My pro insists that 3 turns come from unweighting the knee and to prove her point she placed her arms in all positions while performing 3 turns, now certainly when i began learning the outside 3 like a RFO3 my arms were placed with left in front right in back, my question is for all the 3's when you began learning them what are your arm positions.???(.im having such a difficult time turning on my BO3 )

you can answer all for right side and then obviously we'll know left is just the opposite
FO3
FI3
BO3
BI3

thanks!!

My rule of thumb for all 3-turns is,
Forward: Hug the circle. Back: Back against the circle.

I just wish I hadn't had to learn all the moves in the field through Adult Gold/Intermediate before I figured out that that was the simple trick to what to do with my shoulders on 3-turns!

Here's how it works:
Forward Clockwise 3 turns (RFO3 or a LFI3) - You will have your left arm in front and right arm in back because that's how you get your chest to face inside the circle.
Forward Counter-clockwise 3-turns (RFI3 or LFO3) - You will have your right arm in front and left arm in back becuase that's how you get your chest to face inside the circle.
Backward Clockwise 3-turns (RBI3 or LBO3) - Twist head and shoulders to the right so you face outside of your circle before executing the turn. Your back should be facing the inside of the circle for back 3's.
Backward Counter-clockwise 3-turns (RBO3 or LBI3) - Twist head and shoulders to the left so you face outside of your circle before executing the turn. Again, your back should be facing the inside of the circle.

Of course your coach is also right. Even though this is how most of us learn arm positions for 3-turns on standard test patterns, there are times when we use different arm positions. For example, on some jump set-ups, we want to keep the 3-turn from rotating too much (like the 3-turn before a flip or toeloop), so we will put the opposite arm in front to check the rotation.

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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

THANK YOU Doubletoe! You've finally explained to me why I have consistent brain-fade on forward 3-turns!!! It's confused my coach and confounded me why I can't seem to remember where my arms go when doing 3-turns in the field (Silver Moves). I AM doing them right.. just not for MITF!!!

You've also explained why I've never had a problem remembering where my arms go on BACK 3s!

I do my FO 3s with either shoulder (it's the shoulder that matters, not the arm!) forward on the set up, but the opposite shoulder as I go into the turn. For FI 3s its the same shoulder (which probably explains why I can't do them very well), and my back 3s are still at the stage of hoping for the best, so I've no idea which shoulder I use!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Oohh, believe me, I thought I had a serious learning disability until I finally figured out that rule for myself! I wish my MIF coach had come up with it and just told it to me in the beginning so I wouldn't have had to feel like for so long, 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

Incidentally, you will get a rounder entrance to the 3-turn if you start the edge with the opposite arm/shoulder position, then gently rotate your head and shoulders into the right position so they are there by the time you need to turn. Twisting your head and shoulders in the direction of the turn helps curve the entrance edge for you, especially on back 3's.

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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

HOW MANY YEARS MUST I WORK ON 3 TURNS?

Arms are very important - we just worked this in yesterday's lesson. I tend to like to twist into the turn with my whole upper body and whip the turn (bad, bad, bad).

My coach wants my leading arm slightly across the body and shoulder turned in also but *and this is new for me* she wants my free hip in opposition (i.e on FI3 shoulders open and inside hip closed, on FO3 shoulders twisted in but free hip held back square). Then I'm supposed to slightly swing the leading arm more in across my body as I initate the turn. JUST as you make the turn you start unwinding to check; and her's the other part I forget, the other arm now should repeat the motion of the initiating arm to hold a nice check as you get onto the exit edge. Sorry if this was unclear - eg. on a LFI3 the L arm swings across your chest to initiate the turn, then, the R arm swings across your chest to check right after the turn.
Lyle
anybody else have trouble double pushing and staring at the ice on their LFI3??

Don't!! That's how I fractured my left shoulder! On a left back inside three - whipped around instead of doing a twist with hips stil forward to balance, and splat....

Just like stroking -- the rest of your skating life

Nooooooooooooooo

How about, until you go from the frying pan into the fire and have to start doing brackets and rockers!

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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 made a tremendous discovery when stalking the elusive 3-turn:

BEWARE: 3-TURNS MAY ATTACK WHEN SURPRISED!

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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

Also half a 3 turn is a BAD thing
Lyle

hey doubletoe, i had to laugh when i read about the mental anguish of arms on brackets and rockers! Well, when they say you exercise many different parts of your brain, you minimize the chance of Alzheimers! See! look on the bright side!