need to vent and looking for encouragement

[froggy]

You guys are so great maybe you can provide a listening ear and maybe some words of encouragement. I started skating with lessons around 1 1/2 years ago, (before that i maybe skated 1-2 times in my life) everything I learned came realllllllll slow. the killer of them all is my spins, i began 1 foot spins like around 9 months ago!! I get.. if I'm lucky 3 or 3/12 revolutions and they just dont seem to center, if only i had a mileage account for my traveling spins!! I have read every message on this board in the past year on spins, my coach has had me do numerous difft exercises, she into ice dance so we work also a lot on edge work stuff. it is sooooooo frusturating i really dont know what to do with myself. my sit spin that i began a few months ago is another nightmare-it doesnt have a chance to even travel since i pop open after like 1 revolution.

in my mind i know all the details entering and holding a spin ..my body on the otherhand just doesnt listen. ive videotaped myself a few times and I see exactly what Im doing wrong (ie: sometimes not long enough LFO edge entering, arching back, on toe the list goes on). does anyone else have this problem??? why am i so darn slow to learn and retain muscle memory????

oh I skate 3x/week with a lesson 1x/week and I'm in my 20's. I love to skate so much but its jsut so frusturating how long its taking to these spins. I really feel like I'm abnormal. :frus:

[miraclegro]

Well, i think everyone has some things that come easy and some harder than others, so just work and work it as much as you can.

Things that might help:

Bending that knee more on the skating leg going into it.

Getting it centered before ever bringing the free foot in toward the knee.

And as for me, i have to remember to keep my pelvic/tummy in the right place - pelvic tucked in some, and tummy kind of flat. Also Don't bring the free leg up too high, it could throw your center off.

Dont' give up!

[Sk8pdx]

Froggy, You are not alone here. We have similar issues with sit spin. I have most trouble with scratch and sit spins (CCW)or anything that involves centering on my Left foot and bringing my right free foot forward. (I think I am not lifting my hip or something, so then I over exaggerate lifting the free hip and everthing goes to pot...)I am still trying to find that happy spinning place in between falling to the left inside edge and going nowhere, or forcing it and travelling everywhere.

I have skated 2 1/2 years. My progress is much slower than yours and I am wiser in age. ;) I always tell myself that everything is beautiful in it's time. And it is just not time yet. While I will be patient, for my spins yet to come, I will not be passive in my practices. Even if you don't like it, keep practicing it and try new ways of practicing something. (practice spins from back XO's, from a t -stop on the blue hockey line, try them from a RFI 3, heck try spinning CW if you normally spin CCW just to be crazy one morning). And if you feel like giving up, move on to a favorite element you enjoy (jumps, spirals, moves, etc...I use waltz 8 to get my focus back and then practice my Ina Bauer to make it better). Variety in your practices will help ease frustration.

[Skate@Delaware]

I have been skating for almost 4 years now and spent the last season in remedial spin training....from the very beginning! We broke the spin down from feet up to arms and it took the whole season to get the whole thing going. So, don't give up!

Like Sk8pdx says, though, if you find yourself getting frustrated, it's time to move onto something else for a while. Spend no more than 10-15 minutes on each thing, otherwise you get frustrated and tired. When you are frustrated and tired, bad habits tend to creep in.

Good Luck!!! We believe in you!

[Paulie86]

Spins take a lot of practice. And I mean A LOT! I have been working on my spins forever. My coach broke the spin down into each of its different elements and that really helped. When I'm practicing, I really try to pay attention to my body to see how it feels when I do something right or wrong.

You do need to have your spin centered before bringing the free leg in and you need to lift your free leg from the hip (while keeping it square) to help maintain your center when spinning.

[Chico]

It's okay to feel frusterated. EVERYBODY feels this way at times nomatter what you think watching fellow skaters. Some folks do improve faster than others but they still have their own personal upsets. Skating is not a race to the end but a journey. It's a journey of ups, downs and sideways. You need to look for the smallest of improvements to feel positives at times. Spins are challenging and do take tons of work. Focus on just one aspect of your spin at a time. Really THINK about it. If you never get any farther in your spin that session it's okay. That one aspect might be your focus for weeks. Spins are many parts and if you get all the parts better your spins will improve. Ask your coach what improvements she sees. As skaters sometimes we can't see the small improvements and understand what a process learning a skill can be. I'm always asking my coach, "Is this normal? Is this what happens to everybody?" because I just don't know and it helps to understand what I should expect. Sometimes I expect too much of myself..........

Chico Good luck spinning.

[Evelina]

Stick with it is the best advice I can give you and one I have been given many times. I have been spinning for about 3 months now and even though I can have over 10 revolutions in my spins they are very inconsistent as far as centering them goes - on come days I centralise each one, on others none! The sit spin kind of centralises itself once you get it, because your weight is a lot lower. I find it much easier to do a nice, long, centralised sit spin then a reasonably centralised upright spin. Practice is the key I guess, and don't let it get you down, everyone goes through the same thing!

[blue111moon]

I am the Queen of Slow Learning!!! It took me 15 YEARS to learn how to spin correctly and seriously the only way I finally got it was the summer I had sprained my landing foot (hmmmm, kind of like THIS summer is looking) and the only thing I could do without pain was spin. The backspin (on the "bad" foot) is still in progress - and probably won't be making much until the ankle heals again.

Even now, the spins are usually the first things that vanish if I'm sick or tired or have the blades sharpened or the weather changes... :)

And just for the record, November 2006 will be the 25th anniversay of when I joined my skating club (after not quite a year in group lessons). I should be waaaaaaaaaaayyyy better than I am for all that time in rinks, no?

[VegasGirl]

You're definitely not alone... I haaate spins because I too have the hardest time with them!!! Been skating for 2 years... lessons for about 1 1/2 years (then we moved and I haven't been able to find a coach and not really sure whether I even want to any more)... two foot spin was a chore but I ended up managing a fairly decent one... one foot spin is a totally different story though! No matter how hard I try I just can't get off the toe pick on my spinning foot! :x And if that wasn't bad enough I can't seem to get a proper rythm entering into the spin... I keep slowing down to almost a stop before starting the spin. And trust me, my coach worked on it with me to the point where my blades were staeming. 8O :lol: Just as you I know all the proper steps but I just can't execute them properly... I sooo feel your frustration!!!

I did start to wonder if the blade on my left boot was just not mounted right or something along those lines... I also think the heel on the skates could be a bit lower... so I've ordered new skates and can't wait to see if that might atleast help a bit.

[Mrs Redboots]

I still can't spin worth a damn, but they are beginning to improve since last week - Coach2 told me what I was doing wrong, and then told Coach1, who is helping me correct that now. Quite why Coach1 didn't see it.... but "a fresh pair of eyes" does help.

[NickiT]

Spins take a lot of practice. And I mean A LOT!

I totally agree. It's very rare that a skater can learn to spin just like that! It took me years to get a consistent upright spin, several more years to get a decent sit and now I'm only just getting more consistent with my camel spins. It really is a case of practise, practise, practise. My pointers would be to bend your knee as you push into the spin, get yourself centred before pulling in with your arms and free leg. I see so many beginners rushing their spins and putting a lot of effort in when in fact, if you take your time, the spin will happen if you just slow down a bit. Pulling in too soon won't make a spin happen. To be honest, spinning is all about getting the right feeling. It's hard to really say what it is, you just learn it through repetition.

Nicki

[froggy]

thanks so much, you guys are terrific!!! you really put a smile on my face. thank you thank you!!!

happy skating to all :D

[CFP]

hey, you know what?
don't take YOURSELF so seriously :)
seriously,,,,:P ....laugh at yourself, your struggles. i think ANY activity can drain you if you get way to self-absorbed. i quit two weeks into my first figure skating lessons because i was soooo intimitated watching all those around me... i got extremely mad at myself for not being able to pick up what others could. it took me a whole year to get up the guts to go back and try again........this time,, i only focused on myself, because i realized that no matter HOW fantastic the girl next to me was,,,,,,,hey,, there's hundreds out there better than her!:lol:
also, try moving onto something much harder.........then go back to your spinning,, it may seem easier.
i've been skating for about 12 years and i'm going back to learing FORWARD CROSSOVERS!:frus: ...there are some things in freestyle three that i CAN do, yet some things from basic 4 that i still struggle with... but unless you're making a living from skating,,,,, go easy on yourself!!:P

[Skate@Delaware]

Amen, CFP!!!

I put in into this type of perspective....I'm 44 and have been skating about 4 years....I skate for myself. No one else skates like me, no one skates for me and I skate for no one else. I skate to skate and because I love it so much! Otherwise I wouldn't bother and I'd go back to quilting....

I promised myself 2 years ago to stop beating myself up comparing myself to others and since then I've been much happier!!!!

[Mrs Redboots]

It took me years to get a consistent upright spin, several more years to get a decent sit and now I'm only just getting more consistent with my camel spins.Do you find the camel harder than the sit? Both Husband and I find the camel is way easier! Not that I can do either, but I can do a recognisable half-revolution camel, sometimes, and my sit spin looks like nothing on earth! Husband has been known to get 2 revolutions on his camel, and he is alleged to have one in his programme, but it certainly didn't happen at the Mountain Cup!


i've been skating for about 12 years and i'm going back to learing FORWARD CROSSOVERS!:frus: You always work on crossovers, all the time. All skaters do. I had a lesson with Coach2 last week, who is married to my primary coach, Coach1 (well, duh!), and she decided my back crossovers were horrible, and so she told her husband, so guess what I was working on this morning? Yes, back crossovers!

[Sk8pdx]

...I put in into this type of perspective....I'm 44 and have been skating about 4 years....I skate for myself. No one else skates like me, no one skates for me and I skate for no one else. I skate to skate and because I love it so much! Otherwise I wouldn't bother and I'd go back to quilting....

I promised myself 2 years ago to stop beating myself up comparing myself to others and since then I've been much happier!!!!

:bow: 8-) :bow: 8-) :bow: Well said! You are an inspiration to me Skate@Delaware! :bow: 8-) :bow: 8-) :bow:

[aussieskater]

You always work on crossovers, all the time. All skaters do. I had a lesson with Coach2 last week, who is married to my primary coach, Coach1 (well, duh!), and she decided my back crossovers were horrible, and so she told her husband, so guess what I was working on this morning? Yes, back crossovers!

That happened yesterday...and when it did, I said "But I thought you said they were OK, and there's so much else I need to work on??". No reprieve - I did back XO's for the rest of the session! :) (Trying to get the hip of my crossing-under foot down, to cross under even further, since Coach says the crossing-under leg has to extend outside the circle as far as the other one had extended on the previous push! I thought that was impossible, as it has to come past the skating leg first, but he showed me it was not 8O . Boy, were his back XO's fast).

[flo]

You'll be fine. Also, play with other spins. To the amazement of my coach, my scratch was the last to come.

[jwrnsktr]

OK, I've stopped laughing. I thought I had the longest record for trying to spin, 7 years, but Blue111Moon beats me! Yay! I truly thought it was only me. I try and try and try and try..........infinity tries here, but still, I cannot do it. At times I think it's soooooo close, but noooooooooo......... My advice? If I am qualified to give any at all - is keep on trying and celebrate the things that you can do well. Anything we learn on the ice as adults is a gift. Remember, it's not just you. We all have a monkey on our backs in some element of skating. What you cannot do is get frustrated because the only thing that stands in the way of progress is frustration! Good luck!

[flippet]

I am the Queen of Slow Learning!!! It took me 15 YEARS to learn how to spin correctly

Well, you got me beat. :P

Seriously, though, spinning is HARD. For quite a lot of people. There's a million little things that have to go exactly right for a spin to 'work'....and it takes time to put them all together. (Once you've got it, you can 'break' some of the rules and things will still 'work', but you pretty much have to get it all pulled together to start with.)

It took me three years of skating to get a spin that I could even call a spin--i.e., it went around, and kept going around--nothing fancy at all. I never did get any spin variations at all, and no backspin.

What helped me to finally get the spin was to keep my free arm and leg held back as long as possible, in order to 'snap' around into the spin----and then I had to make sure they were lined up with one another--as if connected by a vertical pole. If one came around before the other, the spin turned to crap. Thinking about keeping them aligned also helped me keep from dropping hips/shoulders. I also needed to 'snap' only to the 10 o'clock position, no farther. From there, pulling in consisted of bending the elbow and knee to bring the far extremities in first, leaving the near extremities right where I'd snapped to. After that, I could pull in tighter, but it was a two-step process.

This may or may not work for you--it all depends on what things you're having problems with, and they could be vastly different from my problems.