Pivot

One toe pick set in the ice as an anchor while the other foot scribes a circle round it.

Also called forward pivot. Other names.

Not checked yet. The mechanics on this page are a first draft by a non-expert, and no coach has seen them yet. Read them as a starting point and check them with a coach. Corrections are very welcome.

One toe pick goes into the ice and stays fixed while the other foot travels a circle round it on a forward inside edge, so you rotate about a fixed point and do not travel. The tracing is a circle with a dot at its centre. Ice Skating Australia’s pivot is one to two revolutions on each foot, with no stopping and no pumping, the anchored foot’s heel pointing at the foot going round, and a proper exit.

No pumping means the speed has to be there before the pick goes in, and the circling foot glides round on what it brought. Australia follows the forward pivot with backward ones, on a back inside edge and on a back outside edge entered from a forward inside three turn. New Zealand teaches the forward pivot with the toe in the ice at its Novice 1 badge and the backward one at Novice 2.

Build on

• One-foot glideIce Skating Australia teaches pivots at its last level, long after the one-foot glide. The circling foot glides on an inside edge.

Leads to

2 elements in the guide are built on this one.

• Toe loopThe back outside pivot, entered from a forward inside three turn, is the toe loop's entry and pick without the jump: the pick set behind on a back outside edge while the skating foot goes round it.
• Back spinKiwiSkate's Free skating 1 badge enters the back spin from a pivot.

Appears in