I just bought a bunch of skating tapes and had to watch them right away to be sure they were OK. In one of them, Katarina Witt does a FO spiral slowly enough that I saw something I had never seen before, and it really helped me!

Since I switched from Majestic to Coronation Aces, I hadn't been practicing my spirals and as a result, it was taking me forever to get my leg up there. It was never smooth anyway. I saw Katarina Witt very briefly bend her skating knee at just the time she bent at the waist to bring the free leg up to its full height. As she straightened the skating knee, she slipped into spiral position. That tiny little momentary bend has made all the difference for me. I practiced it at home, and tried it tonight for the first time with great results. I've also noticed on tape, that when Todd Eldredge enters a spin, you can really see him straighten his skating leg and go up on the (not quite) tip of the blade. My FI Mohawks are often better after I've replayed an elite FI Mohawk several times.

I'm always looking at how the elite skaters do all the simple things that are so hard for me. Does anyone else watch their tapes like this?

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Well, not totally. I usually watch for choreography and sometimes the jump timings. But then again i watch on the computer which is why I can't see too much of what is going on.

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Tidesong

I watch recordings of elite skaters and learn from them. I record skating competitions and shows on Tivo (digital recorder) and then I can pause and replay moves in slow motion. It has helped me a lot to see exactly how they enter jumps and spins (my weak areas). Most recently, I have been watching the entrance to axels in order to improve my entrance to the waltz jump.

~Anna

Interesting topic. I don't watch with the sole purpose of learning tips, but I have been known to try out things I've seen Michelle Kwan or someone do. I also look for interesting combinations of steps or sequences, or positions, etc. And jump entrances too, sometimes, the timing and upper body position on the takeoff etc.

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"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

I've done this too. When I was sort of teaching myself the salchow, I watched tapes of Tara Lipinski--her technique is slightly different from many skaters, and watching it in slo-mo helped me understand where I just wasn't getting it.

I think watching tapes of the elite can be a big help, especially if you're a visual learner.

All the time! My tapes of the compulsory dances from the last 3 Olympics are a lifesaver. My only regret is that I don't have more of them. I was just watching the Argentine yesterday, trying to figure out where I was going wrong on my twizzle, and today it was fixed! Thank God for Bourne and Kraatz and the slo-mo button.

I sit down in front of the TV and VCR watching Irina and slow-mo all her jumps to see every part of her prep and take-off....It helps alot to see everything, and her technique is amazing!

oh yeah since tara lipinski was mentioned... one of the things that isn't too good for her is really good for me. the lack of footwork into her jumps. this makes her jump entries very clear to watch and you can see which part of the body goes where for a normal take off. It helped when i was learning the singles ( so long on axel and 2 sal now i nearly forgot about that) to understand where the take off came from

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Tidesong

Sometimes it help, especially if you're currently coachless.

The 2toe was always a troublesome jump for me. I couldn't prevent myself from over swinging my free leg after doing the RFI 3-turn entrance, and my former coaches were having me try all different kind of entrances into the jump. One day I slow-mo Ming Zhang 3toe, and I saw that he used a straight entrance for his RFI 3-turn and remain on a straight edge before reaching back for the toe pick. There was no curve at all on the turn. I worked to copy his entrance and now I'm able to control my 2toe better. It's still not a consistent jump for me but I am landing it a lot more often than I used to when I had coaches.

But a lot of time it doesn't seem to do much good to copy the video though. It doesn't matter how many lutzes I watched in slow-mo, I still get stuck on the take-off for my 2lutzes attempt.