Spin specialist Charyl Brusch explains how she works on centering spins with her students. First, she helps the skater find the place to spin on the blade by push them backward and having the skater just barely drag the bottom toe pick. She wants the skater to be able to glide straight backward while dragging the toe pick, rather than gliding in an arc to the inside.
Next Charyl draws the desired entrance tracing on the ice with a marker. Notice that the edge ends in a three turn that the skater spins directly over. Charyl explains it as a full half circle or the skater must get all the way back to the axis before spinning.
Then Charyl has the skater glide over the line with the left hand in front at shoulder level (for skaters that spin to the left) and free leg back. If the skater can glide in a full circle in the proper position, the entrance is solid. Next Charyl spins her skaters by pulling them on the trace, having them hit their toe, and having them release the free leg and arm so that they swing around.
The first position she wants her skaters to hit in the spin has the arms in a “v-position” with the right arm directly over the right leg. The body is turned so the belly button is lined up with the left knee. Skaters that have serious traveling problems can often solve them by turning their bodies more to the left.
Charyl wants the skater to spin on a bent knee. She wants a soft knee rather than a straight leg. In fact, Charyl tells them to think of bending their skating knee right over their middle toe. She also wants the hips and shoulders square and aligned so that one is not ahead of the other rotationally.
Charyl also provides more information about body position and centering. Some of her suggestions include maintaining the “v-position” with the free leg so the hips don’t become too open, raising the right arm which can help the skater automatically raise the right hip, and keeping the free leg behind longer and letting it come around rather than forcing it around. She want the skater to follow their left arm all the way into the spin.
Lots of helpful ideas in this video.
We are very fortunate to have a spin specialist of Charyl’s caliber as a presenter at iCoachSkating.com. Please leave a comment for Charyl or other members below.
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5 responses to “Basic Figure Skating Spins: Centering 1 Foot Spin – Part 1 (Charyl Brusch)”
Most beginner skaters have beginner skates which really have no master toe pick or very small one. So if you’re asking them to drag the toe pick I believe they would have to come up too far on the pick. Would love to see an example using a student who is just at the level to be learning a scratch spin, rather than one that has perhaps already learned how to spin. Its interesting to explore both approaches. Thank you for showing both techniques.
Thanks!
I’m really loving the “hands on” approach of guiding the skater into the spin. Many of my beginner spinners are not holding the entrance edge long enough even tho I also draw the diagram. This is very helpful. Also, I like the many tips to correct a traveling spin. I need all the help I can get for trouble shooting. THANKS Charyl!
Courtney, I think most coaches teach beginner skaters to spin while slightly dragging the toe pick. I think there are three primary reasons for this. First, the skater can hit the exact same “spin spot” on the blade every time, which helps with initial learning and consistency. Second, beginner skaters are often afraid and need a way to control the speed. The toe pick drag gives them confidence that they can immediately slow down. Third, the “frictionless” spin spot is really an advanced spinning concept and it’s often hard for even relatively advanced skaters to learn. So I believe dragging the toe pick is Charyl’s way of getting a skater to initially learn to spin more quickly. Some of your other questions will be addressed in future videos by Charyl. Trevor
I guess I’m a little confused. She asks the skater to drag their toe-pick, but then also comments that it’s too scratchy. In my opinion, I consider a scratchy spin erroneous because they’re dragging their toe-pick, and ask my skaters to try to find the rocker on the blade so their spinning is “frictionless.” I teach this to be the same spot they look for on a really good clean three-turn. What advantage is their to dragging the bottom pick in a spin? I basically just don’t think I understand the fundamental technique that Charyl teaches. I felt like if I were the skater in a lesson, I’d have no idea what I was actually being asked to do, though I’m sure that skater has been working with her for awhile and does understand better. Like with Bobbe’s five steps, I knew what positions she was looking for. When Charyl says she wants the V to be the first position she looks for in a scratch spin, how does that relate to the entry edge position and the swing of the free leg? Did I correctly note that she want the belly button over the left foot on the entry, but the free hip back and the shoulders parallel to the edge? Bobbe mentioned the balance advantage of the right arm starting in front, and she also noted that many coaches who teach left arm in front like the added momentum from the swing into the spin- this is how I was taught. However, Charyl seems to keep the left side fairly stable, much like Bobbe. Is that what she was saying?