Figure skating spin specialist Kim Ryan gives a young skater a lesson. She begins by having the skater do a forward scratch spin which travels dramatically. She then explains that a good spin entrance follows a recipe, and she tells him the basics of the recipe. She talks briefly about her now-famous “skinny V” and says he “looks like a black starfish” instead. On the next attempt, the skater gets the lower body in roughly the right position but the arms are still out to the side. Kim keeps mentioning “10 inches” which is the space she wants between the hands during the skinny V.
The skinny V is a big challenge for skaters who learned the forward spin with the free leg coming around with the hip open. Kim talks about the feet tracking, implying they remain pointed in the same direction (like 2 train tracks). The skinny V is also difficult if the skater yanks on the skating side arm (swims the arm), because it moves back and then has to move forward for the skinny V itself. So Kim wants the skating side arm (left arm for this skater) to stay in front, and she uses a visualization of Mr. Happy on the skater’s thumb to help keep that arm from moving. By keeping the skating side arm in front, to get to the skinny V the skater merely needs to bring the free arm around to it.
To help the skater understand how the free hip should remain neutral or closed as the free leg moves around from the back to the front, Kim likens the position to the feet on forward crossovers. This skater has a solid start on forward crossovers, but the feeling does not immediately transfer to his spin entrance.
