Test Recap Part 2: The Free Skate Episode

Immediately after finishing my Moves test, I skated to center ice to bow to the judge but before I could curtsy, she waved me off to get ready for the Free Skate. So yeah, I knew right away that I had passed because the judge gave me the go ahead to skate my program for the free skate. I didn't even have time to celebrate as I had to hurry and remove my club jacket and gloves and get in position for the free skate. Even though this is a separate video, it was literally like two minutes after my Moves test. I barely had enough time to compose myself. As a result, mistakes were made. It was a passing test but because of nerves and rushing to get into position, I didn't skate my best. I met all of the requirements for the test so it passed but I am not happy with it.

Everything started out well and I managed to get a good lunge in there but I ended my two foot spin facing the wrong direction and that threw me off. It took a few seconds to get oriented and remember where I was supposed to go so I missed the half flip and ensuing choreography. What you see in the video is a lame ass attempt at what was supposed to be a half flip followed by a bunch of backwards crossovers where the choreography should be. I finally got things back on track for the salchow. Honestly, I'm really surprised the judge didn't ask me to reskate the one foot spin at the end. It was definitely cheated. Also, I was kind of dizzy afterwards because it was difficult for me to hold that end pose for more than a second.

I was very disappointed with this program. After having skated it cleanly many times in practice leading up to the test, I'm really upset that I let nerves get the better of me when it really mattered most. In fairness, the judge didn't know that I missed 5-10 seconds of choreography, it just looked like I was doing the required backward crossovers. Also, Christopher added the half flip into the choeography as a sort of insurance policy in case something like this happened (that's why I pay him the big bucks. Forward thinking and all that). So, in the judges eyes, I skated a decent program and her comments reflect that but I'm still sad it didn't go as I had practiced. Here are her comments followed by my video: Nice feel for music, nicely centered two foot spin.