Jazz, I agree about the guy in the photo!! (slurp)! BTW, your catch foot looks good!
Hugs,
Becca

Yeah that's pretty much what happens wiggling the pelvis.
I had it originally for my broken back and stuff.

Yep, that's what I'd take it to be. Again... will find out at O'dorf!

But I do know that the technical specialist who came to our Nationals would call my catch-foot as a "difficult variation" for a level.

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When I was small (as in, pre-teens!), we used to do that, and raise both feet to touch the back of our head (with upper thigh still on the ground).

I can no longer to that...

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I did that when I was about 5 years old and in dance class. I remember my teacher pushing our feet and heads together to help us stretch. I used to do that no problems. Now... not even close.

Okay, be sure to report back! I think you should get the level.

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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

I just stumbled upon a photo of a 'Biellmann', and I thought I'd share it.

http://i5.tinypic.com/67ycqvo.jpg

Now, that is just creepy.

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Hey, that's cool! It's both a Biellmann AND a full split, so I wonder if it counts as 2 difficult variations of position, 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, that girl has no bones. I wonder how the spin would look like.

And I thought I was flexible (at Biellmanns) http://i9.tinypic.com/521hdp4.jpg... LOL.

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Umm. . . Excuse me, but you are practically doing it already! If you just lock out the knee of the free leg and get your hands a few inches lower, you will be in the exact same position!

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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

Kicking this up, this is 1 way of doing it (but trying to teach it to a friend of mine I discovered that you need to have some sort of flexibility already before you even can grab the blade this way)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JeBL0o33jw&NR=1

I think it's a very clear video that's why I'm posting

You are amazing! Could you describe how you grab your free leg from above the angle? When I try to do it I can only manage grabbing my toes - so I cannot lift the leg so high or straighten it so much. Please give so hints!

Thanks!

Here's how the spin looks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkS2iRka6Hw

I remember doing it also when about age 5-10... not anymore unfortunately. I wonder is it even possible to do for adults? )
One of my true dreams is biellmann position, but I cannot stretch this direction, maybe my back isn`t strong enough? But I try to work on that and maybe there`s improvement by the fall... We`ll see
But your pictures get me really jealous!!

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I want to become a better skater!

It is possible for adults! I started skating at the age of 25, I had never had any classes of dance, gymnastics or anything similar and I got to do the splits and get into the bielmann position easily without any background. Don't give up!

Thank you for encouraging
I started at 24, now I`m 27, and every day I get stiffer! I am quite flexible though - can do splits, too, just the biellmann side is totally stiff!
Sometimes I think that ballet-lessons do no favour but the opposite
Anyway, I am not going to give up but keep going instead! These posts here can be really inspiring!
Maris

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I want to become a better skater!

. . . AND you DID it!

Hey, I had a breakthrough today myself! Once I got my edge really stable and focused on pushing my pelvis down and straightening the free leg really hard, I managed to get my whole boot higher than my head this morning on my RFi-RFO spiral (after the change of edge)! My coach was the witness. Then, although it took awhile, I was able to do it on the LBI spiral, too! Now I just need to get to the point where they are consistent and I can get them that high quickly.

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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

I just lol'd at his nipple

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Thank you! This video basically sums up how I do that particular position. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz3ORM28sEE (at 0:39) I'm sure you'll get there with just a little practice... after all, half an year ago, I was the most inflexible person. EVER. And I am NOT kidding.

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Yep, thanks!

I will probably have to try it with change of edge too... the new rules make it harder for me to get features in the spiral sequence

Cheers,
Chow

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Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
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Here's some bielmans that will make you go OHH and AHH


Caroline Zhang


Fleur Maxwell


I seriously intend to learn the bielman the way Zhang does it on the above pic haha! I'm halfway there anyway.

. . . and maybe make you go, "OW!!"

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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

LOL yeah Fleur Maxwell's looks... Unhealthy to say the least.

I'm going to try to revive this thread because I just discovered it. I've been trying to increase my flexibility to be able to do a proper catchfoot spiral for a while now.

I can nearly do the full splits on both legs (can't do middle splits at all due to hip problems), so I think it might be my lack of back flexibility that's doing it. I saw some suggestions to practice yoga to help that, but I'm wondering if anyone has any other suggestions.

Basicially, I can grab my right leg with my right hand and pull my leg into the catchfoot position, but I have difficulties grabbing my blade (or even my right arm) with my left arm. Sometimes I wonder if it's also a shoulder flexibility problem.

I seriously have no idea why I even want to be able to do this. I think I'm just being a bit stubborn, because I want to prove to myself that it is possible to gain flexibility and do a move like this that I didn't do all that often as a child. My flexibility has remained the same for several years, and I want to see if I can increase it a bit.

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Do you mean you have trouble grabbing your left blade with your left arm or grabbing your right blade with your left arm? I find that it requires less back flexibility to grab the free foot with the same side arm, since that allows some of the back bend to come from the side (where there is no stiff spine involved). When you grab the free foot with the opposite side arm, you have to bend straight back and it's hard to do without a very flexible spine.

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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