Hi Everyone,

I need some help with my forward camel. When I hit it, I can usually do about 10 revs. However....I only hit it about one in every 10 tries!

I usually bend down into it, and do a breast stroke like move with my arms (push them open) and snap up into it, rising on my spinning leg. However, i tend to go up over my toe pick and fall out. How do i fix this?

thanks!

There were several things that my coach showed me yesterday that did help improve my camel spin. First off, for my entrance, was given instructions to focus on my pinky toe of my foot in my skate. That helped keep me on an outside edge and keep my weight over that leg. My coach also instructed for me to think of doing one revolution on a bent knee and then rising into the full camel position. My right shoulder is to be kept back. I used to roll it forward constantly, also causing me to fail. One other thing to point out is keeping your free leg directly behind you into the entrance. I used to swing it slightly to the side of me, and it always caused me to fall out of a camel spin. I have a ways to go yet, but am working on all these elements to improve my camel spin. For me, talking shoulders and feet elements seem to help me a great deal.

Stay down on your knee in the spin for a full revolution before you straighten it.

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I second this suggestion. Not only does this help center the spin, but it creates more snap so that it's faster when you DO hit the position.

This is an old video of mine so the camels are a little slow for my liking, but it has camel spins in regular and slow motion. Looking at it, I'm really down in the knee for 1/2 a rev, then am rising up in the second half.

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thanks all - i will try to stay down in the knee before i snap up for a full rev - will try tonight and let you all know how it goes.

I second and third that suggestion. The other things that help me a lot are:
(1) Plant your spinning foot firmly onto the ice, bend the knee and THEN push onto the entrance edge. (Don't just push directly onto the entrance edge from your preparatory edge in one motion).
(2) Just before pushing out onto the entrance edge, make sure you are looking up and in the direction of travel (over your left shoulder if you spin CCW on your left foot).
(3) Keep your free leg way behind you on the entrance edge. I think of keeping it crossed behind my skating leg so that I'm a little like a dog chasing its tail.

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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

Good demo of the knee action. You bring your right arm so far forward, when I do that I face plant!

I think of reaching my left arm to my right foot, which is a trick for "arch your back".

I am realizing more and more that I now have to focus on staying bent in the knee for 1 revolution. If I keep my free leg straight behind me and remain down like this, I get a nice spin going and its easier for me to raise into the camel position fully and adjust my body as needed (keeping my free leg high). However, I usually fail keeping my free leg behind me or staying down. I get so anxious doing a camel spin. Its my worst spin other than back spin...which I think is now more improved than my camel.

One of these days camel spin will come together. Right now I've seen what I look like from the reflection of the boards. Yuck! >.<

I don't know about you, but in order for me to stay down in the knee for 1/2 revolution, I have to THINK I've stayed down for one full revolution! Isn't it funny how our bodies lie to our brains sometimes? LOL!

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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

Yeah my arm action on my camel is kind of funky, but it really works for me! I almost do 2 circles with my right arm. I bring it forward as I push into the spin, bring it up during the first 1/2 rev, then do a quick, smaller circle, as I fully rise up. I have NO idea where that timing came from and I don't think I've ever seen someone enter a camel quite like I do, but everyone seems to love my camel, so I'm not planning on changing a thing!

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I remember seeing the "leading arm/stir the batter" movement on a "How To ..." video with some high-caliber US skater many years ago. I can't remember who it was, though.

If I'm entering from back crossovers, I check my leading shoulder/arm waaaay into the spin. I think of it as "catch that arm" lol.

If I'm entering from a BO landing edge, I check my leading shoulder/arm in front, do a little swirl, then open the shoulder. (For some reason, when my blades are a little dull, the BO entrance is more reliable.)

I think it's (1) what works; and (2) what doesn't look distracting. I didn't see the video of IBH66's camel, so I'm not using her as an example, but I've seen skaters who flap, stir, and wave their arms in all different ways going into elements. During a program, those movements sometimes add to the choreography, and sometimes they detract.

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Hmm, that's not the visual I typically use. I think more about wiping off the table and then putting my feminine anatomy down on that clean table. LOL!

Hi techskater

That is an interesting theory that you adopt.

londonicechamp

I actually learned it from a Masters Lady

It sounds like you may be doing the Lussi technique on your camel. Gus Lussi taught his students to lead with the right arm on the camel entry, and you can actually see it when you look at old videos of Dick Button, who was one of his most famous stuends (you can find them on YouTube).

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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