Any thoughts ideas how to get faster spins and more revolutions for beginners? Thanks

What kind of spin are we talking here? Two foot? One foot? What kind of entrance?

First, make sure you have a good center. Then pull in and maintain a strong core.

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One foot and two foot basic spins (very beginner) stand still position

You pull in and you make sure your toepicks aren't touching the ice once you're in the spin. You do NOT punch into the spin, as this will uncenter it and be counterproductive.

Take the spin easy. Get a good push into the spin, let the edge bring you around until where it wants to flip you over, there you swing around and into the spin - don't fight against the edge, this will uncenter you and make you lose power. Try to let the ice do all the work.

Try to lead with your shoulder into the spin instead of punching with the other shoulder into the spin. Beating yourself across the chest doesn't really do the trick. The most important thing in a spin is technique, and you can only learn that with patience and taking it slow. Make sure your hips and shoulders are level and squared, and tighten the abdomen.

Then, when you're centered - pull everything in. My suggestion would be hands in first, then arms and legs in. This will already generate a LOT of speed and revolution. Experiment around with what works - supposedly, it's harder to center a spin with the free leg crossed over the standing leg, but I find it easier personally than keeping the leg out all the time.

Also, try a different entry edge. A forward inside 3 - forward outside 3 entry edge generates more speed for some spins than crossovers do.

One of the big probs beginners have is allowing their feet to spread. Keep them together in the spin. Also beginners tend to have trouble bending their knees enough in the wind-up to create sufficient push into the rotation. Stand up straight knees soft.

Kay

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flo's advice is right on, about being centered, pulling in, and maintaining a strong core. You can try some different entrances to get a little momentum going, rather than starting from a standstill. You might try starting from a pivot - pick in with the foot on the same side as your spin direction. (That is, I spin counter-clockwise, so I pick in with my left foot.) Push with the other foot like a swizzle, so you're doing a forward pivot around the picking foot. Pull your arms in (which have been extended - I use an "L" shape with my right arm out to the side and my left extended in front - reverse for clockwise skaters). Maintain core and center, and you should have a faster spin than starting from a standstill. Alternatively, skate forward to get some speed up, do a two foot glide, then bend the knee on the side towards your spin direction, like you're doing a U-turn around a cone, and pull your arms in the same way. I get my fastest two foot spins from this gliding entry. You want to try to keep your shoulders and hips square as you pull your arms in - don't wrench your shoulders around ahead of your hips. Once you have a nice fast two foot spin, you can just pick up one foot for the one foot spin.

You gain speed by pulling in, but first you need to have something to pull in from. So make sure your spin is centered and your free leg and arms are out and rounded. If you can get centered and spin on the ball of your foot with your arms and free leg out, then you can increase speed by *gradually* pulling the arms and leg in. Imagine you're holding a big beach ball and squeezing it gradually, feeling the resistance against your arms as you pull in.

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There are a couple things you can do to speed up a spin while in the middle of a spin. The first thing is to pull in. The second thing is to stay off your toe pick (technically that prevents the spin from slowing down not speeding it up)

One thing one coach said to the beginner kids to help with their spins, was to try and keep them as quiet as possible. You shouldn't be able to hear the spin, because the odds are if you can hear it, it's the toe pick. I actually found that one a really good one to make the spin less scratchy whilst practicing and it's a simple one for a young child to comprehend.

i like to think about squeezing my knees together on the two-foot spin...that really helps on that one.

for the one-foot spin, i used to tell my kids to "stretch up-like a string is pulling them up" and that helps keep them from losing good posture which slows them down...once they get the hang of stretching up, they speed up!

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