Hi, this is sort of going to be a survey on forward corkscrews (Canadian word scratch spins for those who aren't from Canada). This survey is for those skaters competing in Adult Bronze or lower.

The most revs I've ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 13
The most centered revs I ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 13

When I do my forward corkscrew I still can see objects clearly: NO
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things partly fuzzy: NO
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things very fuzzy: NO
When I do my forward corkscrew I don't see anything but white: Yes

I have a decent backspin: NO, still working on it. Wish it was like my forward corkscrew.

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

The most revs I've ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 10 that I know of (judge counted on a test paper). I can't usually count my revs in scratch/corkscrew spins, and I can't always tell from the tracing.
The most centered revs I ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 10 that I know of

When I do my forward corkscrew I still can see objects clearly: NO
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things partly fuzzy: NO
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things very fuzzy: YES
When I do my forward corkscrew I don't see anything but white: Not really

I have a decent backspin: Some days are better than others. I have eked out 5-6 revs, but my leg is in an h position instead of fully pulled in, and the speed isn't the same as in my forward spin. Sometimes the speed is a little better than other days but it's still always slower than my forward spin.

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The most revs I've ever got on my forward corkscrew is: I think 14 or 15 when I was a kid, more often 12 or 13 lately.
The most centered revs I ever got on my forward corkscrew is: I don't know. On the rare occasions that I actually center that spin, I can't count the loops on the ice, and I hadn't thought to count while I was spinning.

When I do my forward corkscrew I still can see objects clearly:
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things partly fuzzy:
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things very fuzzy:
When I do my forward corkscrew I don't see anything but white:

I never paid attention. I would guess "partly fuzzy" most of the time, maybe "very fuzzy" if I speed up the spin at the end.

I have a decent backspin:
Yes. It's pretty reliable on its own, with maybe 6 revolutions on average (I think my maximum is 9 or 10). In a change-foot spin, it's faster but less reliable if I don't make the change just right -- sometimes I get too far over the outside edge and can't spin.

I find the back scratch spin much easier to center than the forward one.

Is it anything like a screwdriver?

No really, forward scratch spin like 25+ revolutions.
I spin really fast and in all honesty I close my eyes when I spin I don't open them until I feel the momentum fading, then I see spots, then I exit the spin, sometimes....

Back scratch is faster but I don't see spots on that one just my forward spins, no idea why.

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Who me? Couldn't be....
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ha ha-ok, I'll play...
The most revs I've ever got on my forward corkscrew is: about 20
The most centered revs I ever got on my forward corkscrew is: about 10
When I do my forward corkscrew I still can see objects clearly: Yes
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things partly fuzzy: Yes
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things very fuzzy: Only once in a great while
When I do my forward corkscrew I don't see anything but white: Only happened once

I have a decent backspin: Ha!!!!, no.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

The most revs I've ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 4
The most centered revs I ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 4


I have a decent backspin: NO

Kind wimpy, huh??

I am not an adult skater, but can I please post anyway? Thanks!

The most revs I've ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 11
The most centered revs I ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 10...I think.

When I do my forward corkscrew I still can see objects clearly: Um...I could when I had two revolutions...
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things partly fuzzy: sort of
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things very fuzzy: NO
When I do my forward corkscrew I don't see anything but white: I see the yellow sideboards.

I have a decent backspin: uhh...does 6 revolutions count?

(Sorry, I just like this survey very, very much!)

I haven't taken any tests yet...

The most revs I've ever got on my forward corkscrew is: 28
The most centered revs I ever got on my forward corkscrew is: I don't know, I can't count the centered ones! I think 18 in one that I got on video, but I don't think that was my best...probably 30ish considering that the centered ones seem to last longer (or maybe it's just an evil illusion...I certainly don't center them as often as I'd like)

When I do my forward corkscrew I still can see objects clearly: Certainly not
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things partly fuzzy: Not unless I try and keep my eyes on something, and that throws my spin off bad.
When I do my forward corkscrew I see things very fuzzy: Well I can see the boards and stuff around me, but it's not clear.
When I do my forward corkscrew I don't see anything but white: No. I see all the normal colors

I have a decent backspin: Not at all, but I can get 4-5 revs sometimes now...

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

How are you counting the number of revolutions? Is it as soon as your free leg is crossed over the skating leg? Or do you start counting after the free leg is pushed down and the spin is at its maximum speed?

If you are really spinning fast, it's impossible to count revolutions during the spin. The only way to count them is to count the circles on the ice when you're done, so that would include every revolution, starting from the 3-turn that initiates the spin.

Yup, that's how mine were counted and not by me but by the kids on the StarSkate session. And sometimes my coach counts my revs.

__________________
"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

How do you people spin for so long? 28, 30 revs? That's insane! Honestly, I didn't think that was even possible. But I guess with practice, I'll eventually get that high. I have no idea how many revs I can do, because I never counted. When I started with the basic one foot spin, my coach told me I had about 10 revs (spinning comes easier to me than jumping), but I hope it's at least that on the scratch spin.

It is a lot of practice!!!! hard work on the technique and getting the right "feel" for it and eventually you will get it.

My daughter had one spin that was 23 revs...we could count because it travelled so far.... but it was also FAST! She almost threw up...

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Honestly, it doesn't feel like that many, and I wish I could spin like I've seen some of the folks at my rink do who go into a spin, then a sit, then a camel, then a regular spin...a least twice the number of rotations... Then they go and throw a backspin on the end of it! Hmph. And I get plenty of bad days, but 20-25 is a usual baseline.

Lucinda Ruh holds the world record in a backspin at 115 revolutions (she may have done more in practice). It is said that Ronnie Robertson used to spin with such speed that he'd do 7 or 8 revolutions per second...

If you haven't seen Lucinda you should check her out. Here's a link to one of her exhibitions:
http://kc.sk8rland.com/lucinda_ruh-u...va_lagrima.wmv

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

You can also check out her world record spin on youtube.com by typing in her name and clicking on her spin video....it's amazing!!!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I know, I can barely get three! But there's this skater at our rink and yesterday she was just doing a sitspin that looked as though it was going on for simply ever until she chose to stop it and stood up and continued spinning - I think she turned it into a layback in the end. And she just went on spinning and spinning long past the point where you'd think she'd have felt sick, and it was so obviously her choice to stop when she did. She said "Oh, I like doing that sometimes!" All I could do was blink at her in awed admiration.

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Mrs Redboots
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Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I hadn't seen that one; it's gorgeous! Here's the video of her world record spin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDIOhfEl-ps

Watching her spin, you can see that as long as you're centered, it doesn't take a lot of pulling in to make the spin speed up. So once you can get your spin centered, the trick is to make sure you can feel the centrifugal force against your arms and free leg, then pull in against it very, very slowly.