Flying Camel Building Blocks (Charyl Brusch)

Spin specialist Charyl Brusch continues her explanation of how she teaches a flying camel by working with a skater and discussing common problems and their solutions. There’s actually a huge amount of information in this video lesson, but you have to listen carefully and watch the demonstrations very closely.

At the beginning of this video, Charyl shows how she pulls the skater around on the take-off edge and has them pivot on the toe pick. This exercise alone is extremely helpful to those skaters who tend to do a three turn at the end of the take-off edge. It requires some speed and the free leg must stay behind. Charyl also discusses the skating arm movement (with more discussion at the end of the video) and free leg action.

Next in the development is a step over and then a hop over. Charyl addresses a common problem on the hop over (incorrect landing position) and explains why it happens and how to correct it. A very common problem on flying camels is the skater’s tendency to lean outside the circle on the entry edge. Charyl says that when a skater leans outside the entry circle, “They’re jumping away from the spin and not around themselves.” Charyl discusses this in detail.

Charyl also shows coaches how to help a skater feel how to keep the free leg back on the entry. This requires assisting the skater as she demonstrates.

Notice the use of the hockey lines to ensure the skater creates a long enough entry edge. Charyl’s tip of thinking of the blue line as a fence is invaluable. She says, “I want them to come around the fence and jump over it.” She shows exactly what this means.