why Swiss spinners?

[Aimless]

Watching Stephane Lambiel at the World's exhibition and hearing the same old commentary about how well Swiss skaters (Bielman, Ruh, etc.) spin, I was idly curious as to why this should be. Do they have a great coach there who teaches spinning, do they select good spinners to bring along/coach/give special attention to, or what? My understanding was that Lucinda Ruh didn't train much in Switzerland, she lived all over the world--trained in Japan maybe with Mr. Sato?

I'm guessing it's just co-incidence that we have good spinners from Switzerland. Are there any poor Swiss spinners? Anybody know what Denise B. and Lucinda are doing these days?

Anyway, I'm happy to see some good spinners emerging--Sandu, Weir, etc and hope that more attention and hopefully with CoP, more credit will be given to the remarkable art of spinning.

[icyboid]

Don't forget Nathalie Krieg! Her spins were so great that she was shown on the American broadcast of the 1994 Olympics Ladies' SP (even though she placed out of the top 10)

I may be mistaken, but I think she even did the "butt stapler" spin that Emmanuel Sandhu is known for. Her spins were amazingly well centered and fast.

During the broadcast, they also said she set a record for spin duration on television by spinning for almost 4(?) minutes.

[passion]

lol. "Butt stapler spin"!!!??? Is that really what it's called? :lol:

[Artemis]

I remember that one of the Swiss women skaters -- it might have been Natalie Krieg -- there was a story about how she came to be such a great spinner. She had extremely limited ice time, and did most of her practising in public skating sessions. So she didn't have enough room to practise jumps, but did have room for spins.

I it could also have to do with a "national tradition," much the same way as spirals have become a tradition of excellence for American women, enormous throws for the Chinese pairs, refined balletic style for Russian pairs, great lifts for Canadian pairs, etc. etc.

[icyboid]

lol. "Butt stapler spin"!!!??? Is that really what it's called? :lol:
:oops: I should have known someone was gonna ask about that.
I've heard that spin called a "stapler spin" because the body is bent forward at an acute angle, so they look like a hinge or stapler.

I've also heard it called the "butt spin" because when the skater spins in that position, the highest point on their body is their buttock.

So "butt stapler" comes from both of those descriptions. :)

[Aussie Willy]

Kreig did do that "stapler" spin. She was just amazing.

I have no idea why the Swiss are such good spinners. I saw Ruh at Worlds in 1998 in the qualifying and she just won the crowd over with her spins. One of them seemed to last a whole minute. Unfortunately she did not make it through but she did leave a lasting impression.

Sarah Meier I think is an okay spinner but nothing like some of the other Swiss skaters who have come to prominence because of their spins.

So in answer to your question - I have no idea. I think it is just coincidence. And maybe on a national level that is what is encouraged. The best thing it makes skating really interesting.

[Ellyn]

I saw Ruh at Worlds in 1998 in the qualifying and she just won the crowd over with her spins. One of them seemed to last a whole minute. Unfortunately she did not make it through but she did leave a lasting impression.

Lucinda Ruh did make it to the finals at 1998 Worlds. She finished 23rd overall. (24th in the long IIRC, though)

[icenut84]

I've heard two possible reasons for it, one of which was already mentioned and is the lack of space for practicing (so spins are practiced more than jumps), and also about a Swiss spin coach, but I don't know if that's true or not (though it'd make sense). It's probably a combination of factors. Also, the idea of it being a national tradition is probably true - I like the comparisons with the American spirals, the Russian balletic styles, the Chinese throws/twists, etc.

[2axel_hopeful]

just a fact: lucinda ruh can spin up to 250 revs. per minute 8O

[kayskate]

I remember that one of the Swiss women skaters -- it might have been Natalie Krieg -- there was a story about how she came to be such a great spinner. She had extremely limited ice time, and did most of her practising in public skating sessions. So she didn't have enough room to practise jumps, but did have room for spins.



I am certainly not in the same class as these skaters (I am an adult skater), but I am a very good spinner even by competitive standards. I think one reason for it is that I learned to skate in small rinks, on public sessions, and on crowded sessions where I really did not have room to do much. By contrast, my footwork skills took a long time to develop and I never did very well w/ advanced jumps.

Kay