I posted this on the coach's/parents forum, but haven't any responses, so I'm trying here too.

An adult skater I know just told me that her Russian coach now has her doing the FO and FI edge patterns with her arms straight out in front. She was able to do them this way, while she has not been able to with proper rotation. The weird thing is that she also said the Russian coach told her that "shoulder/arm rotation is the old way, and they don't do that anymore". Pure balony to my knowledge. Anyone else heard of this? The closest I've seen to this is having the tots put their arms in front to "steer their car".

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my coach is teaching me the normal way. This Russian sounds nuts...

My coach is teaching these edges for the Adult Pre-Bronze test. I'm learning them with same arm as skating leg in front for FO edges and opposite arm as skating leg for FI edges. (I had been doing them with opposite arms, as are used in the 3 turns, but I never felt secure because my body was winding up too much and making my lobes too curvy and small.)

When I started learning the back edges, my group FS instructor said specifically NOT to have the arms straight out in front--there's nowhere to steer and you tend to go straight backward rather than staying on the lobe.

Thanks. I was pretty sure it was nonesense, but didn't know where it originated, with the Russian coach or with the adult student, who could easily have either misunderstood, or been humored by the coach.

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On the other hand, don't forget it is the shoulders that matter, rather than the arms. My first coach used to say that you could have both arms amputated at the shoulder, but as long as your shoulders were mobile, you could skate.

It could well be that this particular skater was using his arms rather than his shoulders, and the coach was trying to correct that by having his arms out in front.

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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!

That makes sense, but then why tell the student that teaching the arm positions is "out of date and not used anymore"?

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True, true - I don't know!

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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!

Well, actually, I think I know and I think it has to do with this particular skater, so I won't post it here. Just wanted to verify that I wasn't missing anything big.

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On a related note--
I once heard an instructor say that one positioning of the arms during an edge is called the "open position" and the other is called the "classic position." For example, I think she was calling same arm as skating leg in FO edges the "classic position" and opposite arm as skating leg in FO edges the "open position."

Has anyone ever heard of this? Is this something from the days of school figures?

Yes, I think it's from the days of figures.

You'll notice that ice dancers use the "open position", since that is the way we skate when with a partner, or even dancing alone.

Mrs. Redboots is correct; if your shoulders/torso is set correctly, it's irrelevant where your arms are--whether facing the circle or not, or with both arms in front! Rotation is controlled with your body set to the correct direction of travel. Period. Very hard to explain in writing!

Here's a fun exercise to try that will help you understand the impact of shoulders.

Make a line of cones on the ice, spacing them about 5 feet apart.

Now skate through them, gliding in and out in serpentine fashion.

Now tuck your hands under your armpits as if you were holding ski poles for a downhill ski race.

"Ski" glide through the cones, using your shoulders to point the way.
(Keep those hands tucked in)

You'll find that you can "shush" through faster and on tighter edges if you turn your shoulders and lean into the turn.

It's also a lot of fun when you do it fast!