I wonder how I can go lower with my spins. Pretty tough on the knees.
Also, after a few revs, my free leg just falls down and finishes the spin prematurely.

Standing up for the exit is next to impossible. Help please!

I would say that for the most part, it's practice...doing sit spin after sit spin...also trying to do shoot the ducks is a good on-ice exercise.

Another thing that I know has helped with my thigh strength, is doing a wall sit (where you "sit" against a wall, hands lightly against the wall, not on your thighs), making sure that your legs are at a 90 degree angle. Basically, you sit there until you can't take it any more!

The other is called "the thinker," same idea as the wall sit, but you cross your left/right leg over the other bent knee, lean forward slightly so that you are balanced, and hold until you can't any more...

I used to hate these as a kid, but, our power coaches, and regular coaches loved to torture us with these and various other things ....running up the tobaggon hill behind the rink, variations on crunches, ladders on the ice, and anything else they could think of! Although, now, I wish someone would kick my butt like that! I need it!

The previous poster had good off-ice ideas. In addition to those, practice the sit spin position and rising up on one leg off ice as well.

At the rink, I usually get a lower position when I do a couple squats and the sit spin "drop and rise" near the wall, after I've warmed up but before practicing the spin.

Here's what worked for me:

1. Knowing when you're low enough
This was the hardest part. How can you get low enough if you don't know how to get there or what it feels like when you're there? My coach told me you'll always know you're low enough if you can FEEL THE CALF OF YOUR SKATING LEG AGAINST THE INSIDE OF THE THIGH OF YOUR FREE LEG. In order to get into this position, you must lower your butt while simultaneously pushing the free leg forward. This also means you cannot keep your knees together. The knee of the free leg will be lower and farther forward than the knee of your skating leg.

2. Speed
If you are having trouble getting low enough and then having trouble standing up out of the spin because you collapse, you might need more speed. You can get more speed by:
- Keeping your back rigid and arched on the entrance edge and during the spin
- Extending the free leg as far behind you as possible (even a little crossed behind the skating leg) on the entrance edge and keeping it back until you have done a half circle on the entrance edge and it's time to start the spin
- Keeping the free leg straight before, during and after you bring it around to the front (don't forget to turn the free foot out once it reaches 2:00, or 10:00 if you spin CW)
- Going in on the entrance edge as low as possible. Shoot for a 90-degree knee bend on the entrance edge, since that will give you a deeper edge and more torque, as well as giving you less lowering to do once your free leg hits the skating leg and you sit all the way down into the spin.

3. Strength & practice
- At home: In front of the mirror, put on some shoes with about a 2" heel and hold onto something with one hand, then lower yourself into position as described above, feeling for the calf against the inside of the thigh. Hold for 5 seconds, then stand up on one leg. This is much more difficult than actually doing it while spinning (due to the aid of centrifugal force during the spin), so don't be discouraged!

- On ice: Back shoot-the-ducks are perfect for finding this position and getting used to it on the ice. The reason you want to do a Left Back Inside shoot the duck (or RBI if you spin CW) is because this is the same edge you'll be spinning on, and the same part of the blade--just behind the bottom toepick. Again, getting in and out of this position will be easier when you are actually spinning, so don't get discouraged if it feels difficult.

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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

pistol squats!!!

i swear, they're amazing for the sit. basically, put your leg out in front of you, and go into the teapot position (squat) with one leg. now get up on that one leg. go down. go up.

it's impossible at first, really painful when you actually do it, but practice, and you will have the power to lower yourself into, and rise up from a sitspin in a controlled way, if anything.

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I asked exactly the same question on behalf of my son a while back; we got a lot of advice, but, this one above is the one that made a huge difference. Sit spins are now BELOW horizontal, and are done strongly. Knees don't hurt anymore either when he does a lot in practice. Of course, we had to find a dark room with no windows where my son can do - squats - while wearing - 2" heels - and promised to tell NO ONE but his coach (who was very impressed with a pre-teen who would borrow his mom's shoes to improve his sit spin).

LOL! Yes, the heel is important because it lifts the heel and puts your weight on the ball of the foot, which simulates the position and balance you'll need in the sitspin.

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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

haha. thanks will try these tricks right away.

standing up for exit is difficult for me too. Will try your suggestion.Thanks

wow, this is great stuff. thanks.

the heels idea are great. I can do it during toilet breaks in the office. hehehe

If you stand in a doorway that's framed, you can use the framing (i.e. you can grab it better), you'll want to have the one leg on the side of the wall. OR you can use any upright support-I use a railing at the gym.

Shoot the ducks really help (so I've been told, I dont do them tho" As for the positioning thing, I practice it off-ice with my coach....but I fall apart on the ice. One day, though....
Here are some pictures/instructions excerpted from a book (its in .pdf format so give it a few to load on your computer)-you can also google pistol squats OR one-legged squats. http://tkahline.sk8rland.com/TKahlin...%20pistols.pdf

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

Been doing it in toilet breaks in the office and that's ok. But I get strange looks doing them whilst I'm waiting for the coffee machine to do it's business. But I think they think I'm weird anyway, so I'm not too worried. They keep catching me doing back cross rolls and plies in the kitchen anyway.

hahaha. I do spirals/arabesque during breaks (in the toilet). My office mates got used to it. One of them even tried doing it herself to see how hard it is. hehehe.


Thanks for all the comments. My sit spin has greatly improved. Still working on getting back up after the spin but getting there. thanks a bunch.

For those of you wanting to work towards the pistol (one-legged) squat, there is a good resource/progressive exercise to be found at: www.grrlathlete.com you sign up for free and can get the how-to. They don't spam, just send you exercise info, which I've found to be very helpful.

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

That's great to hear! If you push your chest forward, it will help you stand up out of the sitspin.

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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