Ok. I have been wondering about Spinning. When you start to Spin. To Spin correctly. Do skaters spin on their Flats (like I've been doing), or on their Toe-Picks? I've been trying a 2-foot. Or do you start on Flatts and end on Toe-Picks?

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FSWer

You do not spin on the toe picks. You spin on edges. If you're working on your two-foot spin, both your feet are on inside edges. A regular one-foot spin is done on a back inside edge.

Wouldn't you have one on the inside and one on the outside? (Since one foot is kind of doing a forward spin while the other does a backspin?) To trace the same circle in the same direction- it seems like the edges need to be opposite.

I could be wrong though... just wondering.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

No, both feet are on inside edges. You're going around in a little circle. I guess one's on a back inside and the other's on a forward inside.

How 'bout that. I'll have to pay attention to it next time I do one.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

So I would START on my Edges,and then STAY on my Edges.In which case my Edges are what give the Glide for the Spin it'self. Which is why we Spin,rather then just turn around on our feet fast, right? BTW. how do you make your arms when pulling them into you near your chest effect the Spin,rather then it just be a replacement of were you put your arms?Also what about a Single-Foot Spin were you lift one foot a little of the ice?

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FSWer

There's supposed to be a sweet spot just a little bit behind the toe-pick that if you spin on it you would spin "forever". I've never found it when I was skating .

What edge are you on when doing a layback?

Forward spins, including a layback, are done on a back inside edge, all backspins on a back outside edge. (Ignoring the now-common edge variation that beginners and elite skaters perform on the opposite edges, lol.)

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What is ment by a sweet spot?

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FSWer

The sweet spot is a slang term for the perfect spot on the blade to do a spin. It's the right location for the spin to work.

If you go in front of the sweet spot, you end up on the toe picks, too far back and you put too much pressure on the tail of the blade- both of these things will ruin a spin. If you are on the sweet spot it will work just right.

There is no way to tell someone where their sweet spot is. Each individual athlete has to feel it to know it's right. When you find it, your spins work just as they are supposed to. If you are off it- it's still possible to spin, but you might spin slower, less centered, dig your toe picks in, or drag up snow with the tail of your blade.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Say,btw....is there anyone hee that can please post a Photo of the way Blades should look when Spinning?

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FSWer

So it just basicly means the spot on the blade that you find works for you,yourself when Spinning,right?

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FSWer

The blade is curved. If you could find your balance somewhere around the top of that curve then there would be the least amount of friction between the blade and the ice and hence your spin will last longer. That's how I think of the "sweet" spot.

Think of a rocking chair. When the chair is just sitting there, it's not leaning towards the back of the rocker or towards the front of the rocker. Both rocker ends are up away from the floor, and the chair is sitting on a spot somewhere in the middle of the rocker. It's sitting on its sweet spot.

The sweet spot on the blade's rocker isn't exactly in the middle - it's a little further forward, but it's the same idea. If you stand still on your blades with your feet together, you can rock forward and backward toe to heel a little bit. Somewhere in there is a spot where both the toe picks and heel end of the blade are off the ice at the same time - that's the sweet spot. Like everybody has said, each skater has to experiment and find it for themselves.

I've only recently (was off the ice for nearly a year ) started playing around with 2-ft. spins,
but I don't understand what you said here.
Also for now, I've given-up starting from the pivot .
so
I skate on my L-foot, on a F-oe, right? (at least that's what it seems) -
And then, my R-foot, follows on a F-ie.
also -
How do we find the 'sweet'-spot?, while we're spinning...
and
How do we keep the rotations going... (yes, I know about the arms, drawing in), but there's ALOT more to it than that.

Please help out, if you would. Thanks!

i managed to hit that sweet spot today during practice ice, and man, it was like i was on a spinners high! it felt soooo good! now i have to work on consistancy. off-ice spinning doesnt help, i just fall forward and faceplant.

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dread the click of death. avoid it at all costs. BEND YOUR KNEEEEEEES

I'm finally figuring out the "hey stupid, you gotta press down on the BALL of your foot to get the right spot!" thing. Before I "figured out" spinning, that seemed like the wrong spot. And now I gotta train myself to keep my weight there or I lose it.

I find I can't spin off-ice, either. For one, my foot doesn't really HAVE a sweet spot, so spinning on my foot isn't like spinning on ice on a blade, and I have a feeling I could develop some bad habits if I manage to spin on the wrong spot off-ice without realizing and then try to translate that to on-ice....

Fortunately, spinning on my feet on the dining-room linoleum has always, & continues fairly natural to me.

Does "press down on the BALL" include shifting weight more forward, on the ice?, & how then do we avoid our picks? - seems like another tricky beast, lol
.

You really need to feel it. When you spin you will find the sweet spot because any other spot will not be optimal for spinning for you. Once you get the feel for it, it won't be hard to avoid going too far forward or back on the blade. The sweet spot feels really... frictionless. Once you feel it, nothing else will compare to the rush (and you may have to stop yourself a few times at first, cause it will feel like you're going at 1K RPM).

Great! & thanks! - so, the evidence that one has "found the sweet spot" is when one continues spinning frictionless? & effortlessly?

Hm, I wish I had someone helping me find it.
.

Only a very small part of the blade will contact the ice when you're spinning on that spot. That is why there is very little feeling of friction, and you're able to spin faster (and longer).

You don't lose as much energy/speed during the spin because you can center better/faster and won't have to make many (if any) adjustments during the spin when you are able to find that spot (or have it ingrained in your muscle memory i.e. Lucinda Ruh, Natalie Krieg).

This is because... If you're too far forward or back on your blade during the spin, you will have to shift your weight to "find" that optimal spinning point on the blade).

It's just like a Top. When it's not centered while spinning, it wobbles, slows down, travels, and topples eventually falls over.

The reason why I say you need to feel it is because looking at someone do it won't teach you much. Different blades have different rocker profiles, and different people have different feet and weight distributions. You have to spin and find out where your sweet spot is. It's largely about the blade, but it's also about the skater...

Try this:

Stand by the wall and hold on lightly, just for balance.
Stand on the toerake of your spinning foot and "swish" back and forth in place.
The toepicks will grind into the ice. (Hint: not good for spinning)
Now, roll down off the toepicks onto the front of the blade.
Keep "swishing" - you'll feel the bottom toepick still catch a bit.

Move back a little more and you'll feel the sweet spot - it's where the toepick doesn't scratch and the rest of the blade doesn't scrape the ice.

The rocker/spin spot *should be* under the ball of your foot. You can press on that spot easily if it is by lifting your toes inside your skate and keeping your weight on the ball of your foot.

If you feel the blade scraping up snow, you've gone back too far on the blade.

From there, it's just practice.


One note: I've had blade problems galore. A mismounted blade will scrape even if you are on the rocker. A blade with a damaged edge or rocker will put you on the toepick every time. If you have a sharpening done and suddenly have spin trouble, get your blades checked if it lasts more than two skating sessions.

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Thank you! for your kind suggestions.

Thus far I've never felt any parts of my toepicks 'grind or scratch' the ice (incldg. on fxo's)
except on jump launch, plus teachers have said I'm good on that score.

Next practice I'll see if there's snow piling up behind me, lol
also,
when you say "feel" the blade: since my kinesthetic-sense cont. returning, being able to readily notice what I feel, & where, cont. being iffy.

ok, do I practice this, 1st. at the barrier? - by holding on, & "lifting toes inside skate(s) and keeping weight on the ball of foot." -
Asking, as (sans the pivot), I'm doing 2-ft. spins currently. - And finding the Sweet-spot there, I would think I'll remember it readily anywhere?

Yeah, & why we call it that

I do know, most of my ice-challenges stem from an unreliable kinesthetic-sense, I'm regaining sorta inconsistently. - And if I had an experienced-skater observing me, I could be helped becoming more aware, faster. Anyway, this is my belief plus has been my experience.

Fortunately, we have one of the best Sharpeners going; in short, the man is a saint!
.

My first thought was also that one foot is on a BI edge and the other on a BO edge, so I asked my coach in my last lesson, and she agreed with me and Skittl1321. If you are on the sweet spot on both feet, then you will be on different edges and not going around in a little circle on inside edges only. To do that, your feet would have to be almost parallel, several inches apart, and your weight would have to be more to the center of the blades.

Another exercise for finding and holding the sweet spot:

After doing Isk8NYC's excellent exercise at the boards, so you know where the sweet spot is, skate slowly backwards into a two foot glide. Tighten up your core, hold your arms out, and pick up one foot, slowly rising to the sweet spot on the foot you intend to spin on. Try to hold that position without scraping the toe or falling back to the ball of the foot. This is a really hard one, but it can work wonders.

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