Spread eagle in both directions?

[jjane45]

How often do skaters have equally strong spread eagles in both directions (CW and CCW)? Is your good spread eagle's direction same as the jump direction?

I jump CCW and my CW spread eagle really sucks, makes me wonder if the non-dominant direction is naturally MUCH more difficult, or maybe the right hip not as open as the left hip.

Doing spread eagle in both directions obviously provides more options for jump entry. Techskater mentioned spread eagle into lutz, I assume they have opposite directions?

[Clarice]

I jump counterclockwise, and can only do spread eagles clockwise (right foot leading).  I can only do Ina Bauers that way, too.  Both moves are actually very good for me, but only in that one direction.

[techskater]

Doing spread eagle in both directions obviously provides more options for jump entry. Techskater mentioned spread eagle into lutz, I assume they have opposite directions?

Yes, I jump CW and my left leading spread eagle and bauer are much stronger than my right leading, but I am learning my more difficult direction. 

[emilayy]

this is slightly off-topic, but does anyone have any tips/tricks for spread eagles and ina bauers?

[aussieskater]

I jump counterclockwise, and can only do spread eagles clockwise (right foot leading).  I can only do Ina Bauers that way, too.  Both moves are actually very good for me, but only in that one direction.

Do you mean outside spreadeagle?

[Clarice]

Do you mean outside spreadeagle?

I mean both inside and outside.  I only do them right foot leading.  I can do them the other way, in the sense that the turnout is the same, but with the left foot leading they're extremely awkward and unusable.  I suppose if I worked on them enough I could force the issue, but there doesn't seem to be any overwhelming reason to do so.

[jjane45]

Interesting. I wonder what makes spread eagle stronger on one side than the other then? Looks like the jump direction does not quite matter.

[sarahspins]

Back when I could do them, I did them best left foot leading.... and I could easily do an outside into an axel, and now I can't really do either inside or outside, but it doesn't matter which foot leads, they're equally bad now

[Qarol]

My coach is always telling me that it's normal for skaters to prefer one direction over another (like with crossovers or turns), but we work to perfect both ways. I spin/jump CCW but lead with my left foot when doing spread eagles. I have natural turn out, so that's not the issue, but I can't yet do it leading with the right foot.

[techskater]

You probably have stronger turn out with the leading hip.  That is something we noticed about mine...

[FigureSpins]

I have my skaters do the inside spreadeagles in a figure-8 pattern, to try and improve both sides, but almost everyone has a preferred leading side.  Usually, it's that they're twisting/shifting their weight to that foot regardless of which direction it's traveling.

Try getting into the spreadeagle, then putting your hands in the small of your back.  It makes the skater stand up straighter and focus on getting the shoulders over the curve.

Just as an aside, this quote is from Brian Boitano:

WHY SKATERS DON'T FALL OVER WHEN PERFORMING A SPREAD EAGLE

When skaters lean back into a spread eagle, it looks as if they should topple over onto the ice. However, centrifugal force--which is defined as the force exerted on a body that is rotating around an axis; it's what you feel when speeding around a tight turn in a roller coaster--pushes out against the skater and lets him lean back and still grip the ice with his skate blades. The faster the skater moves and the tighter the circle, the greater the lean. Fifteen years of experience made the difference between the spread eagle I did when I was nine (inset) and the one I did the year after winning the Olympic gold medal.

LINK: https://books.google.com/books?id=uM3j92blxWMC

[JSM]

I jump clockwise, but my spread eagles and bauers were always much stronger when I lead with my left foot, not the right.  I suspect it's because I learned a lot of these moves with my synchro team (called "precision" in my day), and the majority of skaters jump CCW.

Now as an adult skater I'm trying to work on them in both directions (to varying degrees of success).

[sk8tegirl06]

I jump counterclockwise, and can only do spread eagles clockwise (right foot leading).  I can only do Ina Bauers that way, too.  Both moves are actually very good for me, but only in that one direction.

Same here...CCW jumper and CW (right foot leading) spread eagle position. I can flip from inside to outside, or just one or the other, but all are right foot leading. I definitely need to work on standing up straighter in them, haven't quite figured out Ina Bauers yet.