Mock Test

 Lesson today! I expressed once again to Christopher how unprepared I have been feeling lately about this upcoming test. He suggested we do a mock test today to see where I'm at. I made him promise not to sugar coat anything in regards to his scoring. I want full honesty. I need to know where I stand. 

Eight Step Mohawks: This is my worst move mostly because the bad side outside mohawk is so noticeably bad. I knew he would not be kind on this one. Christoper's score = -2

Forward and Backward Cross Strokes: Did you hear that? That's the sound of every single one of my forward cross strokes ripping through the ice! I was pretty proud of that. No rips on the backward strokes though. Christopher's score = -1 (damn)

FO-BI 3 Turns: Not bad. I didn't have a foot down! Woot! Christopher's score = 0

FI - BO 3 Turns: Not as bad as they have been. I didn't have a foot down but I knew my lobes coming out of the LBO turn were wonky. Christopher's score = -1

Spirals - Weeee! This is my best move. Christopher's score = +2

Forward and Backward Power Pulls: These feel comfortable but they still don't have a lot of power. The backward pulls are clearly better than the forward pulls. Christopher's score = -1

Total = -3 (Retry)

He allowed me to reskate my Power Pulls and, since I did a bit better the second time, I was able to bring my total score up to a -2 but that is still not good enough to pass. My only reassurance here is that I know he scores hard and he told me that while my Eight Step Mohawks aren't my best move, he has seen standard level skaters pass with worse. Here's the thing though. Even though I didn't pass the mock test. I think I can maybe squeak out a pass on test day. He said he would have given me a +3 on my spirals but my inside spirals were not as good as my outside spirals so that would have been an extra point to bring me up to -1. Also, I could have gotten one more point on my FI-BO turns if I would have made my lobes less wonky on my LBO. I think I can fix that as well and that extra point would bring me up to a 0, which is passing. The Power Pulls have potential to pass as well if I remember to do a couple of things - cross my free leg in front and mind my arms on the forward pulls. At the adult level they should have power, yes, but if not power then at least they should look good. 

So, I think I'm going to do this after all. My calm from yesterday carried over to today and it really helped. I think if I can make some small improvements and remember to stay calm and trust my skills, I might have a chance. He reminded me that I only need 2/3 of the judges to pass me. I'm at the point where I know the test but just need to employ some small adjustments to make it good enough to get me a pass