Adult pre-bronze spirals

[isakswings]

I have been working on spirals recently since we are doing them in the adult number I am involved in. I am the lowest level skater in our group of 7 skaters. I feel a bit like a kindergartener. Lol. Anyway, one of the other adults(who is also a judge) cannot do a spiral so she and I are going to do an attitude instead.

Anyway, on Friday, I was trying very hard to do a spiral and asked the judge what she thought of my spiral. She said she'd pass it on a pre-bronze moves test. She made my day! Lol. I don't think it is quite 90 degrees...but I also have not seen it. Of course, that was my better leg... The other one needs work.

So, my question is for those who have taken the pre bronze moves test, how picky are the judges? Do they expect the 90 degrees or do they allow a little wiggle room? I am happy I am getting at least one leg higher! I think I am going to have dd record my spiral this week. Ack. If I felt comfortable with it, I could do it in the show, but I don't want to feel rushed and fall either!

Mod note: topic moved to "on the boards"

[davincisop]

I have found it is very dependent on the judge. Some are more lenient than others. So it is hard to say. But congrats on a spiral!

[isakswings]

I have found it is very dependent on the judge. Some are more lenient than others. So it is hard to say. But congrats on a spiral!

Lol, thanks! I am not ready for testing, so I have time to get it to 90. Off ice, it is on both legs. On ice...not so much! My daughter has a beautiful spiral...I won't ever have it but I would like it to be hip level. Hee hee!

[jjane45]

Don't worry, spirals will naturally improve with practice and time!

Seeing that we are in video vault forum, I was expecting a video?

[sarahspins]

I have found it is very dependent on the judge. Some are more lenient than others. So it is hard to say. But congrats on a spiral!

My gut feeling is that most judges would probably pass it if it was "close".  The pre-bronze test is an encouragement test and it really takes a lot to fail it... you'd likely have to be unable to complete an element at all or fall on it to actually fail.  The judges aren't expecting the same amount of flexibility/extension and strength as with the kids.  Judges who are also adult skaters tend to be a little more generous with their judging of other adults, and they may very well pass an adult skater with spirals they would not pass a kid with.

My own thoughts, are that barring a physical injury (like Skittl's labrum tear) that most adults can manage hip height spirals if they work on them - it definitely takes time to develop the balance and strength required, but it isn't impossible.  It sure FEELS that way at first, but it's definitely doable with a lot of hard work   It took me over a year to get the silver/prelim spirals to where I could even get through the whole pattern in one shot - it felt like it took forever and that I'd never get it, but eventually I did, and I've only gotten stronger since I didn't stop pushing myself - I would try to do one or two more spirals after I finished the pattern, then I'd try to complete the length of the rink, then I'd try to double the whole pattern.. eventually that turned into going past two patterns, and eventually that work started to really pay off and the single pattern that used to seem nearly impossible is now not so bad

[JHarer]

My left side was just below hip height and I passed. The judge even commented that my spirals were nicely controlled. I think it really depends on the judge.

[Skittl1321]

My own thoughts, are that barring a physical injury (like Skittl's labrum tear) that most adults can manage hip height spirals if they work on them

Even I can force the spiral on the PB test (it wasn't on my PB though, it was Silver back then), but it is extremely painful and limits mobility the next day.  (Doing the silver spirals though is out of the question).

I agree though that most adults should be able to get hip height with stretching.  It isn't like a 90 degree arabesque in ballet (which is extremely difficult), since most skaters will lower the upper body. That makes it a lot easier to achieve.

[isakswings]

Don't worry, spirals will naturally improve with practice and time!

Seeing that we are in video vault forum, I was expecting a video?

Oops! My bad! I should have posted this in the on ice section!

[jjane45]

Or... post a video 

[isakswings]

Or... post a video 

Maybe. It all depends on how I like the video lol!!

[treesprite]

I came back to skating a year ago and am still afraid to work on spirals, due to feeling like I'm going to trip as I'm moving forward.

[Skittl1321]

I came back to skating a year ago and am still afraid to work on spirals, due to feeling like I'm going to trip as I'm moving forward.

If you have uncrowded ice, can you practice back spirals instead?  I find they are much safer to do (assuming there is no one to run into), because it is much easier to catch yourself from a fall (you drag the toepick first, which alerts you that the balance is wrong, rather than forward when you just fly over the toe pick).

That will help you get the height, and then as you are more confident you can switch to forward.  Before I hurt myself, I LOVED back spirals. They were always better than forward.

[Doubletoe]

The most important thing to know about spirals is that you shouldn't focus on lifting your back leg; instead, focus on pushing the heel of the skating foot forward while pulling back away from it with the back leg (try this on the ice while holding onto the boards with both hands to get a feel for it).  What this does is to put your weight on the heel of the skating foot so that you don't end up on the front of your blade, catching your toepick and doing a face plant.  Most skaters who have a hard time getting the back leg high enough just assume it's a flexibility issue, but it's probably more of a balance issue because they are balanced directly over the skating foot and lifting the back leg any higher would pitch them forward.  One trick that really helps is to lift the toes of your skating foot inside your boot as you do your spiral.  Lift the skating toes and point the free foot toes.  Something else that will keep you from getting pitched forward (and also make your spiral more attractive) is to lift your chin and squeeze your shoulder blades together in the middle of your back.

[nataxa]

I came back to skating a year ago and am still afraid to work on spirals, due to feeling like I'm going to trip as I'm moving forward.

Practice spirals on the floor. You need to stay in this position as long as you can.
Also very important to have strong back muscles.
So try to lift your leg (both legs alternative, actually) as high as you can in front of the mirror. You need to get to a point when you see your toes over your head.
Apart of that try to lift you leg in this position and lower it, to train back muscles. You need to be very confident with this lifting so that it won't scare you on the ice.

[Doubletoe]

Practice spirals on the floor. You need to stay in this position as long as you can.
Also very important to have strong back muscles.
So try to lift your leg (both legs alternative, actually) as high as you can in front of the mirror. You need to get to a point when you see your toes over your head.
Apart of that try to lift you leg in this position and lower it, to train back muscles. You need to be very confident with this lifting so that it won't scare you on the ice.

Yes, very true.  Those skates are heavy and they are all the way at the end of your legs, so you need strong lower back and upper glute muscles to hold spiral positions.  When you do these exercises at home, wear your skates or ankle weights.