Sit Spin - help please!!

[skatingdoris]

i have been trying to learn a sit spin for about 3 months now, and feel like i'm not getting anywere with it, my upright spin is pretty good well centered most of the time with about 7-8 revs. there are a lot of questions here but any advice with any of it would be really appreciated, thanks guys.

i am going in to the spin on a LFO edge as low as i can get but find that as soon as i stop on the edge and start to spin the momentum whips me round really fast which i can't control. does anyone else find a sit spin revolves alot faster then an upright/scratch spin.:??
i am also finding it nigh on impossible to bring my legs together and am turning around with my right leg out at almost at 90 degrees to my left!! is this simply a matter of muscle strength or am i doing somthing wrong? my coach says i just have to pull them together, this is soo not helpful right now!!:frus:
people keep telling me that when you fall on a sit spin it is okay because you just fall back on to your bum, why does this not happen to me? everytime i fall its foward onto my knees - (oow, they are starting to look pretty mashed!!) - has anyone else ever has this problem, is sitting down lower the only way to stop this happening?

wow if you made it through all that, didn't realise it would be so long!!:lol:
thanks

[Skate@Delaware]

I feel doomed.....I only have about 2 weeks to get a "recognizable" sit spin.

The way my coach teaches it-go in low from the beginning. Yes, it will take more strength in your legs. Mine are better since hitting the gym and doing squats & stuff.....What helped me more (today) was actually lifting up my free leg! Helped to prevent it from dragging like it normally does.

My coach also says you should suck in your belly-button....and the ankle of your spinning foot should almost get lace bite, you are bent so much.

Every time I fall on these, it's on my left hip-yup, permanently bruised there!

[Isk8NYC]

If you're falling on your knees, you're probably hunching over, not sitting. Tuck your bottom under and try to keep it below your skating knee.

There's a pretty good thread related to sit spins here (http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=20288).

[doubletoe]

It sounds like your timing and/or technique is off on the swing of your free leg. Also, as someone else pointed out, it is very important to keep your back arched and rigid on the entrance edge in order to keep your core strong as the free leg swings. Here's what I focus on as I do my sitspin:

1. Get low on your right knee on the preparatory edge (usually a RBI edge, but you can also go into your sitspin from a RFI 3-turn, exiting on a RBO edge).

2. Keep your torso rigid and upright, with a bit of an arch in your back (shoulder blades squeezed together).

3. Push off onto a deeply bent knee for your entrance edge and continue to keep your torso upright and rigid, with your shoulders back and level (don't dip that left shoulder or lean forward). Extend your free leg way behind you and point the toe as you ride the edge for a half circle. Again, keep your torso very rigid and upright the whole time.

4. After half a circle on the entrance edge (a tad shorter than the entrance edge for an upright spin), bring your free leg around in a wide arc, holding it low to the ice the whole time and using a smooth sweeping motion. Imagine your free leg is a compass drawing a big circle on the ice with your foot; don't ever jerk it suddenly or try to force it. Keep your back very rigid, straight and arched as bring your free leg around, and don't forget to pay attention to the ball of your spinning foot, which is where your balance must stay as you do this.

5. As your free leg reaches the 2:00 position (in front of you but still a little to the right), turn it out so that it comes in heel first. Now let your free leg collide with your spinning leg.

6. Keeping your back arched and rigid and keeping your arms extended low in front of you, gradually lower your butt and push your free leg forward. When you feel the inside of your right thigh pressing against the top of your left calf, you will know you are low enough (i.e., your spinning leg is at a 90-degree angle, with the thigh parallel to the ice).

[sunshinepointe]

Everyone gave great advice so far so I just want to hit on some things that really helped me.

*Doing off ice pistol squats and shoot the ducks on the ice to get the feel of going down and coming up on one leg
*Try different arm positions - I learned it by reaching out with both hands and arching the back, but I'm finding now that it's easier to center by stretching out with one hand and placing the other on the bent skating knee
*Looking out towards the hand helps - look down and you're doomed (for me at least)
*I was taught to go into my sit spin low, but my current coach wants me to go into it like a regular spin and then sit after about a 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn. This helps me center easier.
*When I first learned to do the sit spin I was told to really turn out the free leg and point the toe - this will also help the center.

Hope this helps!

[mikawendy]

Another thing--if the momentum in the spin is a problem for you, skatingdoris, be sure that you're not swinging the free leg around too soon. Doubletoe's advice on timing and point #4 may be helpful. For me, when I rush the free leg around, everything gets wild and off balance. When I'm having this problem, I have to make myself hold my free leg back behind me longer than want to.

I also agree w/Skate@Delaware, I prefer the go-in-low approach. (Sometimes the sit spin is taught by having the person get centered on their skating leg and then going down, but I can never get as low in that approach as in the go-in-low approach.)

Also, maybe if you're having a problem falling on your knees, don't think about bending forward--rather, think down, not forward.