Charyl Brusch – Beginner Spins

Charyl Brusch explains how she teaches a beginner how to spin.  Initially she starts with a forward pivot with the left arm in front into a two foot spin.  She wants her skaters to point their toes inward in the two foot spin so they are “pigeon toed.”  The skater’s weight should be between both feet.  For a skater that spins to the left, the left skate will be on a back inside edge and the right skate will be on a forward inside edge.

To get to the one-foot spin, Charyl uses the same progression but adds the idea of picking up the right skate.  (Forward pivot, two feet pulling the arms in, right leg up.)  For those skaters that have a hard time balancing, she’ll have them pull the arms in when they pick up the right foot.

Next, Charyl creates a forward entrance by starting on the line, pushing into a hockey glide, and riding the edge back to the line.  Notice that the skater now does a turn when the left foot gets back to the line.  Charyl calls the entrance edge a “diminishing edge” and it”s this edge that creates the rotational energy for the spin.  The longer the skater can ride that diminishing edge, the more rotational energy the spin will have and the more likely the spin will be centered.

Body alignment is very important on a spin entrance.  Charyl makes sure the skater’s weight is over their left side with the left hip tucked under.  She wants the skater to create a straight line from their foot through their knee, hip and shoulder.  The skater should be still until coming to a stop to do the three turn and that’s the point at which the spin happens.

Next Charyl has the skater pick up the right foot to create a one foot spin from a forward entrance.  As the skater becomes more and more comfortable with this, Charyl has them pick up their right foot sooner and sooner and sooner until they are ready to do the entire motion on one foot.

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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