Spin Help -- Please!

[JessicaLynn]

Hi everyone, I am attempting to learn my first spin ever - the two foot spin. Sometimes I spin, sometimes I fall, sometimes I create a pile of snow. Grr, I need help!

My questions are:

1) What part of the blade are you actually supposed to be spinning on? Is the weight equally distributed between the two feet, or is one dominant? (I notice my left foot seems to hold more weight and my right is slightly off the ice) (I am guessing that the scraping sound and the snow I create sometimes is NOT a proper spin)

2) How do you attempt to keep a spin centered? On the spins that were actually good enough to have consistant tracings, I noticed I traveled VERY far in some of them.

3) I have heard that the main purpose of a two foot spin is to learn balance and position to transition into one foot spinning. If so, are there certain things I should be keeping in mind to make the transition from two- to one- foot easier?

I welcome ANY spin advice at all you can give!

Spins are the main reason why I started lessons and I am determined to be a GREAT spinner! (I hope!) 8-)

[Debbie S]

Generally, in a 2-foot spin, your weight will be evenly distributed between the 2 feet. Make sure you are standing straight and not leaning in either direction. My coach always reminds me in upright spins to keep my hips and shoulders square over my feet. To get the spin more centered, try bending your knees a bit while you spin. Actually, your knees should be bent to get into the spin - try to stay on bent knees. As you get better at spinning, you'll be able spin well with your knees fully straight (once you get into the spin, that is).

Try pressing your weight to the ball of your foot, but make sure you don't lean forward - this is probably what's causing you to spin on your toe picks, creating the snow effect. Hence the need to keep your upper body straight. In a 1-foot spin, you will spin on a shallow inside edge on your spinning foot. If you rotate CCW (like most people), you will spin on your left foot and if you rotate CW, you'll spin on your right. When you learn backspins, you'll spin on the opposite foot.

Good luck with your skating!

[dbny]

You can pigeontoe very slightly to help stabilize the spin. After you are more confident, your feet should be slightly offset, with the ball of your L foot (for CCW spinners) at the arch of the R foot.

[slusher]

Think of trying to push the ball of your foot down into the ice. You are making a tracing into the ice, not sliding around the top of it. There should be a slight toe pick tracing on the spin, it will look like 2 lines around and around and around. Suck in your tummy, keep your head up and butt under and that will center you more. Bonus point, the more centered you are, the less dizzy it is. Practice 1000 times. Try to learn the spin from the 3 turn entry right from the beginning, the method of 2 foot - pick up 1 foot doesn't teach the snap and pull in very well.

[vesperholly]

You should have more weight on your dominant foot, if you are spinning CCW that is your left foot. If you can spin with almost all your weight on that side, with the right foot more as a training wheel, you can probably start to work on one-foot spins.

When I do two-foot spins, my right foot (which would be the free foot in a 1-foot spin) is slightly forward and spinning near the heel. I push off from a pivot-type position but without the toe pick in the ice, and the right foot goes from a pushed out to slightly in front. I noticed this because in a 1-foot spin, your free foot is slightly in front of the axis.

What I mean by axis is: stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Now put all your weight on your left foot but don't lean, keep your shoulders even. Shift your right foot forward about 4-5 inches. Now it is "off-axis" but this is the proper open spinning position before you wrap the free leg around the skating leg to speed up into a scratch spin.

This will be the next step after you learn a one-foot spin with your free foot held in closely to your spinning foot. It's physically impossible to do a two-foot spin that mimics both the forward and backwards spin, because the free hip is forward in both those positions.

Centering just takes time. Sometimes my scratch spins travel, and I've been skating for 10 years! :-)

[JessicaLynn]

Thanks everyone for all your advice! I will let you know if they improve! :)

[Isk8NYC]

Okay, so I'm late with my reply. It's summer and I'm trying to finish six house projects before I go south for a party.

You asked what part of the blade is used for spinning. On a two-foot spin, most people use the inside edges of their skates. (A one-foot typically uses the inside edge, too.)

Before you put on your skates, look at your blade. It's not flat, there's a curve that runs from the heel to the toe pick. To really master spinning (I love it, too!) you have to find the "spin spot" on that curve. Here's how:
Put on your skates and find some ice.
Stand on your toepicks and twist both feet back and forth.
The blades will grind the ice and make a hole.
Keeping your heels on the ice, twist both feet back and forth.
The blades start to scrape up snow.
Now, stand on your toepicks and come down toward the
heel while you twist.
At the "spin spot," there is no grinding or scraping.
It's usually under the ball of your foot.

I've found that lifting my toes inside my skates keeps me on that spot to spin. You're going to travel until your feet are strong enough to hold the boot steady and center the spin, so practice, practice, practice!

Good luck and happy spinning!

[Justine_R]

Your weight should be the same on both feet therefore you can be centered.
You are traveling because maybe you are not standing up right or maybe one of your shoulders is leaning down.

Try to stand up in a fully striaght and bring your arms in like a big beach ball, then check your postion.

Dont look down it will cause you to fall and make you VERY dizzy if it is your first time.
Also don't worry if you can only get around once or twice the first few times you do this spin, that is because your body needs to get used to the movement and will eventually get used to it.