Good News/Bad News

I always like bad news first that way I can be cheered up somewhat with the good news. Here goes:

Bad News - I'm broken. Well, I've been broken for a while. My left hand was seriously injured in a car accident 16 years ago and since then I have developed some really bad arthritis in my left thumb joint. I went to the orthopedist and they are going to do surgery to fuse the thumb joint to relieve the pain I'm experiencing. I scheduled the surgery for the week after the Colorado Springs Invitational so I don't have to miss the competition. I'll be in a cast for about 6 weeks following the surgery (I think I'll choose pink this time!) and then I'm not sure if they'll want me to do anything like PT after that. I asked the Doc if I could still skate with the cast on and he said "sure, if you can figure out a way to tie your skates with one hand." So, yeah, I guess I won't be skating. I haven't told my coach yet. I know he depends on the money from lessons to support his family and I'm worried about telling him that he'll essentially be losing me as a student for 2-3 months. We finally got me back up to speed since my last injury and now this. I'm really disappointed. Like, a lot. I feel like he might be disappointed as well :(

Good News - Well, that was depressing now wasn't it? The good news is that the USFSA has made some updates to their Rule Book and one of those updates concerns Adult Bronze Free Skate Tests. Previously, those who took the Bronze FS Test were required to do two spins - a back spin and a sit spin in a recognizable position, meaning the skating leg had to be parallel to the ice. With my previous injury, the best I can do is bend the skating leg into a squat but no further. I kinda always felt like that would be a barrier to ever passing the Bronze FS test. NOW....one just needs to perform two spins of a different character. I wouldn't even need to include a sit spin if I didn't want to but, if I did, they relaxed the rules a bit to state "For this test, if a skater performs a sit spin or a camel spin, the spin must be in a recognizable position but does NOT need to achieve a basic position as defined in Rule 6103 (A)." That means if I do a sit spin, it just has to resemble one but doesn't need to be parallel. I'll probably just choose not to do one at all since I have that option now. I can do a back spin and a camel if I want :)

So, I've scheduled the surgery so that I will have enough time to recover before Midwestern Sectionals. Luckily, it's my hand and not another body part that is important to skating. I'll probably wear a brace for a while once I return to the ice just to be careful. Since it's not leg stuff, it shouldn't take too long to get my skills back once I return to the ice. It's inconvenient for sure, though, and I'm not excited about this set back. But that's all it is - a set back. It's not the end of things :)

For reference, I have updated the links on the right-hand side of this blog to include the 2019 version of the rule book. Adult pre-bronze test/competition rules are under rule 6561 and bronze test/competition rules are under rule 6551. They've included both old and new rules so, if you are referencing this document, just be sure you are looking at the right ones (if you are competing/testing prior to September 2, 2018 you want the old rules but after that you want the new).