Hi

On another skating forum, I have been told that as I do as a normal right handed person would, I shall be jumping to the left and spinning on the left. I thought that that only applies to people who are left handed.

I am now confused.

Which way should I jump and spin: to the left or to the right?

londonicechamp

Whichever way works for you. I doubt it usually goes according to "handedness." I plan on trying to learn to spin and jump both ways, though I suspect I'm naturally a clockwise spinner (figures, I'd have to be difficult). My former instructor told me that from watching the way I skate, she thinks I'm right about clockwise spinning, but that I might turn out to be a COUNTERclockwise jumper. Nothing like making things really confusing.

The right way is the one that is most comfortable. I write and eat right handed but all sports are "left handed" - CW jumper and spinner, bat left, throw left, play hockey left, left handed agility handler (run CW courses better with my dogs and use left hand dominantly with calls such as go and like to have the right side as the off hand as much as possible). There is no "right way for handedness".

I don't think handedness has much to do with it at all, though it may help you identify your dominate side.

Just decide whichever is "easier" for you, and decide that is your direction and stick with it. Or, if you want some stress at the beginning, but excellent abilities when you are advanced, learn both directions. (To me, this would be more confusion than it is worth trying to remember which is a flip and which is a toe loop, etc)

A way the coaches I first worked with did it was to stand behind us, and call our name (without telling us what they were doing)- the shoulder you turned over to answer them was your rotational direction.

Other coaches have said things like "which side would you throw a baseball, kick a soccerball, etc" and the hand it comes from is your "side"- if you do all this with your right side, then you are a CCW skater, with your left side, you are CW. That's where the right-hand CCW, left hand CW comes from. But just because you write with your left hand doesn't mean you would kick a soccer ball with your left leg, so coaches try to establish your dominant side.

The name calling worked for me, I went CW... but I'm very right side dominate. My "sidedness" comes from poor dance training, I spent the majority of my life doing almost only CW turns. So I've had to gain strength in my left leg to be my landing leg, because I'm not left side dominant, I just prefer spinning that way. When I originally started I jumped and spun in opposite directions, but a skate director strongly suggested I picked whichever one I preferred and stick with it. (Apparently for loop jumps?) I decided it would be easier to learn to land on the left leg then to rotate CCW.

oops, sorry this was long.

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-Jessi
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I have fraternal twin daughters who skate. The left-handed DD skates CCW and the right-handed DD skates CW - totally against the stereotype of "lefty=CW / righty=CCW." Handedness means nothing in skating and I refuse to let my students use it as an excuse to avoid learning 3-turns on their weaker side, lol.

There's a simple test I use for new students. I have them stand facing the wall on the ice. I put my glove on the ice behind them and then move to be in front of them.

Then I tell them to turn around and gently nudge the glove with the toe of one foot. The way they turn and the foot they use tells me their skating direction and stronger foot. If they turn CCW and kick with their right foot, they should concentrate on CCW and vice versa.

Skates have to be fitted and tied properly, and the test doesn't work well on crappy rentals or pond skates. Good equipment is really important.

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Hi techskater

I am a bit like you, eat and do everything mostly left handed, though do all my jumps and spins facing the right, as I feel more comfortable that way.

The confusion is coz on another skating forum, I have been told by another member that I am jumping and spinning the wrong way, as most people jump and spin to the left.

My coach does know that I am stronger on my left hand side too, as from the moves that she asked me to do, such as F crossovers and backward crossovers, she can tell that I am stronger on the left.

londonicechamp

Stand still on the ice with both feet. Now, without thinking about it, turn. Which direction did you turn it? That's probably the direction you'll be most comfortable jumping and spinning in.

Incidentally, with the IJS being what it is, it does help to learn to spin in both directions!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

If you are a CW skater you are a "wrong way" skater. It's not because you are doing it "incorrectly"- it's that it's the less common side (though I'm not sure it's really THAT less common.)

It used to be that coaches would not let a skater skate in their prefered direction, everyone had to skate CCW, so CW was wrong. Now, most coaches have skater skate in the direction they prefer, so there is no "wrong" way, but many people still jokingly refer to CW as "wrong".

If you like that direction, you are doing it right.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
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Well know CW skaters:
Sara Hughes (Olympic Champion)
Ashley Wagner
Roselyn Sumners (Olympic Silver Medalist)
Kristine Musademba (JGP this season)
Tim Goebel (the Quad King)

I think Alissa Czisny is a CW spinner as well.

I've run into a few coaches that still think CW is wrong and make their skaters do everything CCW. One was a jumping "expert" who said she if she had a skater who was CW she would make them skate CCW, because it's too hard to turn everything for the CW skater. Riled me up a bit, because I am a CW skater.

"To the left" usually means CCW, toward your left side, the "right-handed" way. If you are left-handed, typically you skate "to the right", or CW. Rotational preference and handedness have a correlation but it isn't absolute.

A few kids in my LTS classes asked me why we only do jumps and spins one way. It sounded like a silly question until I realized that all preceeding moves are learned turning in both directions, on left and right. Perceptive!

We have one woman at my rink that is right-handed but jumps & spins in both directions equally well! She isn't sure which direction is her natural direction!

My daughter is right-handed but jumps/spins CW; I'm right-handed and I go CCW. You try hard to bring them up right....

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Whichever direction you feel most natural & comfortable, is prolly your strongest side. - And should this change oh well, so much the better, as this way (like ambidextrous) you can learn spins & jumps in both (CCW<-left) & (CW->right) directions.

I'm left handed for writing, right handed for all except raquet sports. I'm fairly ambidextrous through most life skills. I skate CCW, and it was never a question.

I've seen coaches who impose their direction on students, there is never a question of going the other way.

At our rink we have approximately 1/3 of our skaters are reverse (CW) skaters, which seems a high proportion. Perhaps because coaches are very open finding out the skaters' natural direction.

I've only come across one person who did spins CW and jumps CCW, though she wasn't a very high level skater.

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

When I as a kid, I started doing everything CW (I'm left handed). LTS instructors tried to "fix" me (years ago they tired to correct everyone who jumped/spun the wrong way) but were only able to fix my jumps, so I was jumping CCW and spinning CW. Talk about frustrating. I eventually quit freestyle and just did synchro (no jumping or spinning ) but when we had to start spinning in programs, I had to re-learn to spin and it had to be CCW. Now that I do freestyle again, I do everything "right handed" (which is also in line with other sports, I golf R handed), although some turns come easier on the L than on the R. I can jump in both directions through a flip if I really try/think but can't spin CW any more to save my life. Might start playing around with spins though in anticipation for moving up to gold next year.

We have identical twins at my rink, one is CCW and the other CW. I can't tell them apart by looking at them unless I see them skate!

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How did I never know this?! Me too!! I can't really jump in both directions anymore, but can still do sit spin, back spin, scratch, back camel, flying camel CW. Used to have a pretty good CW layback but stopped practicing it after I successfully switched it to CCW.

Yup. Johnny Weir, too.

It's rather inconvenient to be a CW skater, but oh well. Can't really change a natural inclination.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

Yah got that right about the inconveniemce, especially if you are on a session with a lot of low level ice dancers who have a hard time getting out of the way!

I'm the only one in my class who is CCW....so I'm the odd one out!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I skate "right";that is I spin and jump CCW.

I can however do some elements CW.

Waltz Jump
Toe Loop
Forward Spin (I didn't start spinning CW until I saw Joannie Rochette do it on the end of one of her spins in order to get an extra feature for her spin. So instead of having an USp, I can have a CUSp under CPC.)

I can spin upto 15, 16 revs CCW in an USp but as soon as I change to the CW direction, I can only eek out 2 to 4 revs.

As far as doing Mohawks, I perfer to do mine RFI over LFI. Same with 3 turns; LFO and RFI over RFO and LFI.

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I think my dominant side is CCW. I jump CCW more naturally (I think so) but having the right foot last to leave the ice makes it easier for me to jump. And I jump nicer CW.

I prefer LFO3 and RFI3 too. It seems more natural. But I can do RFO3 and LFI3 better.

She's CW spinner and jumper.

I can spin both ways. My first natural way to spin was CW. But my coach taught me CCW. I spin really well that direction now and I jump that direction naturally. But, we are working on my other spinning direction as well... Its not as strong, but still fun to play with.

When you were a little kid and you would spin around and around on the grass till you got dizzy and fell down - do you remember which direction you turned in? Go that way

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