Revisiting Edea Skate spinners.....

[Loops]

Hello everyone, I've been through the forums and recongize that there are mixed opinions out there as to the utility of having a spinner.

I have always travelled my spins.  Impressively.  I'd been avoiding them, but got tapped in synchro to do one.  The first night they were reasonably centered (for me), but last night, they were scary.  I think I know what at least part of the problem is- my free hip drops, shifting my weight over and beyond my skating foot. It's always been a problem and one for which I'm cursing muscle memory.  But I'm sure my coach will find other things to fix, too.  The biggest problem (besides the fact that I might kill one of my teammates) is that it exacerbates my dizziness.

Now, based on comments I'd written off the spinner, but now, I'm wondering if a rocker-type model, like the Edea might not be a good idea to get off ice practice.  My ice time is very limited and publics are not an option (tooooooooooo crowded).  I'm thinking that since it travels with the user, I can use it to help fix my body position.  With the paper plate, I'm never really sure.

What do you guys think?

Yeah, and if any of you have drills/exercises/etc to recommend that would help me remember to keep that free hip up, I'd LOVE to hear them.  I've been thinking I might need one of those things the monk in the Da Vinci code wore on his leg.....

Thanks!

[sarahspins]

Chronic (and extreme) traveling in spins almost always has to do with the entrance... body position is somewhat secondary, and from what I have seen typically only causes minor centering issues compared to the wild loopy 'tornado' spins caused by rushing the entrance edge. 

[taka]

I'd be interested to know if anyone has tips or thinks the spinner would help too.

In my case it is definitely posture. My entrance is fine - but I tend to drop 1 shoulder and have my hip too open along with other minor things while spinning. If you look at my tracings you can tell the exact moment I've completed my mental checklist of things to correct and finally manage to centre the spin! It takes a few revs and often travels quite a distance before centring! My spins were like that as a kid too as I remember getting the same corrections then too.

It is a bit of a problem in my free dance programme as I don't have a huge amount of time to do the spin my programme finishes with. I'm knackered by then too so it ends up being dire. It doesn't help that spinning still hurts my leg so I can only practice it a limited number of times before I have to stop.

[Loops]

traveling in spins almost always has to do with the entrance

Could be, I certainly won't deny it's a possibility. One of the coaches here is particularly good with spins, and I'm gonna be chatting with him on Sat.  But I know at least part of the problem is my hip position in the spin (and it's a problem in progressives, non-school figure three turns and once upon a time in my jumps, too).   When I do get my spins sort of centered (nothing like yours  though SarahSpins!) I feel it has more to do with my body position, but maybe I am doing something differently on the entrance.

So, I'm just curious if this is a tool that can help with correcting at least my body position?  I've also read it is useful for increasing resistance to dizziness....I needed to sit down after one of my spins last week     

[Loops]

Ok, so I'm ressurecting this thread, because I have another question.  Twizzles.  For our end of the season exhibition, some whiz-bang threw in a LBI twizzle, to fast paced music, which I can't do to save my life at a slow pace.  Let's just say the English vocab of my fellow skaters has been, uh expanding :-/

Could a spinner help me with this (and the other twizzles as well)?  If so, which type do you recommend- plastic rocker or metal plate?

And Fwiw, SarahSpins was right on the entrance for the spins.  I still have some work to do, but my tornadoes have mostly gone.  Now when they appear they have more of a tendency to loop back on themselves, kind of a horseshoe shaped tornado.  Those are interesting.

TIA!

[sarahspins]

Circular travel is actually the "better" kind to have.. usually that is due to a body position/alignment problem (and often easier to fix) rather than the straight-line travel caused by a short or flat entrance edge

[littlerain]

I got a plastic spinner and has helped with body alignment etc. I can't spin much on it, I'd say I only average 2-3 revs, or occasionally I get more and freak out that I'm gonna slide and crash into the kitchen counter. Lol! It has also helped me cope with dizzy ness

[Loops]

Hmm.  Crashing into counters doesn't sound like fun. 

But has anyone used this thing for the more "controlled- revolution" things, like twizzles, and helping sort out body position and maybe even finding the spot on the blade for those?  Or is the rocker on the plasticky kind too generic?

[sarahspins]

It may not help with the position on the blade, but you can absolutely work on the rest of the mechanics - like the timing of the check coming out of a double or triple twizzle.

[Loops]

Hmmm so maybe worth adding to the kit after all then?  Anything to help with those darn twizzles.

Is there one brand that's "better" than another (to me, "better" would mean similar profile to a blade)? There seem to be several on the market......

[Query]

If your blade follows a constant radius, it goes in a circle and you do not travel.

Ergo, you must be rocking. Eliminate the rock, and you don't travel.

Easier said than done - I often travel when I can't detect any rocking motion - but it must be there.

Spinners are mostly useful for amusement, as you keep flying off. It helps a lot if you know how to fall safely, and if there is space so you don't bump into anything.

Here are two spinners. I tried both, with minimal success - less with Rainbo's than with Rainbo's than with Gold Medal's. Perhaps Edea's is similar to Rainbo's?

Rainbo's, and therefore probably Edea's, can mar floors.

Regardless, be sure to try spinning off center on the spinner, because that's what you do on the ice - your weight must be inwards of your blade to counter the centrifugal force from skating in a small circle.

[littlerain]

The one I got is the skate spinner brand, and I believe slcbelle has that one as well? I recall she talked about spinners in an older thread.

Fortunately, there have been no crashes and the floor is fine. Sometimes the spinner just goes flying!

[Query]

littlerain, you say you haven't damaged the floor.

What is your floor made of? Was it waxed or coated with anything?

What is the spinner made of - just an unknown plastic?

Has it helped?

[Neverdull44]

What worked better for me are the coach's bands.  Holding onto the bands, keeps my shoulder/hip box square.  Once I figured that out, then my spins didn't travel over 2 blade lengths. 

Also, the entrance.  Has a coach taught you to do a spin using one of the hockey rink lines?   Start at a t-stop, make as large of an entrance edge, coming back to or after the blue line, and then you do the three turn. If you spin before you return to the blue line, then there is traveling.  I learned the camel that way too, from a t stop.  Takes alot of strength to do it that way, but it gets me straight in it.  Then, when I add the crossovers, I do the longest entrance edge I can automatically.

[Loops]

What are coaches bands?

[littlerain]

littlerain, you say you haven't damaged the floor.

What is your floor made of? Was it waxed or coated with anything?

What is the spinner made of - just an unknown plastic?

Has it helped?

Query, I purchased this one - http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-ORIGINAL-Hard-Plastic-WORLD-FAMOUS-Skate-Spinner-/231174464059?pt=US_Athletic_Clothing&var=&hash=item35d312623b

I'm not sure if there is info on what plastic it is, but I will definitely check and update this if there is information. I've been using it on linoleum flooring and it has been fine!

I'm a beginner when it comes to spins, and generally get dizzy in life (ha!) so the spinner has really helped with that even in the month or so that I've had it. I think it has helped with general body alignment too (knee bend, strong arms, basic timing of what all my body parts are doing haha). I can see how it could help with practicing different spin positions, and I am finding that even though I freak out when i gain speed on the spinner, guess what, i freak out (ie body parts aren't where I think they are lol) on ice too, so being able to adjust to that even a little bit off ice is helpful. (That's something you definitely don't get just from socks on a floor, I think)

For me, just being able to get over some of the dizziness and work on my posture etc have been useful. Plus, I figured $35 wasn't going to kill me - I could just skip the chocolate croissants at Starbucks for a week and be more consistent about packing a lunch for work if it was dud to make up for it! LOL

[littlerain]

Hmmm so maybe worth adding to the kit after all then?  Anything to help with those darn twizzles.

Is there one brand that's "better" than another (to me, "better" would mean similar profile to a blade)? There seem to be several on the market......

Btw I found the thread I had read on here
http://www.skatingforums.com/index.php?topic=5018

[taichiskater]

I used a skate spinner and practiced a lot on it until I was able to do at least 4-5 revolutions. However, I was never good at spinning on ice. Eventually, I realized that I got used to spinning about a single point with the skate spinner, instead of skating on a circle, as I should on ice. The axis of rotation is different, and I had to "unlearn" the feeling from using the skate spinner.

The skate spinner may be useful for getting used to spinning and not feel as dizzy. But for me, it didn't help me spin better on the ice.