Figure skating specialist coach Sheila Thelen continues working with a skater on the off-ice harness and electric spinner. In Part 1 Sheila offered insights and advice about equipment and safety, and in the previous video she showed a variety of drills and positions to create a good axis and air position. In this video, Sheila addresses the question of whether the electric spinner is really necessary for this kind of training.
Sheila says, “The goal of this harness and spinner is to accelerate the take-off and to have proper air position.” She admits that she originally didn’t understand the value of the electric spinner. But after using one for a while she was able to see the benefits with both young and inexperienced skaters and more advanced skaters. The spinner helped get the young skaters enough rotational energy to work on air position (she mentions pushing skater in earlier video), and it helped older and more advanced athletes by allowing for incredible rotational speeds. The spinner is a great way of “forcing the rotational energy onto the athlete.”
Then she notes that the spinner is not required and she does occasionally use the stationary off-ice harness without the spinner. She then has the skater demonstrate jumping up into rotation from the floor. The skater can still hit great positions and do various drills, but she appears to be spinning a little slower than she was in the previous video when using the electric spinner. Sheila notes she likes to do the air position training off the floor with the skater wearing skates to make it more realistic for what happens on the ice.
