closer. I have o get closer with all my body, including the lover body.
- rise over the skating hip, lifting the rib cage. I feel I'm not doing this good enough, but my coach says that what it's messing me up, is in fact that I re bend while still turning (rushing again), and that it is what takes me out of the alignment and making me lean outside the circle not inside as I should, and this is making me scrape.
- another mistake I make often, is allowing the left shoulder forward. I am conscientiously twisting my upper body, but the left shoulder block my, and I am not aware of it while doing it.
- of course I have to turn my head with the turn...
- the old mistake was that I was pushing back after the 3-turn while re bending. It seams I fixed that by re bending even sooner (joke on me), instead of after the 3-turn...

The second correction I've got it was about the back push, and that translates into all backward skating so I'm very excited about it. It will be one of my next posts.

Then we did partner Ten Fox again and again, and I still do all kind of mistakes. There is this expectation that the coach helps the student during the dances, including during the tests. But these things eventually need to be corrected. And I think I have enough corrections for a whole post, so again, I'll come back to it  in a new post soon.

Corrections Jan 2020
- I worked on these for half hour on the next two sessions I was on ice. I went trough all the corrections, and I found the one mistake that ruined it even when everything else was right. This is the LFO 3-turn, so I have to twist the upper body towards the left. Well, I do, but I'm also pushing the left shoulder forward, so I'm blocking the twisting...
- Then on my next lesson, the coach said that even if I'm twisting toward the left, I'm still not aligned over the left hip, I should think of pushing the left hip forward (until now he was saying butt in)
- I was saying that holding the 3-turn entry edge on an outside edge was a problem mostly in the solo pattern dance. I realized that I wasn't finishing the previous lobe correctly, I wasn't twisting while rising towards the inside of the next circle, as I was explaining here. I should finish the previous lobe with the right hand forward and left shoulder back, ready for the 3-turm. I finish sometimes square and sometimes with the left hand forwards, that also means the left shoulder forward and that is a problem even when I do the 3-turn on its own, setting it like this in the pattern is doubling the same mistake!
- But I'm able to correct these, so I need to practice them enough to became body memory. And the dance was already better.... 

And here is a video with my dropped 3-turns done in a circle, both directions

Update from end of January: The dropped 3-turn definitely got better, I would even dare to say good, when I do them slowly. When I go faster into them I still skid, but not as badly as before. I was complaining to my coach about maybe feeling scared when having more speed and he asked if I felt is the velocity that scares me or the quickness. Good question... I wasn't differentiating between the two, and I thought is the velocity, but now I find it's actually the quickness. And it's not even fear, it's more that I'm not quick enough to find the right alignment over the hip when I go faster. So, as my coach says, I need to drill it, for that alignment (that I have when moving slower, because I have the time to think about it) to became muscle memory. I also feel confused about the timing of it, I'm so busy aligning I'm waiting to feel that alignment and there is just no way I can also think about putting it on a count. Back to work then...

Corrections 2023:

- twist the upper body while rising (I was stroking, rising then twisting) and bring the free hip along, don't leave it back. And I figured the stroke-rise and twist is a continuous move. I also figured that with a deeper knee bend in the stroking I have more flow/ inertia into the rise and twist

- let the foot turn  (don't stop it) and don't turn it yourself. I was stroking, stalling and then force the foot to turn, as I can see in the 1st 3 in the video

- Note from my own observation to check with my coach... Today I suddenly scraped the 3s (they were fine for a while now), and I think it is because my muscles were tired and as I stroke the outside edge I leaned forward, so when I raised and twisted I didn't have more space to go forward on the blade ti turn cleanly...

Skating technique: Intermediary skating skills (power, press, alignment, lean)

I usually have my private lessons on Monday and I get to skate before the lesson, so I'm warmed up already. I cannot skate next Monday so I asked for an extra lesson this week. It was on the first hour of the "Freestyle practice ice" so i had to start with a warm up with my coach watching and obviously helping and correcting.

After slalom forward and backward I did the forward outside edge presses. First the forward outside. My coach said that the hip is sticking out. That is the hip inside the circle. I am supposed to lean into the circle, with the shoulders parallel with the ice, but the rest of the body being a straight line. Like here. I tried and tried again and we ended at the boards looking into the glass and modeling my body to achieve the hip in, so the straight body line, the lean into the circle. This lean should be achieved on all edges forward, backward, outside, inside and it is always the same visual of not having the hip inside the circle sticking out. Another way I was asked to not stick the hip out was to feel, to make a hollow, that somehow doesn't work for me. I was even allowed to look down, at the hip... blasphemy! I've learned that the hip that is mentioned in the skating instruction is lower then I thought of it. That may make a difference in trying to align it. One other words I remember I've red about this hip in, were to push with the hip from inside the circle into the hip from the outside of the circle. Whaaat? No, actually that made sense when I've tried it, that's why I'm mentioning it here. To add to that is to make a hollow under arm of the arm towards the inside of the circle. That is to help the lean but I suspect also to not drop that shoulder. And also, on all the edges the upper body should be align over the circle.

After this anatomy (or contortion) lesson, I did the crossovers to inner edges from the PreJuvenile MITF test as my next warm up. My coach said to press into the ankle, so ice, the inside edge on both forward and backward. Not to just glide there. Use each step energy into the next step. We've run this 3 times. But it seams the coach was happy seeing that I was able to incorporate some of these corrections (that I've heard many times before), so he decided to continue with all this concept of power in skating. I mentioned the concept of power in skating many times, like here. The first step in building power in your skating is the correct push, (from underneath you, and pressing into the ice, that I described before (forward and backward)

So  we've continued with the rest of the MITF test exercises. Next were the power pulls. There, the biggest correction today was on the backward ones to align the upper body over the circle (the edge) so on the back outside edges pull the opposite shoulder back to lead with it, and on the back inside edges, the same side shoulder. Obviously on the power pulls you press into the ice. The 3-turns had less corrections then usual! But the focus was the same, the same alignment over the circle and lean into the circle. And then it was mentioned probably the biggest component of power on ice, the speed. I have to put more speed into the 3Turns. But generally, speed goes hand in hand with feeling confident in the edges, lean, alignment, press into the ice. You cannot have speed without having the others, and I think when all these "others" work, the speed increases automatically.

Back circle 8, you've guessed, we've insisted on the exact same points... On the inside ones I'm leaning out of the circle as I bring the foot in at the top of the lobe,  then I'm twisting too much facing inside the circle  (that would be not align over the circle) and that's slows me down. I worked at this alignment over the circle when skating backwards mostly trough backward edge presses, that I'm realizing I've never described, but I will soon...

I'm very happy with this lesson. It made me feel that I'm on track to getting the power.

Test: MITF Pre-Juvenile part 1

I skated 3 times last week and the hip was fine. My plan is to listen to my body, but ideally I would like to skate at least 4 times a week. I'm working mostly on MITF Pre-Juvenile that was ready for testing at the beginning of the summer but my registration didn't go trough for that session. I plan to test it as soon is revived, the moves are there, but again I'm lacking power.

I'll describe the elements of the test now, and when I'll take it, I'll describe how it all went.

This is a standard test. I've worked on it with pauses, for almost 2 years. I've got the moves rather quickly (like 6 months) but not the power that is asked at this level. And then I hurt my hip and I couldn't work on power...

Here is the judging form where there are drawings with the pattern for each move.

1. Forward and Backward Perimeter Power Stroking (focus on power, F: extension, B: edge quality)
- I do 4 intro strokes then 2 forward crossovers CCW. That is on half the hockey circle (that I will call a lobe) and brings me to the imaginary axis where I do an right inside edge for the first half of the lobe. The next half of the lobe would be a CW crossover. Then a new lobe with a left inside edge and again a CCW crossover.
- Important thing here is the power. Both the first stroke of the crossover and the second one, the under push, need to be pressed and pushed. Speed and lean into the circle will help the power.
- The inside edge need to start at the axis, stroking perpendicular to the axis and the blade should be placed on an inside edge. Update on Nov 2019 to press the inside edge (both forward and backward) and to use the energy from each stroke into the next stroke
- Extension and pointed toe are expected on each of the crossovers strokes and on the inside edge.
- The crossovers strokes are 1 beat each, the inside edge is 2 beats.
- After the last CCW crossover that ends at the axis the end pattern is another crossover and a stroke of 2 beats, right inside mohawk
- The backward line starts with 2 back crossovers CCW (1 beat each stroke) that brings me around at the axis (correction to square the upper body and arms), where a power inside edge is done hold for 2 beats (pull the shoulder and arm back). Then the weight is transferred for the CW back crossover.
- When I started working on this test I thought this was the easiest move from the test, but I've got so many corrections... Looking back is was all about the second stroke on both forward and backward crossovers being whimper and shorter. Of course to fix that I needed a strong alignment on the edge on the first stroke, allowing the upper body to move around the circle, hips under, lean, speed...
2. Forward Outside to Backward Inside 3-turns in the field (focus on edge quality)
- These are quite big lobes, bigger then what I was doing before. Of course I needed a bigger push and that was hard to control at first. 
- Important things are to turn the 3s at the top of the lobe, control the edges, start the lobe perpendicular to the axis, don't do 2 foot transitions
- Here are some corrections and tips, from the millions I've got: turn your head, align the upper body with the circle (at first I was pointing with the arm to the center of the circle to be sure I twisted enough), have the upper body parallel with the boards just before turning, feel the blade parallel to the boards before turning, free hip up, don't think of turning but thing of going back/ forward, count, look up (of course..). The latest tip was that the back shoulder turns the 3-turn... 
- I hurt my hip on a back inside 3-turn, but it wasn't the 3-turn, it was another skater that came with some speed way to close to me and spooked me. After that I was always extra cautions working on these to not be close to people, but how realistic is that? And you cannot work on alignment awareness, while twisting to see who is in your way...
- The hip hurt at different intensities for a year (and it still hurts occasionally). All the 3-turns on that hip (left), disintegrated at points because I wasn't committing in transferring the weight solid on that hip...
- Even without the hip trouble, when  started working at this test I thought these 4 lines of 3-turns were the hardest move of the test.
- Update Nov 2019 for the FO 3-turn. I've been recently asked to press the edge in and out of the 3-turn and  I couldn't do it at first. I was stroking, then releasing the pressure into ice, then press just before the turn, then releasing the pressure at the turn. To make myself hold the pressure I hold the extension longer (that I was asked anyhow to do), until the turn and that made it basically a Ice Dancing 3-turn. So, I've got corrected again, to bring the feet together, when closing to turn, with the skating foot still bent from the stroke, because it is more stable, the to rise o turn, while still pressing into the ice (whaaat? I was doing the opposite, I was releasing the pressure), then bend again. I'm wondering when I will finally understand correctly what I have to do?
3. Forward Inside to Backward Outside 3-turns
- Same (similar) as before...
- My worst 3-turn is the LFI one. The corrections I've got are to really turn my head before the turn and to not drop the right shoulder.
4. Forward and Backward Change of Edge Pulls (focus on power)
- Instructions I remember: set the edge first, press and fall into the edge/bend and pull up, hips underneath, on forward ones keep knees together, point the toe and direct it over the tracing of the circle, on the back inside that means pigeon toe. On the back ones the last piece of advice was to rotate the upper body from the shoulders not just the arms.
- My instructor doesn't feel terrible unhappy about these but I think the kids have more power and speed then me...
- I surely could have practice these more, if it wasn't for the quads burn... And don't get me started on the backward on the bad hip. I think I've aborted half of them...
5. Backward Circle Eight (focus on edge quality)
- These is the hardest move of the test in my coaches opinion. And I've learnt he's always right... So I started to get around the circles fairly quick... somehow.  And I've worked on it  a lot even when the hip was hurt because it didn't bother me. To be honest I still get corrections on this. 
- The first thing is the backward push, not straight back but at a 90 degrees. And there are 2 secrets: don't transfer the weight to the new foot until the push is completed and pigeon toe the new skating foot and lead with the heal.
- Then, for the edges there is the alignment and where your weight falls so you are over your skating hip, and keep the free hip up. There is also the lean, slightly towards the inside of the circle, but definitely not outside the circle because it's taking you of the edge. One tip was not to turn around at the middle but to lift over the hip, bring the free foot straight into the skating foot.
- Then, there is use oh head movement
- Then arms and foot coordination 
- The inside edge got more corrections. Firstly to push back not around and to look outside the circle immediately after the push, that was kind of scary somehow. Then to really keep the free foot over the tracing and at the middle of the circle to bring it straight into the other foot, without changing the hips position. Then, allow the upper body and hips to get square to the tracing of the circle.
6. Five step Mohawk sequence (focus on edge quality and extension)
- There is an inside mohawk, a back outside edge, step forward om an outside edge, and forward inside edge with the free foot forward.
- This requires even steps so an even count to 5. 
- The back edge should fall exactly at the middle of the lobe.
- I didn't get many correction on this. At some point I was making it quick and it looked stepped so my coach wanted more flow. But I've got the BIG correction: to look up! My continuous battle...

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Last month went like this: the two weeks in the middle were great, the first and last week of the month not so much. The problem with these two not so good weeks was that th rink a different schedule, so I've got to skate less and I also lost my rhythm.

MITF: The skating that I did, went almost entirely towards the moves and the coach agreed that I am ready to test, well, unless I have a bad day. So I'm registered to test at the end of this month.

And talking about bad days, this last week I really didn't skate too well. I'm trying to find explanations on why, so I don't get discouraged... Firstly, mid month the coach didn't ask about more power so I thought I'll take the opportunity to work on perfecting things, mainly the alignment. Then, I was tired. I think the combination of the two (not purposely pushing so letting go of some speed, but then pushing even less than I thought I was, because I was tired), made my skating hesitant. Also, maybe I'm getting a little bored with these moves. I had few runs that went really well so in my mind, I think I've got them. But I have to still stick with them for a full month for the test.

Just 2 posts ago I talked about power in figure skating. And this last week was such an awareness. My coach's approach for progress in skating is to work on precision and then to work on speed. Of course with more speed you lose from the precision, so then you need to start working on it again, and so forth. That doesn't mean to totally let go of the speed... I think this last week I made the mistake of letting go of too much from the speed. But the edges are hold better at speed. I'm very curious to check this theory this week.

One thing worth mentioning, is that my coach made me work on the 5 minutes warm up that I'll do on the test day. The elements in the test are around 10 minutes, so there is no time to time to do all of them and there is no time to warm-up. My first tries were around 7 minutes, so I needed to cut a lot. Now I've got it down to 5 minutes but I still play with the order I do them. My coach said to consider that on the test day the other skaters probably will follow the test order so it may be better to do the same. So on the test day I'll have to warm up of ice. Then, on ice, I'll have to use some of the elements as a warm up, in the sense that I shouldn't try to do them well but just get used with the ice. The power crossovers are one like that, but I do just one line, first half forward, second half backward. I do the next line edge presses, 2 outside forward, 2-4 backward outside, the rest of the space backward inside.  These allow me to work on my alignment. I need them... Then I do the 3 turns, but just one of each. If I have problems with one of them I have time to do it again. Next would be the power pulls, back circle 8 and 5 step mowhak.

Ice Dancing: I did occasionally some warm up lines of chasses, progressives, swing rolls and the Ten Fox (the last of the Bronze dances I have to test) so I don't totally forget it. Some days it actually went good. Some days... you know... not. What I found myself drown to, were the dropped 3-turn for the European Waltz that I'll start working on after I finish with this Ten Fox. The Pre-Silver dances are way more interesting. Harder too, of course. But if my interest is high I work harder too.

Freestyle: I let it go again... I did some spins (forward and backward) and a Waltz Jump here and there. And I've run my program just once.

As for the plan for the next month, I do have to keep the moves a priority. The ice schedule will change middle of the month, and as the kids will be on vacation there is no way to know which sessions will be crowded and which not. So, I cannot count on that ice, I'll have to be really for the test by the middle of the month. 

The concept of Power in Figure Skating

I test both MITF and Ice Dancing at the standard requirements, as kids test them. My goal was to get to skate likeas the kids do. I didn't know the name for "it", I just knew that adult skaters looked shy and kids were going for "it". This "it" is called power.

As I said in the previous posts,  I tested Preliminary MITF  first on June 2017, and got a "retry" and I tried again and passed on October 2017. The only reason given for the retry was "lack of power" on 2 elements. There are adult versions of the tests with slightly different elements and requirements. The biggest difference is the power expected. So were the standard test requires "power", the adult test requires "flow".

I've tried very hard to figure out what "power" means. Ballet dancers famously require lots of power to be able to do what they do, but then, they have to look gracious, like it's actually easy. In skating,  while learning the power concept, the instructions are to be aggressive, attack, push, sell it, pretend to be (overly) confident. When preparing to take again MITF test that I didn't pass, I was telling my coach that I literally don't understand the concept.

It just happened that I was just talking with a skating friend and she was saying that the skating culture sometimes develops aggressive personalities. And I've recently been bothered by few episodes of aggressive behavior on ice. And I'm wondering if it's partly because of the words used to ask for power. I'm still trying to figure out what power means, and I don't think is aggressiveness.

They may not be the best words to describe it,  but I think power in skating is controlled speed (holding the extensions and tension in the body and the speed will all increase while one progresses in skills). And I think it comes from 2  different places.  
The first one is technique, that gives the control:
- alignment over edges. Knowing the points of balance going forward (back of your foot arch) and backward (front part of your foot arch). And how to lean to maintain the edges.
- posture and core engagement
- pressures into ice. Not once I heard about pressing into ice ore bend your ankles as a beginner. I heard bend your knees. You actually use the knee as a piston to push into the ice and the ankle to grab and hold that pressure.
- edges: correct lean of the body and speed that maintain the edges
- tension in the whole body helped by holding the extensions and pointing the toes
 -my coach's advice on how to work on things to progress is to approach it from 2 sides and go back and forth between them
1. work on technique at comfortable speed
2. do the same elements with more speed over your comfort level

The second one is speed (exuberant speed - the love for skating) I feel seeing power in skating is like seeing a wild horse running. I definitely don't see them being aggressive.

On the other hand sports are competitions and one needs to be aggressive or assertive to compete, but that's another story. Maybe the teaching to compete should be separated from the teaching of skating technique.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

MITF: Last month I skated Monday, Wednesday, Friday on my own and I had my lessons on Thursday. The plan was to push the MITF to hopefully have Pre-Juvenile ready for testing for June. And that's what I did.  Each day I started with the moves and I stayed with them as long as the ice wasn't too crowded and I wasn't too tired. And every single minute in my lessons was about the moves. A miracle has happen! My coach doesn't ask for more power at this point. He still adjusted the inside edge after the back crossovers, I'm missing something there. The 3-turns are quite ok. The backward power pulls on one of the sides (the hurt hip one)  is not on committed edges. He readjusted the initial push on the circle eight and the inside circle hips alignment. On the 5 step Mohawk he keeps asking to look up. And he adds new corrections (over what's necessary for this test). Like on the intro steps that are not judged, to hold the extension on the Mohawk second edge, bring feet together at ankle and start with a  power wide step. I said, "You never asked me that before", he said "Because you couldn't do it before". As we put in new corrections I mess up some things but there is still enough time until the test to be able to bring everything back together.

Then I did Freestyle, spins and jumps:
- Forward Scratch Spin, I'm trying to put more oomph into it. I had during  last year a handful of them that felt quite fantastic, but I wasn't be able to identify what made them better and repeat that. Now I'm starting to get it. Firstly it cannot be done without a strong pressed entrance edge. But then, it's all in the swipe of the free leg around, it's the confidence (tension, stretch, speed) of it and also I try to stop the foot more forward then latterly (as my coach instructed).
- the Back Spin was getting consistent few months ago, but as I stopped working at it consistently when I worked intensely at my Freestyle program, it stopped being consistent. I think I'm also going into it faster then before. So, when I don't abort at the entrance, it goes quite well, but then again, I cannot try the entrance 2 times in a program to get it right. The last instruction from my coach was few moths ago and was just to keep at it and don't go fast. But I really think it's time for updated instruction.
- The Sit Spin... I enter it  just 2 out of 3 tries, then from those entered I get into the position on 1 out of 3 (basically I don't bring the free foot forward enough). And those that happen, are far away from a sitting position. But some days are better then others, so there is definitely hope.
- Waltz Jump. I'm trying to do it from entering with more speed and make it higher. I'll do it in the ice show, 2 or 3 in a row...
- Salchow I do just a couple here and there because my left ankle still feels tight
- the Loop. I've worked on it last time last summer, but just in the group lessons, and it was going consistently 3/4 rotated, occasionally fully rotated. Now it's between 1/2 and 3/4. I've realized recently that before jumping I had my weight on both feet, so maybe working on keeping the weight on the right foot and hip will help...
- the program I did just once a week and without music. I wanted to present it at my rink competition but it seems to be lots of obstacles. The competition is ISI and even if I was tested in my group classes up to FS4, it seems that I have to be re tested and put into the system, starting with Alpha! Alpha trough Delta is pass/retry, but then they need a score for each element. The coaches run the tests and I understand that if they coach you day by day they can fill up the papers. My regular coach is not registered with ISI so he cannot test me. So whoever would test me, would need to see the elements, at least from Fs1 and up. And I think it would take few sessions to get trough everything. Also, the rink asks the coach who enters a student in the competition, to make themselves available for judging. I think it's hard to ask somebody that's not my permanent coach to ruin their weekend, unless I find a coach that already has students in the competition willing to enter me too... The other thing is that the competition is mid June and my MITF test would be a week away towards the end of June and I'm afraid not to get distracted in preparation for the test. And the deadline to enter the competition is May 5...

Ice Dancing I did rarely, at the end, with tired legs. My coach said to not let it go completely, but I'm worrying that I do more harm then good.

The ice show rehearsals go as I expected, unexciting. I think I've outgrown this shows.

The ballet goes so well. It is funny how I'm fighting the turn out (that I do have) because I'm used to keep my feet parallel from skating.

For next month: This first week of the month is weird with the ice show taking over the ice time. But for the rest of the month, the plan is the same: push the moves, keep working at Freestyle and don't let go of Ice Dancing.

Test: MITF Preliminary - part 2

Here is again the link to the judging form.
And the videos of my tests, retry the first one, pass the second one

1. Forward and Backward Crossovers on circles (focus power) with a swing Mohawk when transferring from the second forward circle to the first backward circle.
I'll write a post about the crossovers technique soon and link it here.
I started from standing at the middle of on an end line with 2 strokes, then forward CCW crossovers on the hockey circle, then a left forward swing roll (not required) continued with forward CW to the right hockey circle, swing Mohawk, then CCW back crossovers, back swing roll (not required) before changing to the last circle of CW back crossovers, finish with a backward stroke holding the extension and step forward and stop. The circles have to be similar in size.
My challenges were
- making all 4 types of crossovers looking as they had the same power (they didn't), so I had to pull back on the stronger ones and obviously push as strongly as I could on the weaker ones
- figuring out where to start the swing rolls and finding a pace for the crossovers to get to finish at the point were I was starting the swing. I worked on this test for around a year, and as I did get stronger and faster I had to adjust the number of crossovers and the place were I started the swing rolls.
- the back swing roll I did just on the second test, coming with some speed after the CCW backward crossovers, at first I wasn't comfortable in stroking backwards and holding the extension forward before swinging.
- the swing Mohawk. The swing is all on an outside edge, but then the edge should be changed to inside for it to become the start of the Mohawk. I could do it at slow speed and using more space but on the tight space between the circles I always ended up getting on the inside edge as I was swinging the leg and that made it look wimpy. This is one of the skills on my "wish" list. After I injured my left hip I figured that the forward swing roll to the right was straining my left flexors and abductors so I stopped doing them. But it's time will come.
I've got passing score of 2.5 on both tests but I do think I was more confident at the second test.
2. Consecutive Outside and Inside Spirals (focus on extension and edge quality).
My straight spirals were pretty consistent on both legs at this point, BUT you need to do 5 consecutive and equal lobes of outside edge spirals on the length of the ring, then 5 more on an inside edge. And you need to keep the extension higher then the hip level for 4 seconds so you need to get on the edge and the leg up very quickly, otherwise you run out of space. My biggest problem proved to be getting out of the spiral quickly and in a controlled way. I was saying when I talked about the spiral technique here, that I wasn't used to square the hips and upper body, but stack the hips and twist the upper body. I think that is easier to hold the edges like that, but it's hard to change the lobes, you have to change the lobes square to the axis, there is no other way. By the second test I've gotten a little better.
Again I've got 2.5 on both tests, but I definitely improved the control on changing lobes on the second test.
3. Forward Power 3-Turns (focus on power)
That is a 3-turn step wide on an inside edge and pull into a back crossover, and step forward into the 3-turn and repeat. My RFO was way slower then the left one, but to be honest they were both slow. This is a power move so it needs to show speed. I also wasn't turning the 3-turns at the middle of the lobes on the first test, i was rushing. That wasn't even my biggest challenge. That was to step forward squared after the back crossover, perpendicularly to the axis. If I wasn't square at that point I couldn't control the next 3-turn.
On my first test I messed up a 3-turn, but either the judge didn't see it, either one mistake was allowed, she didn't comment on it. But still I've got just 2.4 for luck of power. I've got. 2.5 on the second test.
4. Alternative Forward 3-turns (focus on edge quality)I've got 2.5 on both tests.
I talked about outside and inside forward 3-turns technique here and here.The alternative outside 3-turns was the hardest move for me, more exactly the transition between the 3-turns. Theoretically you need to do a controlled 3-turn (figures style) leaving perpendicularly from the axis (forward outside edge) and returning perpendicularly to the axis (back inside edge) with a perfect balance and posture and then twist your blade on that spot from backwards to forward to start next 3-turn. But again, for this test the quality should be 2.5 out of 6. The judges don't expect perfection. And I saw kids testing and forcing the end of the 3 turn close to the axis but not on the axis into the next one, so that's what I set up to do. So, my trick was to snap the turn and really keep the free leg, hip and glutes tight and as I was approaching the axis, open the hips to be able to start the next turn. This move is not on any of the adult MITF tests, it is an award, wicked one...
5. Forward Circle 8 (focus on edge quality and continuous flow). I talked about it here. I've got 2.5 on both my tests. On the first test I was wobbly but I didn't actually put the foot down (as it appears in the video) and after the test the judge complimented me for the "exact" edges and that circle 8. Again, she either didn't see the wobble or it was "exact" for this level.
6. Alternating Backward Crossovers to Backward Outside Edges (focus on power and extension)
I've got 2.3 on my first test, again for "lack of power", and 2.5 on my second test but with the suggestion "more power needed". I'll talk about power in one of my next post, I have enough thoughts and feelings about it to fill a whole post! What I think helped me on this move the most in the second test, was a straighter posture (shoulders rolled back and lift from the waist up, core engaged) on the backward edge. On the first test I was off balance after the back edge so I couldn't push well into the crossover. I knew and I see in the video that on the LBO edge was not over my hip, I'm working now on back swing rolls and I'm close in finally correcting that.

Test: MITF Preliminary - part 1

Here is a link to the judging form.

When I tested, the scores were given from 0 to 6, and for the Preliminary MITF test the passing average was 2.5. Now the scores are between -3 and +3, so the same range, but an element that is done as expected for this level would be scored 0. I tested this one first on June 2017, and got a "retry" (a nicer way of saying failed) for "lack of power" and I tried again and passed on October 2017. If you remember, I'm an adult testing standard quality test, for this specific reason, to get the power that kids get.

Firstly, let me tell you about the preparation for the tests and the tests days. As I was saying in my post about the Pre-Preliminary MITF test, at the point when I started to learn the moves for the Preliminary test, I was talking group classes and having my first private lessons with different coaches. Close to the point of the Preliminary test I took in June, I designated one coach in charge with the moves. She was specialized  in dance, not moves but extremely good coach. She is also the nicest person. She never once mentioned "power" in preparation, for either her inexperience in judges expectations, or for our similar soft personalities. For the second test I trained with a different coach, who pushed me the hardest on power. But, I'll fess up. We both knew perfectly well at that point that I didn't understand the power and I haven't got it. He coached me that I should display power trough a confident attitude.

Another thing that I'll fess up is that when I was preparing for it I thought this test is gonna be easy. I thought I already knew the elements in it. But I knew to do the elements separately, when I put them together, even not trying to show power, I've still got more speed that I was usually putting into those elements and that made me lose some of the control. Plus, as we know now, I really didn't have enough power required for that level. Looking back I don't think this test it's easy, I think it's a strange phase in a skater development, in the sense that you are still a beginner at this phase, not truly understanding how the moves work, but doing them somehow.

Funny thing, I had wardrobe troubles for both tests :) For the first test, the trouble was on practice the day before. In the summer I like to wear a tunic over leggings to the rink (I made myself the wrap tunic in the first video that follows). At the rink I'll put on a jacket over the tunic. Well, I forgot the jacket home. I was cold but I stayed and skated and I've got used with it. That gave me the idea to wear the same outfit for the test, instead of a leotard and nude tights and skirt (that I would have had to change into at the rink, and as somebody that never performed as a kid in any type of show, seamed very dressed up and made me self conscious). On the day of the test my coach couldn't be there and that surely didn't help. I felt like I didn't belong. I was also the only adult in the test session. I later wondered if my choice of a more comfortable costume also made me feel like not a legit skater...

The second test was in the fall, so I could drive in my leotard (that I also made) and nude tights with black leggings over, and the skirt in my bag. Guess what, I took with me the wrong skirt (I have a long skirt from the same fabric as the skating skirt). Luckily I had the wrap tunic in my skating bag and I took it over the leotard and nude tights. It was way shorter compared with the skirt I was planing to wear. And remember, I was self conscious, but I wanted to display confidence, and maybe it helped... You have to look the part to play the part. But lesson learned, now I check my bag numerous times before leaving for a test and I started to even take 2 outfits and tights with me, just in case... I'm now thinking I should throw in some treads and needles for emergencies...

And here is the first test, June 2017- retry

And here is the pass test in November 2017.

I'll describe the 6 elements of this tests in my next post.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I start each "skating month" with reviewing the previous one and then planning the current one.

I didn't do much skating last month. On the first week the rink schedule was inconvenient, then I was taking it easy because I had some pain from a fall in December. Then I fell again :( and decided to rest for few days to see if I don't come back to regular form faster. And then we had the polar vortex! The rink was closed 2 days.

Ice Dancing: I'm working on the Ten Fox. We tweaked the pattern, mostly the 3-turns placement. The outside mohawk is fine! As I still work on the pattern and I was protecting the hurt muscle, I haven't got yet to go full power and speed and I'm not on time yet. Also I didn't partnered yet. I feel the coach pushes on each lesson for a better backward skating, Higher extension, pointed toes, re bend before the new push, less time on transitions between lobes, and of course the posture.
I asked start to work on the European Waltz,  which is 3-turn after 3-turn because I wanted to work on something that will require patience, not power. My problem is that I don't re bend when stepping from backward to forward. That is both after the back edge, before the 3 turn, and in between the 3-turns on the end pattern. I can do it at slow speed, and I also train it off ice. So it's gonna take a lot of repetitions done correctly, at slow speed first, to get it in the muscle memory.

MITF: As much as I don't want to accept it, the truth is, I cannot make them better if I cannot put power into them. And if I have any kind of pain, I can't... both physically and mentally. So, they are right there, almost ready to test, from a year ago, jut not quite there.

Freestyle: I've had just one lesson, on the first week of the month. We reviewed things that we've done before and I made it clear I wanted the Pre-Bronze program so i can test it. And then my coach got sick and then he had to travel. So I hired somebody else. And he got straight into the program! My goals from doing programs is to learn new elements and how to link the elements I have. And I actually want to work with many coaches/ choreographers because I feel they all have different styles. The first coach, let's call him coach A, I worked with, was specialized in adults. The coach I hired now, coach B, is a quite experienced choreographer and performer, still settling in my city, so still approachable as price. He has such a beautiful style with lots of upper body movement! I first tensed up, thinking I won't be able to do much of what he showed me, but he broke down everything and he said that whatever I won't get comfortable doing in few weeks we'll change. So I take it as an opportunity to learn new elements, even if they are not gonna get used.

Off Ice: I did 3 weeks of ballet now. Overall I love it, but it is as tedious as the skating, if not even more. My goal here is mostly to improve my posture, upper body  movement (as I tense and rise the shoulders) and learn some arm movement. But my mind gets lost in between remembering the exercises, actually doing them correctly, so for now I keep forgetting about my posture..

I think this month I have to be patient to consolidate what I have in dance and moves and I think the progress that I crave and push for, will happen on it's own. And I have now the Freestyle program and the ballet to keep things interesting.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Last month I skated more (from 4 sessions to 5 and a half per week) and had 2 private lessons per week with my dance coach as I was registered to test the Willow Waltz and I wanted to be prepared.
As you may know from the previous post, I passed the Willow Waltz test, testing standard track no less. Passing tests is very good for motivation and confirming that I do progress. As much as I love skating, learning it is very hard work and not always enjoyable. There is often lots of frustration.

Ice Dancing: Bedsides working on the specific steps for the Willow Waltz I feel I got to a new level of power in my stroking. That's the biggest difference between adult testing and standard testing, the power. Having more power makes you look (and feel) more stable, so better. I'm very happy I was able to do the Willow Waltz solo on music and keep the count, as I was struggling with that before. Read about it here.
MITF: Taking 2 lesson per week we had time each lesson to review an element from the Pre-Juvenile test that I'm working on. While being complimented on the better display of power, it seams that I dropped the standard in the quality. I had corrections on each and every one of them, on things that I used to do just fine. The good news is that I can incorporate the corrections immediately.
Freestyle: I had just one private lesson with my new Freestyle coach and I asked to work on jumps. I definitely like how I react to his instructions. More then that, because he works with adults a lot, I feel he identified some specific problems that adults have and other coaches, that work manly with kids, just don't think about.

Making plans for next month there are two main things I consider:

Firstly, I would like to balance the Ice Dancing, MITF and Freestyle. I always say this and it never feels I'm doing it. Both MITF and Ice Dancing need fairly empty sessions and last month I was always prioritizing dance over moves. That means I worked on dance at the beginning of the sessions when the ice is emptier. And Ice Dancing tires my quads sometimes so badly that I don't feel like jumping.
MITF: I'll have to work on both slow on the corrections (to became body memory), and fast to improve the power. And as I worked on them for a long time (from before I was hurt, in fact I was close to being ready to test them), I'm not very excited about them. It's sounds to me that I'll actually have to prioritize these somehow.
Freestyle: I think I would be more motivated to work on Freestyle elements if they would be part of a program. I'll have to ask my new coach clearly about the timeline for choreographing it. Up to now I was disappointed as I kept expecting to get the program and instead I've got lessons. He gave me very good instruction but I wasn't ready/ didn't have time, to work on elements on Freestyle because I was concentrating on Ice Dancing.  So we'll have to talk and align our efforts.
Ice Dancing: I'll start working on the Ten fox that I let go these last 2 months and doesn't have too much flow right now. The only really sticky thing about it is the outside Mohawk. I never felt that I've really really got it. But I'm doing it and it may be good enough for this level... So we'll see how that goes.

The second thing I have on my mind is the quad muscles pain. As the hip was ok, I've been skating 5 days in a row, one of the days, Monday, twice. I was curious if I'll have the muscle building pain, as I was getting it last year when I was skating like this. Last year it passed after maybe a month, but that month was very hard. I felt exhausted, I needed more food and more sleep. The last week of last year and first week of this year I'll skate just twice weekly, because of the ice schedule. So I think I'll have no choice but to build slowly on that, and go again with 4 skating days a week, and in the past that meant Tuesday and the weekend off. From the second week on January I'm registered to beginner adult ballet and ballet conditioning. The ballet conditioning is on Friday just before skating and I hope is gonna be focused on core strength (to replace the pilates class) or balanced, but definitely not on leg strength as I don't need it and I may not skate well after a leg focused workout. The ballet is on Saturday morning and my only hope is that it's gonna meet at lest some of my expectations (work and awareness on posture, alignment and port de bras)...

It's customary to make new year resolutions and set goals but I don't really do that.  And planning skating for a whole year doesn't seam realistic. Especially after how it went last year (the tiny hip injury that didn't heal completely for more then 6 months). When I started private lessons in mid 2016 my goal was progress.Two years ago I was able to push very hard and I felt I'm going the right way. Last year I basically skated half the time compared to 2 years ago. But looking back, I progressed more than I expected. Not in the areas that I was planning (power and speed) but starting to put together the skills that I had and working on expression (mostly arms). I also feel I enjoyed skating somehow more then when I was pushing very hard. Learning from all these, my plan for the new year is to be flexible and to make the best out of my time on ice!

Test: Bronze Dances (Willow Waltz)

I gave myself an early Christmas present and passed the Willow Waltz on December 23rd. Here is the description of the dance written as I was learning it.This Is the second of the Bronze Pattern dances I tested. The first one is the Hickory Hoedown, that I passes in January. As I was mentioning in a post before, this was a lower key testing session covering dances just up to Bronze Dances. I tested in this session before and I felt less intimidated as there were younger skaters (kids) that weren't stronger skaters than me, testing mostly Preliminary and Pre-Bronze Dances.

Not this time... There were 3 groups of skaters testing Bronze. At my rink kids have to take Preliminary and Pre-Bronze Dances as prerequisite to be in the syncro teams. So they do them while quite young usually in group classes. Then, the majority of them lose interest in dance, as they consider it boring. They come back to it after years, as teenagers, either to improve their presentation in Freestyle, or because they get stuck in Freestyle, or to test towards achieving the Gold medal to put in their collage applications. And that's why there were lots of strong skaters (way stronger then me) on this session, testing Bronze as me.

The weeks before the test I was working into building confidence and presenting. As I was hurt in March and lasted 6 months, I couldn't work on power and extension so I think that made me look a little hesitant. But I felt good and confident the day of the test. Now the test was at 6 pm and while I wasn't nervous I was a little tired from all this holiday preparations. I went half an hour earlier and skated on a public session for 15 minutes. It was crowded and the ice was bad but I've got my knees and ankles soft and I put in some 3 turns and the mohawk. As our session began I found out I was in the first group.

As I stepped on the ice I found myself holding my breath as the teenagers started to warm up fast as the wind. They were all doing the power crossovers. My first thought was "Don't get intimidated...." but as I was watching them, I realized "I can do this...". This power crossovers pattern I prepare for my MITF test and my coach said it's good enough to test, so I let myself go as fast as they went, well, maybe not as fast as them, but fast. And I felt great! Then I warmed up my backward skating as I couldn't in the public session. Then, I was ready to put a solo pattern in and that felt good. There was no music playing, maybe it was for the best, why?, read here. And here is my solo warm up.

As the waltz music was playing my coach partnered me and that felt good too. I was the second one to test. I wasn't nervous, maybe a little hyper. While waiting for the music my coach cracked a joke (like on the previous tests) to relax me. You can see me laughing just before starting (look at my left shoulder). I couldn't think of much during the test, usually, during practices, I could. I was on autopilot and before I knew it the 2 patterns were done. My coach said good job and ran to his next student. I couldn't think of anything that I did wrong. I thought it's gonna be a matter of having shown enough power, as I test standard not adult track. When I've got the test form the only suggestion from the judge was to extend the extensions. I passed with one point over the passing average.  I'll take it!

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I usually skate Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That's 4 sessions a week, while last year I was skating 7, 8 sessions a week. I would have the time to skate more, but I felt it was best to let the hip injury heal. At the beginning of the month the rink was closed for renovation, then there was just public ice on Veterans day and around Thanksgiving. So I was skating even less and that translates in less progress...

Ice Dancing: I had 3 private lessons (my private lesson is on Thursday and I lost 2 lessons because of the ice schedule). We worked exclusively at the Willow Waltz as I want to test it. And we decided to register for the December 23rd test session. That is an hour session that goes after the Ice Dancing group lessons 2 months classes to allow the students to test what they've learnt. It covers just up to bronze dances. I love these sessions as they are less pressure then the 3 hours long sessions. So, I was ready to test this dance in March (and I didn't test because I've got injured), and I was confident about it. Where did that confidence go? My coach says that my skills are improved, and I agree. I think that protecting the hip I lost the tension in my body that makes somebody look sure of themselves... I'll have to find it quickly...

MITF: I didn't work on these with my coach in months. Again, these Pre-Juvenile MITF were close to be ready for testing in March, when I couldn't work on power because of my injury. I occasionally ask him to see one move if I have questions. At some point I lost my backward circle eight so he helped me adjust the weight on my hip and I got it back.The power crossovers with inner edge he likes. On the power pulls I do well, except the the back ones on the hurt hip. But they are coming along. The 5 step Mohawk was always good. All it's left is the forward to backward 3-turn... And I do them fine! Except when I try to put a little speed in them. I think again it's about not tensing my body enough. I tried to have my coach look at them and I did way worse then I do on my own. He couldn't really correct anything because I was not doing them. Usually he corrects the timing as i was turning before reaching the middle of the lobe. The he always finds some weight over the hip adjustment. The only thing I could take away was to look up. I look down after the turn. I think the thing I need is that confidence back.... because honestly, I CAN do them.

Freestyle: This month I had 2 lessons with my new Freestyle coach. I described the Freestyle lessons here. Last lesson was about going faster and going bigger. When I hired him I thought I was going to like him, and I do like him even more than I expected. And here comes the BUT. I like all he is teaching me and I respond well to his instructions. And I agree I need eventually to know all these. BUT, I hired him to do a program for me, 2 moths ago. I want my program! I know I'm being childish, but am I? The program should be a Pre-Bronze one for testing, not competition. So it doesn't need more difficult skills than I already have. He brought up again the back power 3-turn, that are next level MITF. And while I can do them, I kind of don't want to work at them. I didn't do Freestyle in 2 years and I don't have allocated time in my week for it. I have to make room, so to take away time from dance and moves where I already feel I have less time than I want (like 8 sessions a week,  before injury). Now to be honest, each day on ice, I do have "I don't know what to work on" moments. So why wouldn't I work on the back power 3-turn. I'm definitely being childish, trowing a tantrum instead of working on things as an adult.

Last thing I'll mention is my hip pain. It is mostly good. I did hurt after jumping a whole session, but it went away during the long Thanksgiving weekend. I'm giving Thanks for that! Then I've fallen again on that side but I was wearing the gel hip pad, and while the fall hurt a little, I think it didn't add anything to the previous injury. Thanks for that too... Something new, I took a pilates class that is offered just after the ice time on Friday. It was my first time talking pilates and while I expected a good core workout (and sore muscles), I was surprised of how much it made me work the hip muscles too, so I may continue taking it. A physical therapist was also taking the class and she joined the conversation I was having with the instructor comparing yoga and pilates . They both consider that pilates is more beneficial as a core and hip strengthening and stabilizing exercise while cautioned me about the risk of injury if yoga is not done properly.

The plan for next month, if I feel no hip pain, is to skate Monday trough Friday and have 2 private lessons with my old coach, one Monday after my regular skate and one Thursday. That would give me more instruction for the dance I plan to test, plus would bring me to 5 and a half sessions of skating per week. BUT, if I feel any pain I plan to be on the cautious side and cut back on skating. As I'm registered to test the Willow Waltz I'll have to prioritize to work on it. The problem is that I need fairly empty ice to be able to put in the whole pattern and keep the beat. Usually the beginning of the sessions are emptier, so I'll have to work at the dance first.  The big disadvantage of this is that Ice Dancing makes my muscles tired because of the continuous bending and rising of the knee. That definitely affects my jumping negatively. But if I'm able to skate 5 1/2 sessions per week I'll have time to start incorporating some Freestyle in my training. I might not take any freestyle lessons, to keep the skating budget under control, or I'll go crazy and spend, thinking of it as a holiday gift...

How can an adult skater progress over a Beginner level and Warm up for beginners

There are many different categories of adult skaters. Each journey is somehow unique. Still, I would put in a special category the adults that skated as kids. They have a big advantage over skaters that started as adults in their comfort on ice and their ability lo learn skills...They do have their own specific challenges, like not being able to do everything they did as kids, and I'm sure many more that I'm not aware of. Then, there are the very young adults skaters. International competitions for adult skaters accept skaters over 28 years old. In USA the age is 21. These skaters that start in their 20s have a quick progress.

I want to talk more about skaters that start when they are older then 30 because that's me and that's what I know about. I started casually at 35 and approached it more seriously after 40. I heard when I started skating that adults stop progressing at the forward one foot spin or Freestyle 2 level. I almost did...

Beginner adults usually start with adult group lessons. And almost each time on ice we learn something new and we are amazed. We pass the basic skills in one, two years. And then is Freestyle, where everything slows down. We get bored, frustrated, unmotivated and we look at ourselves and we think that we don't look like much of a skater. Plus we see kids at our level that look better and we lose hope that we, as adults, can get there. I occasionally made up a missed group lesson in a kids group lesson, and they were different. In the adult class we were doing everything from standing still. In the kids class they were moving around. I also saw the same difference in private lessons. At least at my rink adults are treated like they could break and they are not asked to move. Adults are not allowed in the group MITF group class, but i was allowed in once as it wasn't full. It was an eye opener... there it was were kids learned to move around. Kids also run after each other, playing, adults don't really play... This difference in speed was also visible in competitions. Same level kids were way faster, even if they had worse posture, lesser extension and toe pointing. So adults were actually looking better, though the kids were making up for it by owning an enjoying the performance.

The point I'm trying to make is that, to transition from a beginner level one needs to start moving. In time, the speed you are comfortable skating with will increase, and that speed will help in making the edges more stable so it will give more control to everything. This increasing in speed will give a skater more power. The second thing that would help this transition is the awareness on how to keep your weight over your hips and feet, when your are skating edges on one foot. If you look at older posts, there are lots about edges. That's because I think skating it's all about edges. So you need to put some speed and depth into those basic edges.  I would say that you are not a beginner-beginner anymore if you are able to do the forward circle eight well. Use what I described as edge presses to transition from a beginner to an intermediate skater. And I would say you are not an advanced-beginner anymore (as I think I am) if you can do the backward circle eight well. That's something I'm thinking and I use as milestones to motivate myself :) And just for the record I can do the backward circle eight reasonable well! The edge that's holding me back is the LBI (left backward inside). I can do it well enough at low speed, but I hesitate when I go faster because I need a little longer to find the balance on that edge. And that affects all the skating skills that include that edge as for example the LBI 3turn...

 So really is not the forward one foot spin... Working on the spin for 5- 15 minutes each time you are on ice it's gonna make it happen, but it takes a long time. I was working at it for an hour each time I was on ice, and I don't think it made it come sooner. I just wanted to pass the level and that was the only element that wasn't passing... But I could have used that time better.

I have some suggestions on how to start moving. Firstly, each time when you step on ice do few lines of warm up. I see that all the advanced skaters do this. The meaning is to both warm up the muscles but also ease into feeling the ice and using the edges. Advanced skaters do for example forward and backward power crossovers, edge rolls, edge crosses, and all kinds of fast turns on the length of the ice. Read about my warm up here. For a beginner warm up I would suggest to do:
- forward/backward swizzles where you should concentrate to find where the weight should fall on your blade (back of your foot arch for forward skating, and front of your arch for backward skating). Also you can work on looking up, posture and balance, maybe hand movements.
- forward stroking, read about it here
- edges, trying to make them both more stable and faster. Do them forward and only if comfortable backward. But do work on the backward edges later maybe at the end of the rink... you need them stable and fast for the 3 turns and Mohawks.
- forward slalom where you should try to get into the ice.

The second thing I would suggest is to consider working consistently on MITF maybe with the goal of testing them. That will give your training structure and motivation. The first test asks for stroking, edges, spirals, crossovers and outside 3 turn, all at basic, beginner level. If you plan to compete in USFSA competitions you need these MITF tests and Freestyle tests anyway. MITF covers moves in both directions, covers lots of turns (3-turns, mohowks) and asks for power and speed.

The third suggestion is to put together a program and run it often. I don't have one yet but I think it would make me move with a different rhythm and maybe in a more personal way.

Having a program goes hand in hand with hiring a private coach lessons if you didn't already, because they do the choreography. A private coach I think would suggest what I just did before and would also push you to get it done. On the other hand a private coach will ask about your goals and customize the instructions towards reaching that goal. I feel that as a beginner I didn't really understand the possibilities.

The only other thing I would add is that skating twice a week is enough for when you are a  beginner-beginner. Over that level, I heard many skaters saying that skating twice a week maintains what skills you have. But if you want to learn new skills and to progress, you need more time on ice. To push from a beginner to an intermediate level I think you should skate 3 to 6 sessions per week. The more you skate, the more you'll progress!

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

So how did last month go?

Freestyle: I worked consistently on the back spin. I get now more then 3 rotations but at low speed and I always end up rocking back and forth on my blade. The corrections were:
- To to stay further back on the blade as I was on the front part of the ball of my foot touching the toe pic. I need to be on the ball of my foot but towards the arch and on the outside edge.
- Move the weight onto the skating hip, the axis of rotation is between the neck and right shoulder not the shoulder
- Lift the free hip
- Press into the ice while spinning, it seams that I'm lifting the upper body thinking that I press.

I didn't work much on the scratch spin as is on the bad hip. It seams that I'm entering the spin somehow around, I do a full 3 turn, then I center. I need to shorten the second edge, the inside edge of the 3 turn and start spinning.
- Press the entry edge and transfer the weight onto the skating hip while turning the 3 turn
- Bring the free hand and leg around quicker
- Bring the free leg more towards front then to the side
- Cross the free foot over the knee, close the free hip and push the foot straight down

I didn't do jumping in the lessons and just a couple here and there on my own.

MITF: When testing, you have to have each element "good enough" for that level. And for this level (pre-juvenile) I just need more power. As I cannot work on power because of my hip, my coach gave me more corrections for making them more exact. I work on what I can... So more corrections on the 3 turns, like extensions of the free leg. I was asked for a bigger backward circle eight and to not rush moving the arms on the inside circles. The secret for not falling out at the beginning of the inside edge while holding the back to the circle is to look inside the circle, over the shoulder. Backward power pulls are ok on my right leg but still wimpy on my left leg and I think it's because I unconsciously protect the hip, so I didn't push it. And we changed the extension on the back step on the 5 step Mohowk towards back, now that edge is longer so I need to make all of them longer.

Ice Dancing: They are right there where I left them 2 months ago. I'm relieved!

Off ice I did yoga once a week, better then nothing...

Goals for next month:

Freestyle: Keep working on the spins and start jumps in lessons. On crowded sessions I can work comfortably on spins and jumps compared with MITF or pattern dances.

 MITF: I don't feel motivated to work on them as I kind of think I have them. The next announced testing session at my rink is in November. But if there are requests, there may be one in August. I plan to think I'll test in August so I'll keep myself motivated. I cam warm up with the power ones  and also asses the hip status, then "work" later in the session on the 3 turns and circle 8.

Ice Dancing:  As always with the pattern dances, I have to hunt for emptier sessions  to work on them. But I don't want to make them a priority because I'm still not comfortable to fully hold the extensions. I feel can run trough everything but not "work" on them.

Keep up with yoga. It doesn't fit easily in my schedule but I feel amazing after.

My progress and tests I passed

The first five years of skating, my progress was very slow. I was talking  Freestyle group lesson and the first 2 years I didn't practice at all, later I started practicing  one hour per week. I realized, if I wanted more, I needed more practice time and a better, way better, technique. Just to be proven right about lacking technique, I hurt my left ankle. I stopped doing jumps and spins and as I didn't know MITF (Moves In The Field) exercises at that point, I was  just skating around. An older skater offered to teach me Ice Dancing pattern dances. Unfortunately she was teaching me mostly the steps in the pattern, not the skating basics technique (edges and turns), that is the foundation of ice dancing.

At this point I started some private lessons with a 17 years young lady that I knew from my Freestyle group classes asking her to teach me flow on ice.  She started me on MITF exercises. It was also the first time I went on practice ice, very crowded and intimidating, but eye opening about how young skaters train. Shortly, they take multiple group lessons (Freestyle, MITF and Ice Dancing) and at least one private lesson weekly,  and they practice every day. They are also in the syncro team  for their level, and they meet twice a week for that.

My young coach was a very accomplished ice dancer and she started teaching me a little of the basics. I also got into a Ice Dancing group lesson summer session, that was full during the rest of the year as it's a mandatory class for the syncro teams. The Ice Dancing class instructor was a national  medalist, amazing skater and very thoughtful teacher. Actually my young coach was her student. I did a couple of ice dancing private lessons with the Ice Dance instructor too. Then some private lessons with a young man that was her student, in order to skate the dances with a partner. It was an exciting time, I was discovering so much! It was also a humbling time, as I started to realize I basically didn't know anything about skating :( Then, in the fall both my young coach and young dance partner moved away.

A little over a year ago, in January 2017, I started lessons with my current coach. He is an experienced coach specialized in ice dancing and he also partners his students for ice dance tests.  I approached him asking to help me test the first 3 pattern dances. But I liked his very methodical approach and the fact that he also teaches MITF and Free Style, so I choose to have him as my only coach and to commit to a lesson per week. He first asked me about my goals. I said I wanted to skate better, of course... I wanted to look like the strong skaters I saw at the rink not in terms of jumps but I wanted their flow and confidence on ice. My coach said that that is called "power" and it's very difficult for an adult skater to get. We developed a lesson and training plan following the standard track testing for ice dance and MITF. The focus is in acquiring the knowledge for that level not to pass the tests. I've started to take 2 private lessons and skate 5 days a week. We tried to include FS but I wasn't able to find the time to train it methodically.

So here is were I stand:

Ice Dancing: 
Preliminary pattern dances ( Dutch Waltz, Canasta Tango, Rhythm Blues) standard, I passed in January 2017
Pre Bronze pattern dances (Cha Cha, Swing, Fiesta Tango), standard, I passed in March 2017
Bronze pattern dance Hickory Hoedown - passed in January 2018. I'm close in testing the remaining 2 dances at this level, when the injury will allow.
Bronze pattern dance Willow Waltz, standard, I passed in  December 2018 (update)
Ice dance is harder than it looks and than I expected. The thinks I'm working on continuously are edges and steps based on edges (chasses, progressives, swing rolls forward and backward), posture, speed and power, dance 3- turns and inside and outside mohawks.

MITF:
Pre-Preliminary, standard, I passed  in March 2017
Preliminary, standard - in November 2017.
I think I'm close in testing the third level, Pre-Juvenile, all the coach is asking is more power.
What this covers is stroking, edges, forward and backward crossovers in different presentations, forward and backward circle 8 edges,  all kinds of 3 turns, each test level asking for a better execution (forward outside and inside 3 turns, power forward outside 3 turns, backward outside and inside 3 turns), forward spirals on outside and inside edge, inside mohawks, power pulls.

Freestyle:
From my group lessons I'm confident in the forward pivot, shoot the duck, lunge... that's it.
With my private coach we covered a little  bunny hops, waltz jump, Salchow, half flip, forward one foot spin, forward scratch spin and we started the backspin.
Adult Pre-Bronze Freestyle test, I passedin March 2019 (update)