This morning, upon telling my coach all about Halloween Classic and that at least 2 of my competitors did either camels or catch camels, my coach decided that it's time for me to chuck it up and work on the camel.
To be honest I'm scared sh#$%^less about this spin? Any good ideas about tossing the fear aside??

Oh, good news Terri! The camel is just about my favorite thing to do in skating.

All I can say is that it takes tons of practicing to achieve the right balance/position.

Also, how secure is your left forward outside spiral?

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Are you kidding NoVa? Jill looked at that first thing and told me get my rear end back on the stretch bandwagon- I had taken a break because of HC.
Are you back on the ice yet?

Is your fear about possibly falling forward once you're in position? The back position for the camel is a lot like the spirial - arched, with your chin (and eyes!) up, from the very moment you start to enter the spin. If you are looking down at the ice when you spin (or enter the spin), like a lot of people do when they first learn, you might be afraid to fall forward. My coach always reminds me "eyes up" and basically that at no point in the spin should the skater be looking down at the ice. Once I heeded that advice, I now have 5-6 solid, reliable rotations on my camel in position (and have never tipped forward).

Hope that helps! Give it a whirl! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

philly

I am back on the ice, but it's only so that Loops and I can choreograph our holiday number. My hamstrings are still tight.

We have a bunch of cool little moves, incorporating spread eagles, side-by-side hydroblades, and perhaps sbs camel spins!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
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Yup, Philly that's it, especially since about 5 years ago, I fell face first on a scratch spin and had a nasty concussion and a broken wrist- nice Christmas present that year!

Oh, dear!

Let's not even bring up the topic of the flying camel, then!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

But NoVa, your spins ROCK!! Oh, and your flexibility makes me want to scream!!

Haha. Thanks; I've worked long and hard on my spins (I hate jumping).

I meant, let's not even talk about the injuries that people suffer upon learning the flying camel. I recall skinning my left arm once upon a time in Hillsborough, NC.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Phillyskater is right; the most important thing to stay safe in the camel is to keep your head up! Like any other time in skating, your body will try to follow your head.

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I need a detachable left foot!

Hi Loops/Nova,
What pair camels do you do?

Tango camel. We were working on the regular pair camel for a while, then John Z taught us the tango which was so much easier. Plus the regular one hurt my shoulder the last couple of times we tried it.

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Where are those knives when I need them?
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I need a detachable left foot!

I really like it as well. Since you two have good positions, you can go from a tango to a headchopper camel (you crouch down and he goes over your head in a camel position) then you come up. Easier than it sounds.
You can also both go down into a crouch position on one foot - it reminds me of a birdcage. Also, once in a tango, I use to flop over, so I would actually be under him, looking up - like a lay over camel.
I'm sure Nick can show you if you need help - have fun!

Sounds extremely dangerous. Can't wait to try it!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Tell me about it! My problem is that I start to fall in toward the inside and then the spin's gone. And then of course, there are the times that the spin stops before it starts, like at the Halloween Classic.

Timing's very important- I have the tendency to want to get up into the position too soon, rathering than waiting for the 3 turn into it to happen. There are so many things that can go wrong with a camel spin-- arm, leg, and head position, etc. It's still not very strong for me, and I've been attempting them for almost 9 years! Luckily, I've never had a bad fall on a camel- just on a flying camel attempt. Typically my right leg comes slamming down on the ice when I can't get into the position. Good luck, Terri!

skatingaddy is rite--> Timing's very important- I have the tendency to want to get up into the position too soon, ......

to fix that stay low and bend your leg...untell you have turned and found yourself spining in 1 spot and you are balenced then start to straten your leg...but dont point your toe or your pick will hit the ice and you will lose your ballence!
hope this helps! good luck!

If you spin ccw ...

Don't drop your left shoulder on the entrance. Rise up onto the spin. Don't kick the free leg up before skating knee rises into the spin; otherwise, you'll make a deep inside edge circle and fall out of the spin.

My problem with the camel spin is that I have no problem doing a RFO spiral but have a hard time raising my right leg up for the LFO spiral.

There are lots of tips on how to do a camel *well* but those won't help you unless you can get over the fear, so here are my suggestions for a *safe* camel practice:

1. Stretch a lot so that you don't pull your hamstring or glute in your left leg.

2. Do lots of spirals on the left foot, including back spirals. Remember to arch.

3. Keep your face up from the moment you step onto your entrance edge. I find that it works best if I try to focus on the walls of the rink (I mean the actually building walls, not just the barriers)

4. Get down really low on your knee on the entrance edge and that will help you stay on your entrance edge longer and keep you from popping up prematurely.

5. Keep your skating knee bent for the first 1-2 full revolutions of the spin, and even when you straighten up, keep the knee soft, never locked. That will keep you off your toepick and also give you the ability to regain control over your spin if you start to lose it.

Have fun!

What really helped my camel spin was to remember to always keep the right arm back very strongly (spinning CCW). I bring it a little forward to initiate the snap and then pull back the right arm.

Also after watching some really excellent camel spins at regionals, I tried to keep my shoulders still going into the spin, and that helped a lot too.

My moves coach Nick (who is loops and Nova's pair coach), told me a very useful tip on the camel. He said to think of the word BALLS...I said, "Excuse me?"

Body
Arms
Legs

He said that is the best way to think about going into the camel to get the correct position. I have found it to be very useful. He also said to point you toe on the ice and the toes in the air. It gives you this arched position. He had told me to do this on my Novice spirals. He said that is what Dorothy Hamel used to do with both her spirals and camel spin. Your weigh is actually further back in your skate. It's a little hard to explain until you try it, but point both toes. It really works.

Also, keep you chin up. If you have a hard time doing this, look at the bottom of the glass around the rink.

Good luck!

Debbie - we had the same camel!
One thing I have to do now is remember to not force the edge into the spin. Apparently with my old boots and blades I needed to muscle into the spin. Now with actual edges and support, I can ride the edge in.