What are brackets?

[*JennaD*]

Hey!

I was wondering...what are figure skating brackets? I've heard lots of people talking about them at my rink but I still have no clue what they are!

Thanks!

-Jenna

[Casey]

They're similar to 3-turns but instead of turning into the circle, you turn to the outside of it. So instead of leaving something looking like a 3 on the ice where the point of the turn is pointing towards the center of the circle, a bracket leaves that point pointing outwards.

See http://sk8stuff.com/f_recog/recog_turns_1_foot.htm

[Debbie S]

I'm probably not going to explain this the best way (hopefully, some of our Gold/Int MIF skaters will chime in), but a bracket is just like a 3-turn (change of direction and edge but no change of foot) but the turn is done in the opposite direction, away from the "circle" - basically against your body's momentum. For example, an FI bracket is a turn from the FI edge to BO edge, just like a 3-turn, but instead of turning inward, you turn outward. Sorry if it's a bit confusing - I've never practiced them, only watched others.

[icedancer2]

On the ice, a bracket will make a tracing that looks something like this:

{

If you were doing the bracket going down the page, so to speak, you might start on a forward inside edge going into the turn, as others have said, make the turn and ride out of the turn on a back outside edge.

If that makes any sense... -- ask someone to show one to you.

Oh I long for the days when people still knew what figures looked like! :cry:

[luna_skater]

It looks like this: { :)

Brackets are tricky because they require good balance and a quick reversing motion. It's easy to accidentally change your edge right before the turn, so it ends up more like a rocker. You have to remain really still to the point of the turn, have quick knee action and shoulder-reverse to execute the turn, and then remember to bend afterwards as well.

[icedancer2]

We posted at the same time -- lots of strong checking, thats for sure!!

[icecatepairs]

um...i've passed gold mif and am testing inerm. soon and i'm sorry to say i really have no idea what a true bracket is... :oops: .um something about benny ears ...ask frank r ..he has to draw me translation pictures on tuesday nights after our lessons wioth edward the moves nazi!!! :bow: good luck

[NoVa Sk8r]

Here's a quick primer on 1-foot turns:
http://www.sk8stuff.com/f_recog/recog_turns_1_foot.htm

[stardust skies]

Brackets are, in two words, YOUR FRIEND. They're pretty much the only MITF (aside for 3-turns, obviously..) that I don't hate. Counters? Kill them. Rockers? Set them on fire. I like my brackets, they're nice and simple once you get the hang of them. Learn to love them, because it really goes downhill from there.

As far as the technical aspect of them...I think everyone else did a really good job explaining.

[TashaKat]

I love brackets too :) I like rockers as well though but then I LOVE the Rocker Foxtrot :)

[MannyisHOT]

they're RETARDED! ;) i hate them

[*JennaD*]

Thanks everyone!!

[Mrs Redboots]

BI brackets, I reckon, are a lot easier than BI3s!

There are 32 different 1-foot turns.... I wonder if anybody can do all of them? I certainly can't!

[phoenix]

Ugh, not for me. I don't mind BI 3's but I hate BI brackets! There's nothing to rotate off of. I twist way up before doing them & then get yelled at because you're supposed to just do the turn by beginning w/ a deep knee bend then rising over the turn. Yah, right! :frus:

[FrankR]

um...i've passed gold mif and am testing inerm. soon and i'm sorry to say i really have no idea what a true bracket is... :oops: .um something about benny ears ...ask frank r ..he has to draw me translation pictures on tuesday nights after our lessons wioth edward the moves nazi!!! :bow: good luck

Hey there Tara!

Moves nazi, huh? :lol: Wait until I tell Edward. :twisted: Regarding the brackets, the link provided by NoVa and Casey is actually pretty good about explaining the difference between turns and the mechanics involved in the various turns. In the pattern that Tara mentioned (Adult Gold and Intermediate), you have to do both outside edge and inside edge brackets and you have to do them on both feet. Our moves teacher has a very specific philosophy about how the pattern should look and where each bracket should go and thus the need for visual aids. The reference to bunny ears relates to how the cusp of the bracket should look if each edge catches perfectly. It's a little hard to describe without actually drawing the bracket but our teacher says that provided that the turn is done perfectly the end of the first edge and the beginning of the second edge should be visible on the cusp of the bracket so that there's a mark that resembles a " V " on the tippy top of the cusp tracing. Hence, the bunny ears. Not only that, but he says there's a distinctive sound to the way the change of edge sounds.

Well there you have it! A sample of the moves mantra as per our moves guru. Any further questions can be directed to the Moves Oracle at Mount Ice House. ;)

Frank

[stardust skies]

BI brackets, I reckon, are a lot easier than BI3s!

There are 32 different 1-foot turns.... I wonder if anybody can do all of them? I certainly can't!


Well, yeah, you need them all to pass all the MITF tests. But I promptly stopped doing about half of them as soon as I passed, so I probably can't do all the patterns too well anymore. I have no reason to try though. :halo:

[icecatepairs]

OK as we can see Frank has to pay attention twice as much in a lesson becasue he knows i'll get off the ice with a big question mark floating over my head....all kidding aside the hardest thing with brackets is the pattern. the hockey circles can be decieving as they are not the markers to go by, but they are there and our brain wants to use them. Edward is big on pattern. basically even with a small bobble on the move he feels strongly that you need to show the judges you know the placement of the bracket. i have a hard time with circle size , but one guideline on the pattern of crossing the last of one set and the second of the next one on the top of the red line helps. Frank has this great little plastic ice rink that he carries around to put over a piece of paper and draw the pattern. If anyone came to the camp in hackensack, check your packets and see if there is a diagram in there. I always looked at it as turning away from the circle instead of towards it liek a thre turn..i dunno i just follow franks tracings around the rink every tuesday night. :bow:

[Mrs Redboots]

Well, yeah, you need them all to pass all the MITF tests. But I promptly stopped doing about half of them as soon as I passed, so I probably can't do all the patterns too well anymore. I have no reason to try though. :halo:No, there is that! Husband and I were reckoning this morning that maybe in our next free dance we might put in a 3-bracket-3 combo, which we can do holding each other's hands, but I can only just - and unreliably - do solo, and I don't think he can at all! Not on one foot, anyway (we can both do them on 2 feet!).

This thread has inspired me - I have almost decided to turn one of the 3-turns in our free dance into a rocker! I still can't quite do a rocker solo, though.... nearly, though - but it's easy in hold!

[renatele]

ask frank r ..he has to draw me translation pictures on tuesday nights after our lessons wioth edward the moves nazi!!! :bow: good luck

Saw Edward on the ice today (first time IRL), and just had to chuckle, remembering this post.

[Mrs Redboots]

In the days of figures, you had to do figure brackets as part of your test, not sure quite what level they were nor, indeed, how they were done. I suppose you pushed off on one edge, turned your bracket, and returned to centre, pushing off on to the same edge on the other foot. I suppose the figure would have looked like a pair of spectacles which have lost their legs but you could still see the screw marks on each side....

[jenlyon60]

I don't have an old rulebook handy, but believe the figure would have been something like

RFO bracket (returning to center on RBI), then push onto LBI and do LBI bracket returning to center on LFO.

and LFO-RBI thusly, also RFI-LBO and LFI-RBO.

I "think" there also may have been a paragraph bracket figure where you did both the forward bracket, return to center and backwards bracket on one single push. Pretty sure I remember seeing coach #2 (who tested and passed through USFSA 7th test figures) doing paragraph brackets. She does various figures fairly regularly for warm-up or fun.

The "normal" bracket figures would have been done on a circle that I believe was supposed to be about 1 1/2 times the skater's height. Can't remember what the recommendations were for the paragraph figures.

[coskater64]

Like everyone said it is the first Contra-rotational field move instead of turning w/ the circle like on a 3 turn you turn outside the circle. Clear as mud, but easy to feel. There is a very nice noise to the bracket a little whish sound and those bunny ears. Centering the bracket on the circle is sometimes harder than the bracket, if they aren't done on center then you have a change of edge which means, it might not be a bracket.

I've always though of a counter as a bracket-3 turn and then a rocker as a 3-turn backet. The point on a counter goes down the ice, it points to where you are going and the point on a rocker goes up the ice or shows you where you have been. Of course I might have said that backwards since I still have issues with up ice and down ice.

Okay, that's all.

[NoVa Sk8r]

Like everyone said it is the first Contra-rotational field move instead of turning w/ the circle like on a 3 turn you turn outside the circle. Clear as mud, but easy to feel. There is a very nice noise to the bracket a little whish sound and those bunny ears. Centering the bracket on the circle is sometimes harder than the bracket, if they aren't done on center then you have a change of edge which means, it might not be a bracket.
And thanks for your help with the brackets at the Hackensack camp on one of the practice sessions. I appreciated your advice. 8-)