Scratch Spin help

[TwistedAngel178]

I need help on my scratch spin please....Everytime I pull in and cross my legs I lose balance. Any advice?

[JDC1]

You're farther along than I am I can't even pull my leg in!!
What does your coach say is going on?

My question would be are you properly centered? I've seen quite a number of skaters pulling in before they're centered and they start moving ALL over the ice or lose the spin.

Not being able to see you and not being blessed with a scratch spin myself that's the best help I can offer hopefully one of the good spinners will show up here with more advice. :-)

[TwistedAngel178]

Usually I am centered on the spin....Thanks anyway!

[BittyBug]

Make sure your arms and shoulders are parallel to the ice - you might be leaning to one side or the other, which would definitely cause you to lose your balance. Also, make sure you bring your arms in in a large circle (as opposed to pulling in from the elbows). It might be hard for you to figure this out on your own, so you might want to ask someone to watch you while your trying.

Another exercise you could try is crossing your leg over while still keeping your arms out, and then pulling your arms in.

Finally, make sure your hips are also level while you're pulling in your leg. Again, this is something that an observer could help you figure out.

[kayskate]

In addition to the other suggestions, you might be rocking toward your toe pick (or toward the back of the blade). When pulling in, especially if drawing the arms up or in, some skaters will tend to rock toward the toe. You might be clenching your foot in the boot w/o intending to do so. This will throw you forward. If you are reaching your arms up concurrently, you may be lifting w/ the whole body, locking your knee and moving forward on the blade. Make sure you keep a softly flexed knee throughout your spin so you can maintain your sweet spot. Also, pull in slowly, evenly and gradually. Quick, jerky motions will throw you off balance.

Kay

[KatieC]

I'd like to emphasize the comment by BittyBug about keeping your arms and shoulders parallel to the ice. I could do terrific two foot spins for a long time with all kinds of wonderful arm movements but struggled for at least a year to get that darn foot to cross over. Then a really patient lady at an adult skating hour gave me some terrific help. She made me practice keeping the arms out and then slowly, slowly, bringing them in, in that circle. All this before I actually did a spin. When I tried while spinning, low and behold, it worked. The lady was screaming and so was I! Turns out that because I could do a multitude of arm positions while two foot spinning, I was knocking my shoulders right off parallel without noticing. Hips too have to be parallel. You really have to think this through while you're spinning. Take it slow and easy and good luck. :)

[becca]

If you push really hard on your baby toe, it helps to keep you balanced and in one place.