Anita and Mel, your wish is my command!!! (Well, sorta! I need one too!!!)

Well, I'm still occasionally going on the BO edge after the FI3 (LFI3 in my and Mel's case.) But immediately I end up going on the inside edge right away. My primary coach had mentioned that I now have a habit of doing double 3's now. He wants me to STAY on that BO edge once I get on it. And the poor guy had to endure more and more of my "close calls" with getting a backspin.

A fellow skater at coffee club got me thinking about keeping my shoulder squared and arms equiladistance and about cheat height That definitely helped me. I remember Jocelyn's advice about keeping the arms open at 180 going into the FI edge to the three turn. But trying to keeping it open for one rev. definitely helps to keep me more stable!!! The best tip I got though was from another fellow poster who PM'ed me on old FSWorld and told me to practice doing FI3 and staying on the BO edge!

So...it's "better...still no good!!!"

Cheers,
jazzpants

My problem is the entrance too. I've seen a lot of coaches enter it on a flat, then go on the sweet spot when they pull in. When I try that, I go on a really awkward inside-ish edge and it's no good. To counteract that, I try to hook the spin with my toepick but then I end up leaning precariously some way or the other afterwards. So, I suppose the right way for me is somewhere in the middle, right? :wink: I think my problem is that I can't keep my body straight and square, since I'm concentrating on my balance first. When I had my good backspin days, my posture came naturally and thus the blade position was a lot easier to obtain. Sigh. I think I need to have a mantra for this: "Straight and square! Straight and square!"

On an interesting note, I was watching another skater do forward spins, and this particular skater has some of the most stable spins at my rink. After observing her, my posture on the backspin instantly improved. Must be some sort of subliminal message she was sending...

Anita

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just remove a few body parts and put them aside while we concentrate on getting what's left in a good position? You know, take off the arms until the feet go where they're supposed to (on a consistent basis!), then add one arm, then the other.....I never knew I had so many pieces going in so many different directions than when I started trying the backspin!

I too have had difficulties with the backspin until just recently. For the longest time it came and went, mostly went to be honest. Not too many weeks ago I began work on the change foot sit spin and camel. Well, working on the push into the backsit and the backsit itself was the magic I needed to get this trick. I'm far from a champ to say the least, but I do have a consistent spin that I know how to get. My tip is to work on the backsit.

Chico

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"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

My problems come and go, usually to do with being on the back of the blade or the inside edge.
My tip that works for me is after the 3 turn, is to keep my left arm/shoulder back (CW skater) until I am ready to pull in.

Practising the 3 turn and keeping on LBO edge is not a problem for me.
It's getting into a spin from that postion that's the hard part.

I occasionally end up on the toe pick in my desperation to keep off the back of the blade, and that is more terrifying than anything, when I get stuck.

I've tried back pivots, change sits, change parallels, but nothing helps.

I manage about 33.3% at the moment, with about 5 or 6 revs maximum.
The other 66.6% are rubbish.

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Mel,

Remember to press your chin forward and your hips back in the sit spin, forward or back. This will keep you on the front and not the back of your blade. I also agree with the counter check of the the shoulder. My coach is always reminding me of this!

Good luck,

Chico

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"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

My coach just started me on this today. I can barely do a one foot spin, forget a scratch spin, but she has me coming out of the one foot spin, checking and then doing a back pivot into a back spin. Yeah, right. How hard is this going to be? Years of work? Like everything else?????? LOL, we have to just keep at it. Eventually, it all comes together. And if you are lucky, you may keep some of the hair on your head. Jeanette :?

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Better late than never!