Spotting and rotation
Turning quickly without dizziness, and seeing straight again when the turning stops.
Not checked yet. The suggestions 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.
Turning quickly makes most people dizzy, and the body gets used to it with practice. On the ice that practice is expensive, so skaters do some of it on the floor: turning on the spot, keeping the head steady and the eyes level, and stopping in a balanced position.
A spin turns too fast to snap the head round to one point on every turn, as a dancer does in a pirouette, so the head mostly stays steady on the body and turns with it. Many skaters still pick out something familiar around the rink to keep their bearings, which is harder in a rink they do not know. Twizzles, which turn while travelling, ask for the same thing.
What helps most is coming out of the spin: fix the eyes on one point as the turning stops, and the world settles sooner. The tolerance fades with a break, so after a few days off the ice, expect the first spins to feel worse than usual.
Some skaters use a small spinning board on the floor. It is worth asking a coach first, as it turns more freely than a blade does and can teach a position the ice will not hold.
On the ice, this prepares
- Two-foot spinBoth feet on the ice, turning on the spot. The first spin every learn-to-skate programme teaches.
- Upright spinThree or more revolutions on one back inside edge with the skating leg straight.
- Sit spinA spin held with the skating thigh at least parallel to the ice and the free leg forward.
- Camel spinA spin held with the free leg extended behind and the free knee above hip level.
- Left forward outside twizzleLFO to LFO: 1 rotation on one foot, travelling, one curl and no cusp.
Written for the guide from what each element asks of the body. No governing body's material.