I started skating about two months ago and I STILL cannot spin. My maximum two foot spin is 3 rotations and the one foot is like one and a half!

Everytime I try to spin my blade gets stuck in the ice and it's driving me nuts! And I get all confused when it comes to the edge you should spin on and so on. What am I doing wrong?! How do you enter a spin correctly? Can anyone describe me please the "right" way to spin....?

Thank you, sooo much!

can you do back crossovers clockwise?
-if not, you should learn because it is the most stable spin entrance, in my opinion at least

another entrance that i learned later, and does not quite give you as stable of an edge in to the spin is a right forward inside 3-turn in to a left forward outside edge. To make this one work arm positioning is critical on the entrance or its difficult to center...you would really be better off with the crossovers entrance which teaches good centering but is difficult to describe. Get a coach to show you.

there are also flying entrances but you have to get regular entrances and backspins first to be able to do them.

I'm assuming you are using a pivot right now. Don't. Learn the proper entrance as soon as you can b/c pivot spins get you in a bad habit and you really need to learn proper positioning early on. After you have your spins perfect you can use a pivot type entrance if you want, but most people prefer not to anyway.

if you're getting stuck you are probably either too far forward or too far back on your blade...try different positions...you should be spinng on the sweet spot which is between the middle of the blade and the toepick, so your toe should be slightly pointed when you spin.

do you have a coach?

Welcome to figure skating! If you've only been skating two months, you're not doing too bad to be spinning at all . Are you taking lessons? What kind of skates are you wearing? Often, when skates are too big or don't provide enough support, the skater is on the inside edges instead of over the blades properly. That can stop a spin, and would be my first guess without more info.

Before you consider entering a spin from back crossovers, you need to have a stable two foot spin. One foot spins are taught from the two foot spin initially and can be done without any particular entry. There is a teaching progression to get from two foot spins to one foot spins with entry from back crossovers, and having lessons is the best way to learn.

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...and be crazy too! Okay, I am crazy, and I know many regular entrances and quite a few oddball ones. Now if I could just get the darn backspin better...

Skate blades with a good rocker are imperitive for spinning, and rentals and cheap skate blades are usually too flat (not to mention lacking necessary support).

But 3 revolutions after 2 months of skating is quite good. It takes a long time to get spins better...it's slow, tedious work. You'll get there if you persist, but it will take time.

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(I'm no way as experienced/skilled as most of the others here, but here goes anyway lol! )

I totally agree with dbny - you are doing really well if you're learning spins after only 2 months.

As Casey said, skates with a good rocker are imperative for spinning (I found this out the hard way lol!), and it is important to try and keep the foot/ankle as upright as possible, so you need boots with a lot of support in.

When you do a one-foot spin, make sure you start the spin on a bended knee, and when you pull in your arms and free leg, straighten the knee. When the knee is bent you put more 'pressure' on the ice to help centre the spin, and when you straighten the knee the 'pressure' on the ice is released - which helps give the momentum to spin.

S xx

I'm having a similar problem - but I've been skating for rather more than two months!

When I spin on the ice, I automatically go up on my toe as if I was trying to spin on the floor. Consequently, my toepick grinds a hole into the ice and I come to a rapid stop. Is that what you mean by your blade getting stuck in the ice? If so, I find that it helps to *think* about putting my heel down a bit more. It's usually enough to get the spin in the right place on the blade.

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Yeah that works well too.

S xxx

It took me years to get my spins fast and consistent. The reason being was that at the time I wasn't wearing correctly fitted boots - they were in fact a good inch too long and therefore the blade was too long so I was spinnging on the wrong part of the blade. So firstly having correctly fitted skates helps tremendously.

Two months is no time at all. I don't think most skaters even attempt spinnig when they've only been skating for two months, so the fact that you are trying is great.

As others have said, good knee bend is essential as you push into your spin. As you start to spin come up in the knee as you bring in your arms and free leg.

Other than that, it's just a case of doing lots of practice to get the feeling.

Nicki

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Which is why she shouldn't rush it and get the 2 foot spin down better before going on to the 1 foot spin... my 2 cent, for what they're worth.

@Wannabesk8r,

Sounds to me like we both have the same problem when it comes to spins... that is if I read "my blade gets stuck" correctly and you're refering to spinning on the toe pick. That's my biggest challenge with spinning (I don't have the problem with any other moves) I have the hardest time centering my weight! It took me a few months before I could finally do a 2 foot spin without immediately ending up spinning on my left toe pick and I still catch myself every once in a while using it but! But I've managed to do atleast 5 revolutions even when getting stuck on the darned pick.

Now my 1 foot spin is a totally different story... I' been working on it for almost a year now and still can't keep off the pick!
Should I decide to get back into lessons (should I ever be able to find a coach) and competing I will definitely check into getting new skates with better blades and probably a somewhat lower heel... I have a feeling that's part of the problem.

Thanks!

And no I don't take any lessons. I wear Riedells by the way!

Yes, that is exactly what's happening to me! I either can't balance or center myself, I don't know...

PS. Thanks for all the advice everyone!!!!

I daresay I never learned a two-foot spin and as far as I know nor did any other skaters at my rink. We were just taught one-foot spins right from the beginning.

Nicki

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If your rink is doing the SkateUK programme for its beginners now, they'll be taught the 2-foot spin. We learnt to skate too long ago.....

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True, it was a while ago now . Our rink don't run the SkateUK programme but have its own equivalent. I expect the two-foot spin is included now, I don't know. Not learning to spin on two-feet never affected my ability to do a decent one-foot spin though so I certainly don't see it as a pre-requisite!

Nicki

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I never learnt a 2-foot spin either. In fact I still can't do one properly, yet I have no problem with my one foot spin from any entrance you like, so it's not a pre-requisite for a one foot spin. My first program spin was from a mohawk to the RBI edge windup position. I understand the principle behind teaching a one foot spin from a two foot spin first but I could never do it. I think I was shown the one-foot from a pivot entrance to start with but I wasn't good at that either. Once I got the idea of the back crossovers entry it was much easier. You do really need someone to show you that entrance though as it is hard to explain and you need to be comfortable gliding on a RBI edge.

For getting more rotations once you have entered the spin the best tip I had was to practice keeping the free leg and arm out as long as possible (at least a full rotation - took me ages to manage this!) with the skating leg still bent, before bringing the free leg and arm in together and straightening the skating leg, to speed up the spin. This helps to ensure you are centred which is the secret to a good spin. If you pull in without being centred you will travel or fall out of the spin (not fall down but have to put the free foot down)

Another tip I found useful was to press down with the little toe - not sure why it works but it did for me! Though if you are digging in your toe-pick it may not help with that!

You are doing well to be spinning at all after such a short time!

I second the notion to not raise up right away on your skating leg...keep it slightly bent for a few revolutions while you get your center before straightening up. This was the thing that did the trick for me.

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