Spirals and Getting and EDGE When doing them

[rf3ray]

Hey Guys, my coach says my Spirals are on a straight and not on an edge?, do any of you have any tips like should i be looking straight or look slightly of angle to get an edge on my spiral?

[cassarilda]

So... does that mean you want to be going straight, or to be on an edge?

No matter if you want to go straight or on an edge, its all about shifting your weight... ;) :D

Any other tips, I suggest you ask your coach what he wants ;)

[Skate@Delaware]

My coach also has me use my arms a bit to steer--just put one a bit more forward than the other. But you mostly use your feet to steer, lean more on the edge. It is a bit scary because you are only on one edge....I warm up to it by skating on one foot and "edging" first. Also warms up the feet and ankle...

Your coach might have other suggestions, based on how you skate.

[renatele]

Make sure you are on an edge first BEFORE going into the spiral position. Perhaps build up to it by pushing off onto an edge, and holding a ballet arabesque position - free leg up without torso going down - until these become secure enough. Then try full spiral.

(working spirals in USFS preliminary mitf pattern will make you do them on an edge like nothing else... LOL! For the longest time I couldn't decide what was more evil - those spirals or alt-3s)

[BatikatII]

Do several crossovers on one of the hockey circles or centre circle - eg for a LFO spiral do anticlockwise crossovers - this gets you on the right edge for your spiral. I always found it helpful to do a swing forward with the free leg while holding the outside edge before bringing it back and up and lowering torso into the spiral. Once you have got the feel for this you can do it anywhere.

For RFO spiral do clockwise crossovers first etc.

[jazzpants]

(working spirals in USFS preliminary mitf pattern will make you do them on an edge like nothing else... LOL! For the longest time I couldn't decide what was more evil - those spirals or alt-3s)Don't remind me! :roll: That's NEXT on my torture list! 8O

[Debbie S]

For the longest time I couldn't decide what was more evil - those spirals or alt-3s)LOL! When I was working on Pre-Bronze MIF, I told my coach that I would much rather do the Prelim spirals than the alt 3's. I'm just 3-turn challenged, I guess, but I can do spirals!

[renatele]

LOL! When I was working on Pre-Bronze MIF, I told my coach that I would much rather do the Prelim spirals than the alt 3's. I'm just 3-turn challenged, I guess, but I can do spirals!

Oh, on prelim, you get to work on BOTH of those! ;)

I didn't mind the outside spirals, it's the inside ones that I absolutely hated for a long while (till I got the hang of them, LOL).

[jazzpants]

I didn't mind the outside spirals, it's the inside ones that I absolutely hated for a long while (till I got the hang of them, LOL).Yup! Yup! Me too!!! Hate, hate, HATE the inside spirals right now. I just can't get that free leg high enough and I already have enough trouble as is with the FO edge.

I've gone back to the pre-prelim spirals to try to get the height consistently high enough so that it'll be easier for me to take on the prelim spirals. Of course, hard to do ANY spirals doing a public session when kids are running RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU while you're in your spiral position!!! 8O :frus::evil: :x

I'm actually a little better off currently with the alt 3's than the spirals actually.... Keywords... "a little" :twisted:

[cecealias]

i've always found the inside spirals to be more stable then the outside.

What's the worst that you think could happen with an inside spiral?

You'd just fall to the inside of the circle - but because of that, it's easy to put the free leg down to catch yourself, whereas you don't quite have that safety with the outside spiral.

the trick i think with inside spirals is to think of your center of gravity to be slightly to the inside of the circle, and not directly over the skating foot. It should feel like the free leg is getting pulled up and back by some invisible force that keeps you balanced. It seems scary to have it that way but it is more stable if you allow yourself to trust the edge.

[doubletoe]

When I do a change-edge spiral down the length of the rink (either inside-outside or outside-inside), I find that I get the most control on the initial edge by doing forward crossovers in a circle around the end of the rink to build speed, then pushing off onto the spiral edge, focusing my eyes on the far end of the rink as I push off. The forward crossovers in a circle put me on a definite edge (inside or outside depending on which direction and which foot), while focusing on the far end of the rink gives me the control and body position I need.

[doubletoe]

I forgot to add, use your ankle to steer, then follow through with your shoulders.

[Mrs Redboots]

One of my skating friends had an Awful Spiral Exercise, where you went round a hockey circle - first you did a LFO spiral, then an RFI one, then came up, did LFO to LBI spiral, finally RBO spiral. Then you changed direction and did it all on the other foot - RFO/LBI/RFO3 to RBI/LBO....

And no, I couldn't!

[sk8pics]

My coach has me doing an awful exercise right now that involves forward crossovers into a FO spiral, to a mohawk, back crossovers to a BO spiral, step forward and then skate everything in the other direction. He helps me with some of it, but still it scares me, especially when it's crowded.

I had trouble initially learning the RFI spiral (we won't even talk about the left foot :frus: ) but what helped me was doing a change edge spiral from the outside to the inside. Somehow the edge change helped me keep my balance on the FI spiral, and I naturally lifted my leg even a little higher in the right spot.