Flying Sit Spin Tips (Sheila Thelen)

Sheila Thelen offers some insights into the flying sit spin.  Sheila offers a great tip regarding the knees to help develop the feeling of the tuck.  She also notes that many skaters don’t take off with enough rotational energy to rotate properly for the spin or even turn enough in the air for the spin landing.  She also notes that most skaters learning a flying sit will have the urge to slow or stop the rotation when they land and this needs to be overcome immediately to make it spin properly.

Make sure to watch the slow-motion flying sit spins below Sheila’s video.

Here are the two flying sit spins in the above video in slow-motion for you to analyze.  You can simulate stepping through the slow-motion video by pausing and then quickly clicking the play/pause button twice.  Each of the spin attempts is shown twice in slow motion (very similar but slightly different angle of view).  In this video, notice the following details:

1. Notice how the position immediately after the step into the spin entrance looks very similar to an axel step.  It is not the same as the free leg is pulled back more and then goes around, but to properly create the edge pressure after the step, the free side must be held back.

2. Watch how long the skater spins on the toe pick prior to lifting off.  This pivoting on the toe pick is crucial to a properly executed flying sit spin.

3. As the skater lifts into the air, both arms are positioned over the free leg (both arms to the right for this skater, with the left arm across the body) which means the shoulders are twisted against the rotation.  Also note how upright the body is as the skater takes off.  This position is critical for good death drops.  However, an acceptable/desirable alternative for flying sit is to have a more symmetric upper body position as explained in Bobbe Shire – Flying Sit Spin.

4. This skater closes the knees (hips closed) in the air, and this is the most common way to teach the flying sit.  But many skaters successfully execute a flying sit with the legs more open in the air and close them shortly after touching down.  The closed-legs-in-the-air version has faster rotation in the air and it makes the landing more difficult.  The open legs version rotates more slowly in the air and is easier to control the landing, and has the added benefit of showing an obvious speed increase into the sit position on the ice.

5. See the knee action of the tuck.

6. This skater drops her free hip quite strongly in the sit spin position on the ice.  Most skaters that do this have a very difficult time with flying sit spin as the spin tends to collapse to the free side.  Working with skaters to keep the free hip up is important for consistency and faster learning.  This skater is obviously a very strong athlete.

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