Figure Skating Spin Tips For Beginners – Part 4 (Audrey Weisiger)

Audrey Weisiger continues her discussion of how to introduce spins to young skaters.  The previous parts of this discussion are here:  Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Once young skaters have learned three turns, cross-overs, proper blade balance, and are getting into basic skills, it’s time to start teaching them various spinning positions.

Audrey teaches everything out of a backwards glide on one foot, and doing this on both the left and right foot can be challenging for younger skaters.  To teach the arm movement she uses a four part movement starting with holding an imaginary hula hoop, bringing the hands together, the elbows down, and ending in the proper hands down position.

She goes on to describe in detail the proper spin placement for weight and torso to avoid the arm flailing spins that get too far back on the blade (and make spectators concerned!).  “Hovering” and “pulling the belly button into the spine” are terms she uses to create and sustain stability in a spin.

Audrey feels that balance is the most important aspect of learning to spin, even more important then leg position, arm position, and other variables.  Everything can be refined later, but balance has to be developed from the beginning.

Audrey believes the process of learning to spin should be fun and not overly technical for young skaters.  Skaters will remain more interested if they are allowed to experience that rush from spinning that every child likes.

Audrey is an Olympic coach and we are very lucky to have her contributions to iCoachSkating.com.  Please leave a comment for Audrey or other members below.

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