hahahahaha....yes....that shoot-the-duck is hilarious. Of course, we can't see how funny it looks when we're doing it ourselves, but when you see somebody else do it, it's a laugh. I think that this would be kind of funny to do in a halloween skating show ... like, have a whole bunch of skaters doing this in a line going across the rink hehe

Hi

I think my accident was partly caused becuase I wasnt bending my knees hardly. I had to lace my boots so tight to get the support I could barely bend the knee, hence skating farily stiff legged and a blade skidding out from under me.

I think due to the pain Im in and now the lovely horrible scar on my lip I have learned the lesson the hard way, knew skates for sure but DEFFINATELY A BEND OF THE KNEES.

Andrea xx

Bit of a delayed response (been away from the net for a few days) but I agree 100%. That way of thinking about knee-bend 'clicked' for me about two days before I got new boots. Once I can bend my ankles again, I'll be sure to keep trying it

__________________
"Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:
(1) It's completely impossible.
(2) It's possible, but it's not worth doing.
(3) I said it was a good idea all along."
- Arthur C Clarke

Make sure you arch your back, keeping your back flexed, your chest out and your shoulders back. Also, make sure you are wearing shoes with about a 2 inch heel, since your skates have heels. The more weight is on the front of your foot, the easier it is to bend deeply and get back up. That's why sitspins are easier than teapots (or shoot-the-ducks, as we call them in the U.S.). In a sitspin, you are lifting your heel off the ice and all your weight is on the ball of your foot, making it easier to do the deep knee bend. The centrifugal force from the spinning helps a lot, too.