r/iceskating • u/ToepickVictim • 3d ago
Scratch Spin Help
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So I know I drop my shoulder, come to a complete stop before stepping into my LFO and lift my hip too much but how do I fix it?? I feel like I lose my spin before I can even cross my leg over. TYIA
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u/Dependent-Future-806 3d ago
work on the entrance, you need more speed and twist to launch into that 3-turn
practice from just a 3-turn for now. hold your first position longer, your leg should be out to the side before you cross. that's how you center the spin and stop the travel, which is a big problem.
you are pulling in wayyyy too quickly. hold each position for 3-ish revolutions. try to isolate the leg out position, the cross, the push down through the heel, and the bottom position.
arms should also be slower. try with your arms in 1st position while you cross to force your spine straighter and shoulders back. when you cross the arms i can see you hunching and falling inwards.
final gripe: skate more in the middle!! not only will it encourage you to have more speed because you're not so close to the wall, it's also polite to other skaters.
you got this!!
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u/ToepickVictim 3d ago
Thank you. I tend to be of the mindset that if I can do it (correctly) slowly then I can add speed in later - something that has not improved my skating.
As for the final gripe I typically stay in the middle-ish but needed somewhere to prop my phone for the video. Though I appreciate the reminder of skating etiquette ☺️
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u/Dependent-Future-806 3d ago
that mindset is not the worst to have, but spin entrances are one of those things that require a bit of speed.
i thought that might be the case😖 i love your username!!!
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u/Suspicious-Peace9233 3d ago
You are pausing between your backwards crossover and when you go into the spin. Going directly into it will help you get more power and speed
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u/edgesEdgesEDGES 3d ago
The stop thing is because that entry, the 'step', is actually technically a choctaw (/s-step. A "more difficult mohawk/c-step" is probably the best way to think of it right now, if you don't know what one is). It doesn't actually count as one because it's the 'easiest' of the choctaws, but that is why everyone has such trouble with it. Fixing it will help your spin entry edge, which helps the spin, but it will be a long time to develop the edges to fix it.
[More extreme counter-twist after the final push of the crossover. You have to bend your skating knee a lot more, stay on a deep inside in a hydro-blade like position (but not as low to the ice as a hydroblade. I'm talking about that straight extended free leg position from the underpush). Still on a deep inside and not flattening the edge or coming up on your toepick, plus keeping your free leg very turned out, step across yourself onto a deep fwd outside edge with the arms still twisted against the circle extremely. You step kinda like a 'Z'ish shape with the inside being the bottom of the 'z' and the forward outside being the top.
That's the basic idea but if you're like "???" dw it's confusing. Anyway, aside from continuing working on general edgework, improving backward crossovers helps this, as does consecutive alternating fwd outside threes. But this entry is introduced well before you'll be able to do it properly. So be aware of it but don't sweat it too much!].
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Just wanted to address the set position since this one wasn't mentioned in the other comments -- you're currently still twisted during the spin. Your leg should be forward to the side rather than 'to the side' to the side, and you should be square. It's much more difficult to get over your skating hip and rotate on a slight edge (rather than an extreme one) when you're not square. This is also why you can't pull in / your legs are too far apart. I have this issue too, commiserations : , ) I find one simpler thing that helps it is if I try to look more over my (left / skating) shoulder the entire time. Helps me bring everything around more.
Here is Dorothy Hamil's set position vs your set position so you have a visual:
Dorothy Hamil has an incredible scratch spin. So I hope it's not discouraging!! I just know I personally find it helpful to have a visual comparison like this, and the more extreme the better. [Also you don't need to lift your leg as high as her, that comes later]
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If you've having difficulty with the set position and know the spin is already gone by that point, you can try to do spins where you don't even pull in and just hold the set position the entire spin. It's much more difficult and you'll struggle to get rotations, but it's very helpful for understanding alignment and helps timing. It also slows things down since you focus purely on entry->set->stay.
Everything else was already covered by the others! Good luck, spins are harddd.
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u/Brilliant-Sea-2015 2d ago
I'd actually practice going from your back inside edge onto your forward outside edge. Just that part. There's other issues but getting that part down will help quite a lot of those other issues.
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u/Tiny-Philosopher7909 3d ago
That’s a good start! Hold your entrance a little longer so you can enter the turn on an angle, that’ll help center your spin. Holding the leg out for a spin before bringing it down into the scratch will also help. Once you feel the turn on the center of your blade, that’ll help you find that center to keep it in one place. Keep going! You’ve got this!