OK, this may be a silly question, but I am still waiting on our rink to reopen so I can start back with lessons . . . and I've been working really hard on the upright spin over the summer on my own, but I can't quite piece this together with my books and videos! (I'm a CCW skater, for reference purposes).

When you are entering a forward upright spin from backwards crossovers . . . you hold the RBI, then step forward onto a left LFO, "hook" the 3 and end up spinning on the left inside edge. I know you want to try to keep the free leg back until you hook the 3, and then you bring it to the front . . . but do you bring it "through" or do you swing it around in a more circular path? And what is the final position that you want the free leg to end up in? bent or straight? is it supposed to be at the 2 o'clock position? (and let's say for argument's sake that I am actually going to bring the leg all the way down into a scratch spin).

This is my preference, but I like to bring my free leg around (circular path) to get some snap and momentum into the spin. I bring it around to about 1 or 2 o'clock, and my knee is bent. My arms are in a circular position in front of me, and my right arm is directly over my right leg (I think about it as having the right arm and leg connected by a string). I hold it there for a few revolutions, and then begin pulling it in and down.

Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN_NurlaXKA

Some people prefer bringing the free leg out to the side, or having it straight. I've played around with starting positions for the scratch spin and went with what looked best and got the spin centered Eventually, I'd like to get my free leg out a little straighter at the beginning.

Good luck

ETA: I just re-watched my video and saw that I hold the free leg more out to the side. That video was from May, I think. Now, I hold the leg more in front (at about 1 or 2 o'clock).

I used to pull my groin muscle when I was first learning the scratch spin because I used to swing the leg high and wide around to the front. It would get sort of stuck out to the side and pull, not to mention it was really hard to center the spin. Everything got better when I started keeping the free leg closer and lower to the ice and gently passing it from back to front instead. Also, don't bring it to the front until you have done a full half circle on the entrance edge and started the 3-turn. If you feel resistance against bringing the leg around to the front, that means you are trying to bring it forward too early. BTW, for the sitspin, you DO need to swing the free leg around wide.

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

OK, now see, on the sitspin, it's the FINAL position I am having a little difficulty with . . . LOL!! I've been working hard on those one-legged quats though, so hoping for some signs of improvement once I actually get back on ice!

I think right now my tendency (scratch spin) is to bring the leg around and kind of low . . . but it just doesn' t seem to be ending up high enough at the end . . . eventually the idea is to have the thigh parallel to the ice, right?

Thanks for the link!! I love to see visuals!!

When you bring the free leg straight through from back to front instead of swinging around, it's easier to get it higher because you just lift the thigh as it comes through to the front. The thigh does not have to be parallel to the ice, though; trying to get it that high will probably put you too far back on your blade.

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

Double, you're a genius, I could totally kiss you.

This is what I do too, except I don't bend my knee. You definitely want to keep the leg and arm in the same 'vertical space', like they're connected. If you bring either one around before the other one, you'll torque and twist. (With more experience, I'm sure this can be glossed over and done 'incorrectly' and still spin decently, but I couldn't really spin at all until I got this down.)

What I would do with the leg is turn the free leg out from the hip just a bit--so that when I wanted to bring my leg in, I could simply bend the knee, leaving the thigh exactly where it was. I didn't have to change the position of the hip in order to bring the leg in and push the foot down.

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www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

Okay! :* Ha ha!

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

Thanks doubletoe. Never ever did I know why my groin muscle hurt. You gave me the answer!

LOL I tried it on the spin trainer and I could suddenly do a lot more rotations on it - I'm gonna guess this is gonna make the spin more centered on ice too.
Which I get the chance to try coming friday.