Silver Relief

Today, my lucky numbers are 16.4, 16.5 and 16.6. Those were my passing scores on my silver moves test! A 16.2 is passing, so let me assure you, I am very pleased!

I didn't expect to feel so relieved but I was so happy and relaxed that I was halfway home from the rink before I realized that I'd never turned on the car stereo and had been singing to myself in the car. (I kept singing "Yellow Submarine" and I have no idea why--maybe because it poured today?)

But yes, I am relieved. Partly because it's nice to pass, and partly because it's a contrast to last time. A month ago, I went to the test and when it was over, I had to go back to work on the same test. It's so nice to actually have it over with this time!

Before I went out to test, Coach told me that he was thrilled with the panel. That didn't necessarily make me feel any better. What if I failed with an optimal panel? Afterwards, I could see what he meant by the scores I received. I definitely skated a better test than last time. My 3 turn edges were more consistent. I soared through my outside spirals and didn't come close to touching down on the inside ones. But it wasn't a perfect test. I wanted to cringe at how noisy my 8-step and back cross strokes were and I felt like I skidded a lot of my 3s. And the judges noticed, but they still passed me. Here's the comments, with some of my own (parenthetical) commentary added in.

Eight-step mohawk sequence:
2.7 - timing is good -or cadence- a bit heavy footed.
2.8 - Quickness, flow and strength nice. A bit noisy.
2.7 - nice rhythm. continuous flow. Steps were a little choppy, but overall ok.
(last time, more than one judge called it "rushy". No sign of that here.)

Fwd & bkwd free skating cross strokes:
2.8 - good deep edges - moves down the ice
2.7 - For: Ok-could use knees more. Back: Same as forward-use knees (this judge is an ice dancer)
2.8 - Good strength and flow. nice posture.
(hey! At least no one said anything about noisiness!)

FO-BI three-turns in the field:
2.8 - Turns clean. edge quality good. Well done.
2.8 - Nice 3s and edges. Nice and steady.
2.7 - Nice extension and control overall. edge quality on RFO side was good. LFO started strong, but as you increased your speed, the quality went down. (I find this comment very interesting and very observant. And, I got faster!)

FI-BO three-turns in the field:
2.6 - Rt inside 3s are scraped. Not clean edge to edge turn. All other turns okay. (I would have expected this comment about the LFI, not the RFI. Also, this was my only below passing mark on the WHOLE TEST!)
2.7 - OK. Right BO some loss of control at times.
2.7 - Overall ok. good extension. edge quality on both sides started strong, but weaker towards the end.

Consecutive outside & inside spirals:
2.7 - O: very good. I: transitions a bit wobbled but overall OK.
2.8 - Lovely spirals. Some loss of control on inside spirals after the spiral.
2.8 - FO - very nice. good control and extension. FI - off/on with balance, but did a good job trying to control the edge quality
(on my last test, nobody passed this move.)

Forward & backward power change of edge pulls:
2.8 - good
2.7 - OK. edges could be deeper (I think I could have done deeper if my edges had been sharper)
2.9 - good job - overall good flow and strength
(Imagine! Once upon a time, I considered these my weakest move on the test.)

16.4
16.5
16.6

And now, with a big sigh of relief, I'm off to skate another day!