I am so fustrated. My spins have finally been sooo much better - centered, faster, and I even was able to go from the normal upright to learning the scratch spin position, etc.

Every since yesterday, my spins all of a sudden are AWFUL! They arent even spins They travel ( they are basically a bunch of small 3 turns), I cant get the right spot on the blade, no chance of hitting a scratch spin postition, etc. Its so weird to, since I dont feel I am doing anything different.
Has this happened to anyone before? Any advice on how to get back on track with them? (I realize it is just 2 bad days but the difference is sooo big I am worried I wont get my spins back )

I'm just racing through the Board, but when was the last time you had the blades sharpened?

__________________

Skating skills come and go and spins are especially bad for this. I expect that once you realised you'd lost your ability to spin you panicked and tried harder. You probably ended up trying too hard! It happens to us all, but the consistency does get better over time.

Nicki

__________________
www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

My first piece of advice is that in skating there can be a lot of inconsistency. It's like one day you have given spin/jump/move and then the next it's gone. But don't worry, as frightening as it seems it could be gone forever, it's really not. Chances are you've been working that move so much that your muscles are weak and tired. You probably just need to rest and stop working on it in order for it to come back.

That being said, I can offer a few exercises that I know to be useful. I guess first of all I'm confused since you referenced going from a "normal upright" to the scratch spin position. When you say "normal upright" do you mean your free leg is held to the side of your skating leg in a bent manner looking like a stork of a flamingo? And when you mention working on a "scratch spin position" do you mean keeping the free leg extended parallel to the ice after the three turn and then bending the free leg from the knee and pulling it in crossing it over the skating leg? First I need to understand exactly how you are trying to spin.

My idea is to practice your spin by standing on one of the lines painted into the ice. Stand in a t position and push off from the edge of your right foot (if you are a CCW spinner). Make sure you "reach" the line before you do the three turn. This gives you a deep enough edge to allow the spin to happen. Make sure that your free leg and free shoulder are travelling together..don't let your shoulder whip ahead of your leg, and never whip your free leg around..this will greatly throw off the spin. Some schools of practice teach for the skating arm to come across the body and "clean the table" while skating on the forward outside edge. I've had a coach that insists for the arms to stay completely open (like while ice dancing). After you turn the three turn make sure the skating knee is still bent. Do not "pop" out of the knee after the three turn. This can throw your body weight around and uncentre your spin. The next important piece of advice is to make sure you are centred before you pull the free leg in. If you bring the free leg in too quickly without being centred it will only increase the speed of your spin, cause you to rock onto the toe pick, and travel out of control.

I urge you to watch other skaters too from the boards. Watch the younger, inexperienced skaters who are just learning to spin. Chances are they bring their free leg in too quickly before they find their centre. Watch the older, experienced skaters...they don't pop out of their knee, they find their centre, and when they do pull their free leg in it increases the speed of the spin without making it travel.

I wish you the best of luck...the forward upright spin is actually very difficult. It will go through many stages. The upright spin is not fully mastered in the ISI FS1. Even FS5 skaters have work to do on their forward upright spin. Just keep practicing!!

newskater: Every time I lose my spins to small 3 turns it has to do with a small drop in my shoulder. Not sure if that is what your issue is but it always is for me. I do not even realize it but my coach or friends point it out. The drop is slight and can be on either side. Makes all the difference in the world to me. As soon as I concentrate more on the shoulders the better it becomes again. Seems the first few spins I do in every practice are always traveled.

My back scratch nightmare is because no matter how I try to keep my shoulders in place, I am unable to keep them there long when trying to deal with my right foot.

Hope you figure it out...I know it is frustrating to get and then lose something for a while. Good luck.

Yes, I find that there are a few things I start doing wrong once I go on "automatic" with spins:

- not keeping my shoulders level (I tend to let the leading shoulder dip as I push out onto the entrance edge)
- not curling the entrance edge enough (i.e., not making a full half circle with my entrance edge before starting the spin)
- not keeping my free leg back long enough
- not bending deeply enough, or keeping it bent long enough

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

Thank you all so much! The spins were better today - not what they were - but better than the mess they were yesterday. I will keep working on IDing what I do wrong - that is the hardest thing for me - I cant yet feel when I drop a shoulder -

Thanks again!

Join the club! I've just learned that it's always one of those things, so I focus on each of them one at a time and see if it fixes it.

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

I had the same thought as ISK8NYC - are your skates due for sharpening or was the ice harder? When my skates are dull, I have to force the positions more and they are more likely to be a mess. My coach commented on how not sharp my skates were on the landing of my f/camel yesterday because the first revolution was a little skid-y but "stuck" and did manage to spin relatively fast for 4-5 revs.

My skates are OK - not just sharpened but definatley not dull yet. The rink I was at the last two days is much harder ice (hockey rink mostly), so that may have effected me, but last week my spins there were great, so its probably my shoulders, knee, leg or all of the above haha

Oh - the question from before:
I consider an upright spin the basic spin I first learned - spin on one foot with free leg bent to the knee of the skating leg (but not crossed over). The scartch spin is where I actually cross the legs

Well If it makes you feel any better, I'm coming off of months of poorly centered scratch spins.
What helps me get over this hump is to work "little" spin sets, i.e. spins so small that you just step and spin immediately without a long entry edge and work on hitting a nice, square (shoulders too now!) set position. I find that I have to re-establish the ratio of push off force to leg swing force and popup on the skating knee force. You know that you have something here wrong/ out of proportion if you have trouble holding the free leg up with the arms kept out to the sides. If you must bring in your arms to hold the position then chances are you are forcing the snap or the rise too soon.
Went right for me this AM, good luck
Lyle