It took me forever but finally did my best scratch spin ever!! Woho! I couldn't believe how fast I was going, and a very long spin! Anyway I need a little help though. I tried many ways to enter the scratch spin and none seem to be working for me. I eather wind up leaning foward, traveling, or spinning on my toe. Can someone give me some advice. A youtube viedo clip would be the best though! (Asking for much I know!) I asked my coaches (yeah I have 2) for some help but neither seem to notice because whenever I do it arround them it is fine but a little slow.

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What Nourishes Me Destroys Me

Just a congratulations you've had you're best scratch spin ever. The best spin I can do is a two-foot spin (two revolutions)!

If I could jump as far as I travel on my spins I could do triples

Best advice: at the end of every session, do scratch spins and don't leave until you get one that's sort of centered.

Lyle

My best spins were ones in which I was totally RELAXED!!!! When I tense up, they get crappy. You have to have a relaxed tenseness about you with only certain parts in tension (arms, legs)....and when you rush the spin you get trouble also. Try slowing it down and taking it easy and letting the spin happen on it's own.

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

thanks for the advise!

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What Nourishes Me Destroys Me

Congratulations!!

For centering, try doing your scratch spin on a line from a T position. Do a very small, round entrance edge and don't start the spin until you have come back to the line (a full 180 degrees or half circle). Look at your ice marks afterwards to see if you *really* came back to the line. Also, keep your free leg way behind you until you have come back to the line, then bring it through very gently and in a very controlled manner. On the entrance edge, make sure to bend your knee very deeply and keep your shoulders level.
To keep from getting on your toepick, keep your skating knee a little bit bent the whole time (never completely straighten it), and press the ball of your blade into the ice harder and harder as your spin gets faster.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics