Scootie12's Practice Thread

[scootie12]

Hi everyone.

I know some posters here know me from MKF, where I'm a moderator and primarily post, but after checking out this forum on several occasions, I see that there are a lot of skaters here that are posting how their practices are going, etc. Therefore, I thought I should share my videos and skating experiences here too

Just to give all of you some background. I used to skate competitively for 10 years, and quit sometime around late 2001. I was skating full-time, going to college full-time, and working full-time. I was trying to fit in all of my commitments so I'd have a nice job out of college (with good work experience...hence working full-time), while also still trying to skate and possibly compete. During 2001, I finally felt burnt out and decided the skating had to stop. It was horribly difficult getting up 5 days a week at 3:45am to practice in the early morning hours before school.

Fast-forward 8 years later, and I still had the itch to get back on the ice and test out my skills. It was a fluke in a way because a friend and I were having a conversation one night, in late April 2009, and I told him since he was unhappy with work he needed to determine what his passions in life were, and then see if those are things that can translate into work. He then asked me what my passions were, and when I said skating, he asked "why not just skate?" He was right and I thought how silly I was to let the years pass by when I had a renewed desire to want to skate again.

So, in late June, I finally made the decision to get back on the ice. My goals were to get back into skating shape, get back to where I used to be and relearn the spins, and get my jumps back to a few triples, and then do AT LEAST one competition before I decide to stop again (not that I plan to stop this time around ).

Things have been going well for me so far. I've dealt with several muscle injuries since starting back, but nothing too horrible...just my body telling me I'm no longer 20 again .

I'm currently skating about 2 days a week, and a total of about 5 hours per week, so all things considered, I think I've made some great progress for the amount of time skating. I'm currently dealing with tendinitis in my groin/abdomen area, as well as some torn fibers in my left leg, so once I'm feeling better, my next goal is to get back a triple jump (probably the loop), and also have a consistent double axel. I plan to start doing the axels next week (hopefully...as long as my body feels better).

Oh, and I know some might ask. I was a Novice level skater when I quit. I thought I was Junior, but turns out Novice was my last testing, so I definitely plan on taking my tests to get through to Senior, but before that I'll determine what competitions I want to do. I'll definitely be skating in Adult events, but if I'm able to, I'd love to do a few "regular" events at the club level (yeah, call me crazy to compete against kids half my age, but I love a good challenge).

Here is a current listing of my youtube practice videos. I try to update weekly, as I enjoy having the video log, and it's also great having support from everyone, in addition to the critiques of what's good and not-so-good. I've been working on speed and attack since January, so it's a good way to focus on other things while my body heals itself . However, I still have a TON to work on to get back to where I used to be.

my youtube channel is: www.youtube.com/scootie12

Here's a listing of my videos:
Practice 03-13-10
Practice 03-03-10
Practice 01-23-10
Practice 01-19-10 (new skates break-in)
Practice 01-06-10
Practice 01-02-10 (spins in new skates)
Practice 12-31-09 (first day in new skates)
Practice 12-05-09
Practice 10-17-09 (spins and double jumps)
Practice 09-05-09 (rebuilt boots)
Practice 08-29-09 (first double lutz attempt since return)
Practice 08-26-09
Practice 08-15-09 (first double salchow attempts since return)
Practice 07-18-09 (first axel and double loop attempts since return)
Day 1: 06-27-09 (first day back in 8 years)


There are other videos but I didn't link all of them.

I'll try to post consistently as I do video updates.

[LLOS]

You are doing great! Good luck with your practice!

....just my body telling me I'm no longer 20 again

No, but 25 you only do 5 hours a week? I do 6-7 and I'm not 20 either as I started 3 years ago I also had a couple of injuries, I guess thats normal, now there is nothing anymore. Here is my YT channel if you like to see me http://www.youtube.com/user/Petraskater I'm just an adult skater that started as an adult...

[scootie12]

You are doing great! Good luck with your practice!


No, but 25 you only do 5 hours a week? I do 6-7 and I'm not 20 either as I started 3 years ago I also had a couple of injuries, I guess thats normal, now there is nothing anymore. Here is my YT channel if you like to see me http://www.youtube.com/user/Petraskater I'm just an adult skater that started as an adult...

Thanks!! Practices are getting better, and now that I have my new skates, I'm feeling more confident. The old boots I had were my ones from 2001, and they were for triples/quads, and were very stiff. My new skates are for doubles/triples and feel super comfortable. I guess boot technology has come a LONG way in 8 years, which is great to see. This was actually my first pair of boots that weren't painful to break-in.

I just hope once my injuries heal I can start skating all-out and really refine everything. I also really want to push myself back into triple jumps. I think I still have it in me to do them consistently.

Your skating looks good. Glad you picked up the sport. There are so many options too for adult skaters that I think it makes it enjoyable at all levels.

PS - I wish I was 25...I'm 29

[orbitz]

Your skating looks good. Keep up the practicing !

[ltnskater]

Thanks!! Practices are getting better, and now that I have my new skates, I'm feeling more confident. The old boots I had were my ones from 2001, and they were for triples/quads, and were very stiff. My new skates are for doubles/triples and feel super comfortable. I guess boot technology has come a LONG way in 8 years, which is great to see. This was actually my first pair of boots that weren't painful to break-in.

I just hope once my injuries heal I can start skating all-out and really refine everything. I also really want to push myself back into triple jumps. I think I still have it in me to do them consistently.

Wow! Lookin good, would love to see those double axels and triples sometime Funny thing about the boots, the first time I had a serious ankle injury was because I tried double axels in boots that were for max. for double flips! Then I jumped up the stiffness in my new boot (hard to break in!), it's been awhile, but coming back from not skating for a month was hard, watching you coming back after 8 years! just phenomenal and inspirational,

Keep us posted!

[Spazactaz]

I like your jump technique for the most part. Also looking forward to the double axels. :p

[scootie12]

I went to my physical therapist today, and full-on therapy starts next week. His opinion is that my tendons in my left abdominal area/groin are inflamed, and that I need a few weeks of therapy to strengthen the area. I've been dealing with this nagging "injury" for a little while, in addition to the leg muscle injury, which is healing up. I feel fine on jumps, but it's spins, like the death drop, that affect me the most, so basically no spins for the next few weeks.

I feel comfortable enough to start working on double axels tomorrow. I have been lucky enough to land all of my first double attempts pretty cleanly, but I have a feeling the double axel will be more of a challenge since it's 2.5 revolutions, and the torque on the jump is tighter and faster than the other doubles. I did try one back in December, and did it pretty well, but fell on the landing.

Wish me luck that I do them, and do them well Getting back my double axel is one of my main goals since returning to skating. My next is to get back at least one triple...the loop...and also compete.

Hopefully a video update will be on it's way


Oh, and constructive criticism always welcomed. I realize I'm not nearly where I used to be, but I'm constantly working to correct my technique and look on the ice. The videos definitely help, and if you look back on the older ones, you can definitely see what I've cleaned up so far.

Wow! Lookin good, would love to see those double axels and triples sometime Funny thing about the boots, the first time I had a serious ankle injury was because I tried double axels in boots that were for max. for double flips! Then I jumped up the stiffness in my new boot (hard to break in!), it's been awhile, but coming back from not skating for a month was hard, watching you coming back after 8 years! just phenomenal and inspirational,

Keep us posted!

Many thanks! My current skates are SP-Teri KT-2 boots...incredibly comfortable despite others telling me they are too stiff. I used to have SP-Teri Advantage boots back in 2001, which were the stiffest possible boots, and I'm happy I'm not using them any longer, especially since I'm not back to triples yet. Those boots were too rigid and stiff, and even when I used them just a few months ago, my ankles were in a lot of pain.

I'm glad to inspire. That's part of the reason I've been sharing my story about returning to the ice. I never doubted I could at least do double jumps, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started this.

The only difficult part has been the minor issues with muscles, tendons, etc. I haven't felt perfectly fine in a while, but it's rare for any skater to feel absolutely perfect 24/7.

I like your jump technique for the most part. Also looking forward to the double axels. :p

Thanks.

[kayskate]

Xlt posture and flow out of jumps. Your singles have lovely float and spring. I also really like the air you get on your flying spins. Well done and best wishes for your practices.

Kay
www.skatejournal.com

[Doubletoe]

I love my KT-2's and am on my second pair! With these boots, SPTeri really addressed all of the issues with boot break-in while keeping the stiffness required.

BTW, if you ever start to suspect that your physical therapist isn't quite understanding how you use your body skating, PM me and I will give you the contact info for mine (she's on Robertson, near Olympic). She is a skater herself, so she knows which muscles we use, how we use them, and what the causes of these injuries are. She even came onto the ice with me once to see how I was getting into my sitspins and advised me on how to reduce the stress on my knee while getting low enough. She saved me (and several other skaters I know) from PT's who were giving us the wrong exercises and just making things worse!

[scootie12]

Hi All:

Sorry for the lack of practice updates. I just haven't had too many practices filmed, and I've had a lot of great ones in the last month.

My leg is now about 90% healed, and I just started working back on spins. Surprisingly, after not doing them for over a month, I felt like I never missed a beat. I just won't do any death drops until I'm 100% as that hurt the groin the most because of the kick out of the leg.

Jumps and combinations have been going well (mainly doing double loops after every jump), and double axel practices, when I've done them, have been decent. I'm really hoping to post a FULL update (MITF, jumps, spins, etc) very soon.

Anyway, here's a very bad video update from my 5am practice today. I was skating slow, and just felt "off" the entire morning. My body just felt like I wasn't *quite* in the right positions, and I just wasn't skating with any attack.

So be kind...I'm actually a little embarrassed to post this LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX8eM-iQAQ0

[Firefly123]

Very nice jumps!!

Love to see adults doing 2-2 combos!!

Can't wait to see 2axel!!! (But heal up first.)

5 a.m. Wow!! Don't think I could manage forward crosscuts that early much less any doubles.....

[orbitz]

Looking good. Do you do 2toes? I've always had trouble with that jump when I was skating, so I'm always interested to see how others do them.

[Simone411]

Hi, scootie12! It's me ... your pal, IceSkate98, from MKF. I'm so glad you started sharing your videos here!

I'm so glad your leg is better. From what I could tell by looking at the last video, you're not as stiff and your posture has improved a lot. I know that has to do with the physical therapy and I'm glad it's working for you.

Even though you felt "off" it looked like to me that you're moving more freely with the combination jumps. I'm looking forward to watching your next video!

Thanks for sharing! Hugs!

[scootie12]

Very nice jumps!!

Love to see adults doing 2-2 combos!!

Can't wait to see 2axel!!! (But heal up first.)

5 a.m. Wow!! Don't think I could manage forward crosscuts that early much less any doubles.....

Thanks. Other than the first double flip (which was slow) I wasn't too pleased with my jumps, but that's me nitpicking everything as usual.

Looking good. Do you do 2toes? I've always had trouble with that jump when I was skating, so I'm always interested to see how others do them.

Thanks! I can do all of my double jumps fine up through the double axel, which is my next goal in this comeback to the ice. The double toe is one of my least favorite jumps, but I do them. I actually do them better now than I did back in 2001 when I quit and could do some triples ha.

Funny because it's considered an easy jump and I've never liked it. That's why I always did double loops in combination when I did competitions.

Here's the only double-toe I have on film, which is a bad one when I started relearning them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0PtyzGqgQc
(exact referenced part in video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0PtyzGqgQc&#t=2m22s

Hi, scootie12! It's me ... your pal, IceSkate98, from MKF. I'm so glad you started sharing your videos here!

I'm so glad your leg is better. From what I could tell by looking at the last video, you're not as stiff and your posture has improved a lot. I know that has to do with the physical therapy and I'm glad it's working for you.

Even though you felt "off" it looked like to me that you're moving more freely with the combination jumps. I'm looking forward to watching your next video!

Thanks for sharing! Hugs!

Hey! Thanks for the comments! I figured I should post on this forum too since there are a number of skaters on here that share their progress on the ice.

I am feeling much better...still a bit of strain, but not too bad at this point. I finally got back to being able to work on spins again, which is good since I had to abandon them for over a month. Luckily I've been doing them very well, which was a surprise in a way, since I didn't do any for so long.

I hope to get some more clips from my weekend practice. I'm debating whether or not to start back up on the double axel. It's bothering me that I don't have it back yet, so we'll see how I feel Saturday morning

[Simone411]

That sounds great. Hope it goes well Saturday morning!

[scootie12]

Saturday morning practice went well. I spent my entire lesson with my coach working on spins since I'm able to do them again. We spent a lot of time doing back camels into back sits, and then into forward sits. I also worked on death drops, which felt great, and just doing as many change spins as possible in one try....aka: forward spin into back spin and then back to a foward spin...repeat as much as possible...it's pretty helpful in trying to stay centered and balanced.

I also worked on combos, but decided not to try double axels. I'll wait until I work with my coach again to do them, and I also need a little more time off-ice to make sure I can rotate and land on one foot before doing on the ice. My body is still used to doing two revolutions, that I need to retrain it to hold on for another half turn. I can easily rotate, but it's just making sure I train myself to do 2.5 turns instead.

Anyway, I've got a fun video to share. I'm just going to copy over what I wrote on my MKF thread.

So we all had to start somewhere, right? After holding onto this video I capped a long while ago, I've finally decided to edit and post on youtube so I can share with the rest of you.

This is a video of me during my first day skating. I had followed the sport for about a year, and was rooting for Kristi at the Olympics. After seeing both Kristi and Victor win golds that year, I finally wanted to try it myself since I thought the jumps looked so cool. I guess the rest is history, lol. While I wish I had some video from 2001 before I quit, I at least have the ones I've posted since returning to the ice. I might not have everything back that I used to be able to do, but I think the basics are still there.

Anyway, enjoy the stroll down memory lane: the cheesy 1992 styles, my curly hair, the ugly rink that I skate at on Saturdays that looks even worse in this video, and me doing a smoking hot 3-jump combination LOL. If anyone can tally the scores and GOE, I'd greatly appreciate it. Maybe I knew CoP would be in place one day in the future


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBFGmLO2sGk

Enjoy!!!

[Firefly123]

That was your first day on skates?????!!!!!

OMG, you were awesome (Most people, even kids, just try to stand up!!!)

I think I managed to go backwards the first day I wore roller skates, and I thought that was good.... ...But I didn't try to jump or anything. What a little daredevil!!!

[Simone411]

Wow! I have to agree Firefly123. The jumps you attempted to make were great and you were awesome! I'm just amazed that you didn't fall. Thanks so much for sharing the video!

[scootie12]

That was your first day on skates?????!!!!!

OMG, you were awesome (Most people, even kids, just try to stand up!!!)

I think I managed to go backwards the first day I wore roller skates, and I thought that was good.... ...But I didn't try to jump or anything. What a little daredevil!!!

Yes it was and thanks! Guess I figured I was meant to be on the ice if I could stand up. Funny how I was daring, and somehow did a decent toe-loop without ever being in skates lol.

Wow! I have to agree Firefly123. The jumps you attempted to make were great and you were awesome! I'm just amazed that you didn't fall. Thanks so much for sharing the video!

Thanks! I surprise myself sometimes

[LLOS]

Very cute your first video! I look awful in my first video well I don't have a first time video but a 7th time video, it is so embarrassing that I wouldn't show it but the difference is I started as adult...and I noticed kids are not afraid to try anything on ice....