back pivot -- please help!

[wondering]

does anyone have any ideas on how to get my back pivot to last for more than one round ? my competition is coming up next month, and the minimum requirement for the back pivot is 1.5 rounds but i can only do one . :x

[Skate@Delaware]

I feel your pain!!!! This was something that I had to struggle with for my competition.....

You really have to get down on the edge on the foot that is going around and push that heel out hard; bend deeply on the pivoting leg. I was pivoting on my left foot and had to really concentrate on making sure my upper body didn't torque me off-balance also (I cheated and raised my left shoulder a bit higher which seemed to help me, my coach saw it and decided that my arms should go up also which helped).

Just keep practicing, go slow and you will get the feel for it. Good luck!!!

[Sk8pdx]

yeah, like what S@D said when you really need to bend your pivoting leg. I think of my pivoting leg as my "chair" am going to sit in. To get more rotation, lead more with your left arm.

I love back pivots after my coach made me practice them to improve my toe loop. (I still hate that jump!:twisted:)

[doubletoe]

Practice keeping your weight on the back outside edge as long as possible before letting your weight transfer onto the toepick of the other foot. Start by letting your toepick just graze the ice ever so lightly as you feel for the right spot and your outside edge gets deeper and the circle gets smaller. Only then start *gradually* transferring your weight to the toe. And as others have said, keep the skating leg deeply bent as you do the 1-1/2 turns on the ice. Also, it helps to keep looking in the direction you're coming from (i.e., keep looking to the right if you're doing a right back outside pivot).