IJS Figure Skating Spins: Change Of Edge Camel Spin (Bobbe Shire)

Bobbe Shire talks at length about change edge camel.  As with all spins, Bobbe wants her skaters to spin at the ball of the foot, even for the forward outside edge.  When teaching the change edge camel, Bobbe recommends starting with a regular camel with the skater near the ball of their foot.  She then has them shift their weight back to the flat of the blade and then further back on the blade so the skater feels as though they’re pushing their foot ahead of them.  She works on the advanced concept of returning to the ball of the foot after a skater can do the spin further back on the blade.  She uses the exercises here to develop this skill.

After getting the edge change to happen, the skater needs to “flex every muscle in their body in order for them to keep the tension for them to spin.” It takes practice.  Bobbe talks about how long it takes to learn this spin and how much practice it truly requires.

Bobbe also talks about two common mistakes in the change edge camel.  The first is the torso collapsing when the skater changes skating directions (from the back inside to the forward outside edge).  And for those skaters that do not have problems with torso collapsing, the free leg tends to swing out or the body tends to stand up.

Bobbe acknowledges that the change edge camel has the potential to be a dangerous spin.  It takes focus and proper training because if the forward outside circle gets too big, the skater can have a backwards fall.

Bobbe’s first demonstrator performs a fantastic change edge camel and you’ll notice he spins the forward edge on the front of his blade. (Takes practice!)  This allows him to make smaller forward circles which allows him to spin faster and longer.  Her second demonstrator does a position variation during the change edge (very cool) and her last demonstrator shows what it looks like to spin further back on the blade.  Notice in the last demonstration that the circles carved into the ice are larger which is typical when spinning near the back of the blade.

These spins are HARD, and these skaters make it look easy.  Great video!

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