Dip

A two-foot glide taken down into a deep knee bend and back up without a wobble.

Also called sit glide. Other names.

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From a two-foot glide you bend both knees down into a squat, arms stretched out in front, and come back up while the glide carries on. Ice Skating Australia sets the knees at about ninety degrees; New Zealand’s 2008 KiwiSkate badges put it as hips no higher than the knees. Both programmes teach it standing still first and then on the move, from three to five steps and a glide. Learn to Skate USA has it at its first level, with the two-foot glide.

The same depth comes back later on one foot. Australia’s lunge asks for the hip no higher than the skating knee, the teapot holds a low position on one foot, and the ISU defines a sit spin by the skating thigh being at least parallel to the ice. The dip is that range of knee bend, learned on two feet.

Build on

• Two-foot glideThe dip is taken from a two-foot glide: Ice Skating Australia asks for about a metre of glide and then the squat.

Off the ice

• A deep, soft kneeThe bend skating lives on: strength to hold it, and an ankle that uses all the boot allows.

Leads to

3 elements in the guide are built on this one.

• Falling and getting upIce Skating Australia and KiwiSkate both start the fall from the dip, so the skater is already in a squat when they sit down.
• TeapotThe teapot holds a low knee bend on one foot with the free leg forward. The dip is a deep bend on two.
• Sit spinThe ISU defines a sit spin by the skating thigh being at least parallel to the ice. Ice Skating Australia's dip bends the knees to about ninety degrees.

Appears in