Because the end patterns favor your natural direction. Try flipping them around and see how that works for you.
Why do you assume that I never skate around the rink CW? My coach has been working with me on some "full ice" patterns to build speed and confidence and the pattern for toe loops and flips has me going CW around the end of the rink (complete with two CW turns). The beginning of that pattern (fw crossovers, mohawk, etc) is essentially the same as I would follow if I were to skate most of the moves patterns CW around the rink. I haven't had any problems skating that pattern - where I have problems is actually jumping since everything in me says "no, don't do it, you're going too fast!!" (though the more I do it, the easier that is getting though).
And don't imply I don't put energy into fixing them- that's just plain rude. I've been working for years to improve my end patterns. For me they are flat out harder than anything on the silver test other than the 8-step mohawk in my bad direction. That cannot possibly be the intention.
I'm NOT trying to say that you (or anyone else) hasn't worked hard on them (or isn't still)... what I am saying is that if it were me, I'd keeping working on it until it got better. I'm not suggesting that you aren't, I'm just stating that it is the obvious solution because the improvement isn't going to just happen magically, it does take time. You say you struggle with the 8 step too, so clearly it isn't "just" an end-pattern thing for you, and it has to do with turning CCW.
I can understand that turning is harder in the direction that isn't natural for you, but everyone deals with that - I still do, back 3's scare me more CW than CCW, though curiously I can do the backwards CW brackets easier than the 3's. CW twizzles make me super dizzy, while most of the more basic turns aren't a problem any more.. I know that the twizzles (in terms of being so disorienting) will only get better the more I work on them, so I work on my "bad" side more than the easy one. I had never done any twizzles at all until a few months ago and it's going to be a looooong time before I test them, but it's the time I spend on them now that will make a difference later. If I waited until intermediate to even think about twizzles, I'd sure be in a world of hurt by the time I got there because the CW ones would seem impossible and I'd probably be stuck on that test for a long time because they don't come that easily for me. Hopefully when I get past prelim and pre-juv and juvenile moves, the twizzles will be easy, because by then I will have spent a *lot* of time working on them. If they don't, then I will simply keep working on them until they are.
Sarahspins, I can see where you're coming from, but there is one thing you might be forgetting - skaters who learn as adults have likely never before done any form of exercise which forces bi-rotational ability. The younger a person is when they start overcoming rotational bias, the less ingrained that bias will be in later life.
Okay, but reality is that I only started skating (as a teenager) a few years ahead of some of the skaters posting in this thread. I didn't skate as a little kid and I never did anything that forced bi-rotational ability (I played tennis off and on in middle school, and that's pretty much it as far as sports went). I knew right away when I started skating that I was a CCW skater.. spinning was just so much easier that direction. That preference didn't stop me from working on turns in both directions because I think when I was first learning there was a LOT of emphasis put on being able to do them all both directions, and we weren't really given an opportunity to "favor" a side. Maybe why I don't get it is because I skate with adult-onset skaters who don't seem to have as strong of a rotational bias for turns as I see being posted here. What I mean is beyond simply preferring one direction, but flat out saying that they find the other direction almost impossible. That's what I was asking about - I want to understand where that statement comes from, and
I do think I understand it better now. One thing to consider, though: if the existing Adult-track moves tests were split apart, you'd have to pay for more test sessions. That *might* be offset by a lower failure rate, saving time, money and discouragements.
I agree, though if a shorter test (3 or 4 elements) carried a smaller test fee, it would probably work out better for most people than failing and retaking a test several times if they were hung up on ONE element and the others were fine.