Figure skating spin specialist Bobbe Shire continues her description of the back camel. In Part 1, she talked at length about the back camel spin entrance. In this video, she begins by working on the back camel position at the boards. Bobbe says, “A back camel needs a twist that a forward camel doesn’t need.” See what she means including the “kink in the back” and notice how she physically puts the skater into the position she wants. Bobbe tells the skaters to twist the skating shoulder toward the back of the free knee. She discusses the common error of not keeping the free foot behind the skating foot in the back camel position, and how it can result in a bent free leg.
Bobbe takes a moment to note that most skaters don’t want to put in the time and effort to master a really good back camel position. They also have a tendency to try to hit the position without squeezing the right muscles. Bobbe says, “The way you lift your leg is really from you glutes.” She talks about how to use the boards properly when working on the back camel position. Notice that she addresses the problem of the free foot not staying behind by helping the skater stretch while in the spin position at the boards.
Bobbe also notes that she personally does not like skaters to look in the direction of the spin (and slightly upward) in a back camel. She prefers the head turned to the skating side with the chin up in a “very snobby” position, but in certain cases she will accept a neutral head position (chin up). Bobbe claims that the back camel spins “totally differently” depending on the head position.
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