Figure skating spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues a multi-part series of videos on centering spins. In the Part 1 she explained the process she uses to teach centering, and she uses basically the same process for both beginners and more advanced skaters. In Part 2 she discussed factors that cause centering problems, and in this video she offers a variety of additional insights regarding centering.
She begins this video by explaining how some skaters have the head pressed forward or forward and down and this adversely affects centering. Instead she wants skaters to have a long neck with the chin pulled in and a flat back (“feel like your back is against a wall”). This minimizes back arching and keeps the hips under with the stomach tight.
Next Charyl discusses why centering is so important. Mastering various spin positions is significantly easier with a centered spin and a high quality and fast spin is an important foundation for more advanced spins. She talks about the sound of a centered spin versus one that is not centered. She notes that even advanced skaters need to regularly return to the fundamentals to continue to center spins properly.
Initially learning to center spins takes time, and simple but consistent and repeatable exercises are one of the best ways to speed up the process. Charyl says, “It will help if you practice tracing your entrance, doing the same thing over and over because if you do it over and over it becomes muscle memory. And the more you remember (body automatically remembers) doing that you don’t have to think about it as much.”
Next Charyl addresses how some skaters have poor spin entrances and cannot initially center a spin, but somehow sense the travel and can then center the spin after spinning for a while. This drives her crazy as she prefers to create centering immediately at the start of the spin by waiting long enough on the entrance edge. She talks about errors like releasing “the free leg a little too early” or “your (skating side) shoulder pulls back and you release your opposite shoulder at the wrong time” as major causes of traveling. In terms of centering a traveling spin she says, “Some people are just really talented at figuring out where their body belongs after they’ve already created that spin, even though it’s not a good entrance.” Charyl then notes again she is a perfectionist for spin entrances, so that is how she addresses most centering problems. She acknowledges that some talented skaters can do pretty crazy stuff on their entrances and still immediately center the spin, but improving the entrance with these skaters is still important for spin speed and consistency.
Keywords: spin centering, fixing a traveling spin, why do spins travel
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