Figure skating coach Amy Brolsma explains and demonstrates how she teaches spirals to beginner skaters. She focuses initially on the upper body position while on 2 feet. To balance this position, skaters must allow the hips to move backwards. Just this exercise alone solves many common spiral errors so it should be mastered. Next Amy has the skater stand at the wall on one foot with both hands gently on the wall (great “playing the piano” trick), then engage the muscles to lift the free leg before bringing the upper body down. Amy talks about keeping the free foot turned out, the free leg straight, and the free foot in line with the rest of the body (“straight behind their head”).
Next, she goes back to the 2-foot exercise while gliding straight. This step is very important for beginner skaters as it greatly reduces fears about catching the toe pick and falling. After developing some comfort with that, Amy has the skater glide on one foot with the body upright and the free leg held back. She then has them lower into the spiral with the upper body moving down while the free leg is being held up. An extremely common error is leaning forward with the upper body while letting the free leg droop, then trying to lift the free leg.
Amy notes that this is a process. The free leg will not be very high to start. The skater must become strong enough and flexible enough to do the spiral, and she or he must become comfortable with allowing the hips to drift backwards while lowering into the spiral.
To help skaters who lack the strength to lift or hold up their leg, Amy takes them to the wall and has them hold on in the spiral position. She then pushes down on the free foot to help the skater learn how to engage the right muscles to lift the leg. She also recommends using a very small ankle weight to build strength and awareness. Video is also helpful as most beginner skaters are not capable of accurately “feeling” where their body parts are.
To finish the video, Amy discusses the desired shoulder and arm positions, how the spiral relates to the camel spin, a challenging balance drill from a lunge, and insights about the forward inside spiral.
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