Spinning tips needed

[SusanaO]

I am just learning to spin (2 feet of course) and I've noticed that keeping my arms a little more relaxed (they were just sticking out to the sides rather stiffly before) and letting myself spin made a huge difference. During my last two lessons I went from 3 revolutions to 5 revolutions and finally to 7. :mrgreen:

I really value the input I've received from all of you. It has made a big difference in my getting the hang of mohawks and FO3 turns. Does anyone have any tips they would like to share with a novice spinner? By the way, given that my practice time is very limited (almost non-existent I would say) by my work schedule, do you think a spinner would help?

[JDC1]

This may sound cute or trite but - Patience!! I am having the hardest time learning to spin, jumps have been easier as have moves in the field, and sometimes I get so frustrated I feel like crying or kicking the ice!

Not having seen you spin it's hard for me to tell what you might be doing that would need correction.

So just some rules of thumb -

Try to keep your feet parallel (unlike me whose feet go out).
Do not lean back.
If a spin starts wonky/weird just stop, you can't fix it.
If you want a little more speed and more rotations keep your knees bent longer.

Have fun!! You sound like you're doing quite well already.

[Mrs Redboots]

The thing about the arms - and I speak here as a very spin-challenged skater - is that you mustn't have them sticking out. As you have found, relaxing them helps, and then, when your spin is established, try to bring them in to wrap them around yourself. This will help your revolving. My coach is forever on at me to "pull in!" (But, of course, if I do then the spin happens, and that's scary.....).

[Elsy2]

I think doing 7 revs. on a two foot spin is just fine :) Errors of technique on spinning are so specific to the individual, it's hard to give good advice unless you see the person spinning. Some rush the entry, some drop the free hip, some don't have their shoulder's level, some look in the wrong direction or down (I'm dizzy just thinking about that)..
etc. My advice is to work on your entries, as a good entry is the start of a good spin.

I'm sure the posters here will do their best to help you if you post a specific problem you are having!

[SusanaO]

Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
As you have found, relaxing them helps, and then, when your spin is established, try to bring them in to wrap them around yourself. This will help your revolving. My coach is forever on at me to "pull in!" (But, of course, if I do then the spin happens, and that's scary.....).

That's exactly what happens to me. I bring the arms in and pick up a bit of speed and totally freak out because I'm going faster and the spin feels less controlled. Then I get sooooo dizzy...

[Anita18]

About the dizzyness, mine went away more readily after I started focusing on my spins, not the fact that I was getting dizzy! I think I was up to one-foot spins then, but it can apply to two-foot spins too. While I'm spinning, I think, "Are my shoulders level? Are my hips/shoulders square? Am I on the right part of the blade? Am I centered???" LOL I don't have to time to think about the fact that I'm getting dizzy! I still do get dizzy, of course, but it's not so bad now. Sometimes, I think I make it worse by staring at my tracing right after I break out of a spin. :P

Getting faster when you pull in is a good sign! It will be scary at first but remember to tighten up your body as you pull in - you can't relax or else the spin will wobble. Then once you've done it a couple of times, it won't be scary, but fun!

Anita

[jazzpants]

My primary coach made an observation that I tend to close my eyes when I go into a fast (for me anyway) scratch spin. I don't feel like I'm closing my eyes, because I could see things spinning around me. I tend to concentrate on which part of my foot am I spinning on than anything else...

In any case, I don't have much of a problem with dizziness...though if I ever *GET* a nice fast enough scratch spin I probably would be dizzy enough... :P

Cheers,
jazzpants

[Lars]

Bring your arms in.. but if you feel that you cannot control it.. bring them in but not too tightly, just a little bit and out. As you get better, you can make the arm action more powerful. Also, remember if you do start panicking, try to maintain the square shoulder position and not to lean. If you feel you're about to fall, you always have the toe pick to stop yourself anyway. :-)

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by Elsy2
I think doing 7 revs. on a two foot spin is just fine :)

Yes, 7 revs is quite respectable! I'm a novice at spinning, too, and I don't think I've gotten round that many times in a spin yet. (I've also made the mistake of bending down to count my tracings before I've gotten undizzy first!)

SusanaO, here are some tips that my instructor gave me:
When you bring your arms in to the spin, as a beginner, don't pull them in immediately. (He didn't say why, perhaps it's because it makes you speed up too quickly...) But to gain speed, do bring them in eventually.

Make sure that when you bring your arms in, you bring your arms to the center of your body, not bring your torso to your arms--if you do torso to arms, it means you'll be bending forward at the waist and uncenter yourself.

On the two foot spin, make sure that one foot is in front of the other--that is, if you're spinning CCW, the right foot should be parallel and slightly "ahead" of the left foot, like it's leading around the outside of the circle.

Another thing that I do to see if I'm bending at the waist during the entry to the spin (which makes me uncentered)--on empty sessions, I practice near the end of the rink by the boards. The plexiglas above the boards is reflective, so I can see whether I'm tipping over.

I also read somewhere that for two-foot spins, the head should be looking straight ahead (not over the shoulder you're turning to).

Good luck! I like spinning, though I'm not great at it yet.

;) --mikawendy

[CanAmSk8ter]

Until you feel more confident, bring your arms in very gradually. At first, you'll probably stop spinning before they're all the way in, but that's better than bringing them in so fast that your speed goes way up and you panic and have to stop.

And yeah, I agree with whoever suggested paitience ;)

[SusanaO]

I practiced my spins again this weekend and they were much better. My coach had me pull the arms in gradually and then push them up. It was great, it seemed to me like I was spinning for a long time (although it must have been just 7 or 8 revolutions). Also I was so concentrated on keeping everything in place, as Anita suggested, that I guess I forgot about the dizziness. It felt great!!! I looked at the tracings afterwards and they were centered and everything. 8) I actually felt like a real skater for the first time.;)