Spinning In Figure Skating: 1 Foot Upright (Bobbe Shire)

Bobbe Shire explains her expectations for the forward upright scratch spin.  As Bobbe notes, not many people even work on this spin past a Pre-Juvenile level.  Nevertheless, this discussion has a number of very important points for skaters and coaches of skaters at the lower levels.

Bobbe wants the skater to move their arms and free leg at the exact same time.  She wants the free leg to be turned open at the beginning of the spin and she wants the free foot to be brought in above the knee.  Bobbe wants her skaters to flex their foot and push down on their free heel rather than pointing the toe down. By pressing the back of the heel against the shin, the skater will lead down with the heel.  At the very bottom the free toe is pointed up.  Bobbe also mentions the need to flex the butt muscles to prevent traveling.  The motions should be smooth and slow.

The most common errors that Bobbe sees are the free leg coming in too low (below the skating knee) and the skaters leading down with the toe (which keep the hips open incorrectly).  [Note that Bobbe mis-speaks at 2:07 when she says the second major mistake is the “kids leave their hips open because they lead down with their heel.”  She meant to say “with their toe.”  Leading with the heel is correct.]  Leading with the toe forces the free leg to be bent which means the spin will not reach maximum speed.  Also Bobbe says it doesn’t look as pretty either.

If you watch the demonstrators carefully, you’ll notice that they bring their free leg in above the skating knee and as they lead down with their heel, their hips automatically close into a very powerful and fast final position.

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