Poll: Clockwise / Counterclockwise

[mikawendy]

Direction poll, part 1: Are you clockwise or counterclockwise?

(I'm CW)

[ChristianeDK]

Both. Last week my coach asked me to do a salchow and suddenly just as I was in the middle of the air I could hear him say: "No-no-no!" I couldn't figure out what was wrong, until he told me he preferred me to jump in the direction he teached me the day before!


When I don't think about it I'll just do the element at whatever feet feels best at that particular moment. But I'm just weird - I even prefer inside 3turns to outside.... :roll:

[StarshineXavier]

Counterclockwise for me.

[Figureskates]

Use to be clockwise when I first learned. Forced to go CCW when left knee rebuilt. Cannot land on that leg anymore as it would be bone on bone since I have no cartilege in that knee.

[Arsenette]

Is it true that righties are CCW while lefties are CW?

[Figureskates]

I am a rightie and I was CW.

[StarshineXavier]

Originally posted by Arsenette
Is it true that righties are CCW while lefties are CW?

I write with my left hand, and as you can tell from above, I'm CCW. There are also people at my club who are right handed and are CW. I guess it just depends on the person.

[Arsenette]

Hmm.. I must be a freak then.. I'm righty and have always spun (and potentially jumped) in a CCW way.. This is interesting to note. Maybe it has to do that my right shoulder is weak (many dislocations) and have adapted to many left handed things (except writing - although I can write with my left hand if needed - very ugly, but still legible).

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by Arsenette
Hmm.. I must be a freak then.. I'm righty and have always spun (and potentially jumped) in a CCW way.. This is interesting to note. Maybe it has to do that my right shoulder is weak (many dislocations) and have adapted to many left handed things (except writing - although I can write with my left hand if needed - very ugly, but still legible).

Arsonette - unless I'm completely wrong (which does happen), CCW skaters are usually right handed. I am right handed, and I jump and spin CCW. So you are not a freak.

My son is right handed, but he plays hockey, golfs and bats lefthanded (he throws right handed). Everyone's different, so whatever is comfortable for you is what you should do!

[shutterbug]

Originally posted by sk8er1964

My son is right handed, but he plays hockey, golfs and bats lefthanded (he throws right handed).

Me too. :)

I think it might depend on whether the activity is more strongly influenced by hand preference or rotational preference. Weirder still, in golf I prefer to drive left-handed and putt right-handed. How strange is that? LOL

I'm right-handed and skate CW.

[jazzpants]

Guess I'm a freak too! I spin and jump CW, but I'm right-handed. What's more, my RBO edge is stronger than my LBO. Both my coach and my ex-secondary coach said that I should have been a CCW skater!!! (They also often threaten to make me jump CCW unless I STICK that LBO edge...) :P

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by jazzpants
Guess I'm a freak too! I spin and jump CW, but I'm right-handed. What's more, my RBO edge is stronger than my LBO. Both my coach and my ex-secondary coach said that I should have been a CCW skater!!! (They also often threaten to make me jump CCW unless I STICK that LBO edge...) :P

jazzpants, I'm in the same boat--I spin and jump CW but my RBO is better. I also have a better spin entry on the CCW side, but can't really spin on that side (I grind around on my toepick 99% of the time). It could be that our balance and coordination are just a little better on our right legs (hence why we can spin better CW but also why we are better at RBO)?

So far the survey results are interesting--there are more CW skaters than I would have thought, judging from the freestyle and lessons that I skate at. About 90% of skaters there are CCW, and I always notice right away when a fellow CW skater is on the ice.

[Andie]

Counter-Clockwise, usually. I write with my right hand and do some other tasks with my left, but I think CCW feels best in skating.

[melanieuk]

I'm clockwise and right handed! :)

[michelle K]

Originally posted by ChristianeDK
Both. Last week my coach asked me to do a salchow and suddenly just as I was in the middle of the air I could hear him say: "No-no-no!" I couldn't figure out what was wrong, until he told me he preferred me to jump in the direction he teached me the day before!

I remember when I was first told to do a waltz jump, I jumped CW and my coach said no no and taught to me jump CCW. She had to correct me several times. Now, I jump and spin CCW, but my left foot is stronger and seems to pick up almost everthing quicker than the right.

Something interesting I found last week. I experimented with my back spin since I was not getting anywhere with it.
Instead of spining on the right leg, I tried to spun on my left leg. Wow. it feels so much better. Not that I could spin a whole lot, but everything felt right. No more twisting at the waist and collapsing to the outside. I was just able to get into the correct position and the spin just spun itself at the end of the three turn, effortless. I did not succeed every time I tried due to lousy LFI 3 turn (never practiced this one before) and had to bail out of successful ones in a couple of revs. since I was not used to CW spinning and felt really dizzy and scary. I wonder if this is because my left foot knows how to hit a sweet spot from forward one foot spin or I am more naturally a CW skater!

[Raine]

I'm also a CW skater who's an off-ice righty, and I've noticed a higher percentage of CW skaters in the adult ranks. I've often wondered why this is the case.

Maybe coaches are less likely to force an adult skater to counter their dominant direction.

It seems unnatural to force someone to spin and jump counter to their preferred direction. It reminds me of stories of sadistic teachers (often nuns) who forced their left-handed students to write right-handed, resulting in problems down the road.

Having said that, I wish that from the beginning I had learned more elements in both directions.

Cheers,
Raine

[Zoomana]

I'm a clockwise skater and a righty when I write something but otherwise often a lefty. Basically I "go both ways" and have no preference in real life. I paint left-handed and do a lot of everyday household chores left-handed, but I hold a pen in my right.

A lot of adults end up going CW because they are either too stubborn to adapt to the CCW theory or not secure enough on their intiial skating to force themselves to go CCW and end up reverting to CW (I have seen a lot of little kids forced to go CCW, but it was to their detriment--they never got beyond singles). I could barely do anything correctly until I dug my heels in and refused to go CCW anymore. Now that I am a little more experienced with skating and secure on my edges, I can "force" some CCW moves, but they are not natural.

As a CCW skater, I could do a one foot upright spin, a toe loop occasionally and sometimes a waltz. As a CW skater, I have all the spins (except my layback is hideous!) and all the jumps through lutz.

I was injured last year and played around again with CCW because my left leg was hurt and I was bored. I actually could do some really ugly salchows, toe loops and waltz jumps and even landed a flip on one foot once going CCW (I could always do a flip CCW and land two-foot and bent/flip is my favorite jump either direction).

It's the old stereotype that your doctor says--listen to your body, it will tell you which direction to go in eventually! Mine is telling me clockwise or bust!

[LilSk8er24]

I jump and spin counter clockwise, but I can write with both hands. My right handed is a tiny bit stronger than the left though.

[jamie_rae352]

Lefties are CW's and Rightie's are CCW's , cuz Lefties land on their left leg, and Righties land on their right....