Off Ice Spinning Device

[Mom2NewSkater]

I will ask my daughter's coach this question eventually.  We won't be seeing her for another week and a half due to vacation, so I thought I'd go ahead and ask here.  Do most skaters use an off ice spinning device?  If so, did you work with your coach to learn how to use it, or is it easy to learn to use on your own?  My daughter has a birthday coming up at the end of September, and I'm wondering if this might be a good gift for her. 

Thanks.

[alejeather]

I think the general consensus is that they may be useful for some drills, but they don't fully replicate what spinning feels like on the ice, so won't teach you to spin. Everyone I've heard from also seems to prefer the plastic type, because it replicates the feeling of a rocker, as opposed to the metal types with two plates and ball bearings.

Regardless of whether it's of much use, if your daughter loves skating, she'd probably love one for a gift. I got one for Christmas one year (the metal type) and barely use it now, but I was *very* excited about it

[Loops]

I have one, too.  The rockered type, wooden by HolySalchow.  It's OK.  I need to do more practice on it, but the reality is, I get too dizzy.  I've always had dizziness issues, even when I was a kid, but now as an adult, one good spin on that thing, and I'm nauseated for the rest of the day.  On ice, it's not quite as bad.

I'm not sure what the difference is, since I can't do nearly as many revolutions on the trainer as I can on ice.  But the dizziness has certainly curtailed my usage. 

Hopefully this is irrelevant to your daughter, but might be something to keep in mind.  The HS spinner is a little cheaper than the comparable Edea one.  If you mine these forums, you'll find some exercises for it, especially in the threads titled "spin trainer" or similar.  But probably a conversation with her coach would be more fruitful.  It probably helps to at least start under a watchful, and knowledgeable, eye.