How to do a good Spread Eagle?
- Thread starter gourry
- Start date
I think it's a combination of natural hip structure and practice/stretching.
In Boitano's Edge (IIRC), there's a photo of preteen Brian doing a mediocre spread eagle, and as we know he had an excellent one as an adult.
But some people will never be able to turn out their hips enough to hold a spread eagle position. Which is why it's not a required element.
In Boitano's Edge (IIRC), there's a photo of preteen Brian doing a mediocre spread eagle, and as we know he had an excellent one as an adult.
But some people will never be able to turn out their hips enough to hold a spread eagle position. Which is why it's not a required element.
Interesting. I'm surprised to hear Brian of all people used to have mediocre spread eagle.
Found it.
Brian's explanation:
The large photo on p. 60 of Boitano's Edge shows him doing an outside spread eagle with a deep lean. The inset shows him as a child doing an outside spread eagle with very little lean. His feet are fully turned out and there's not much break at the hips -- that's the natural hip structure necessary to achieve the position -- but he's pretty much straight up and down perpendicular to the ice. I guess he didn't have the speed at that time to hold him up, or the experience to know how to use it.
Brian's explanation:
The large photo on p. 60 of Boitano's Edge shows him doing an outside spread eagle with a deep lean. The inset shows him as a child doing an outside spread eagle with very little lean. His feet are fully turned out and there's not much break at the hips -- that's the natural hip structure necessary to achieve the position -- but he's pretty much straight up and down perpendicular to the ice. I guess he didn't have the speed at that time to hold him up, or the experience to know how to use it.
Thank you!
Oh so in a sense you either have it or not, due to the hip structure, but still you can improve the lean I guess.
gkelly, I'm not a native English speaker so I'm not sure what it means 'not much break at the hips'. Do you mind explaining it to me...? Is it about hip turn out?
I mean that his butt wasn't sticking out -- his upper body and his legs were pretty much in the same plane.
With a lot of beginners, and also more female than male skaters even at the elite levels, there's often an angle at the hip joint in this position so that viewed from the side the whole body would look more like
/
\
legs tilted back, torso tilted forward
A good spread eagle like Boitano's mature one would look more like
\
n\
(I hope the spacing works to show a continuous line leaning backward)
His childhood version looked more like
|
|
straight up and down
With a lot of beginners, and also more female than male skaters even at the elite levels, there's often an angle at the hip joint in this position so that viewed from the side the whole body would look more like
/
\
legs tilted back, torso tilted forward
A good spread eagle like Boitano's mature one would look more like
\
n\
(I hope the spacing works to show a continuous line leaning backward)
His childhood version looked more like
|
|
straight up and down
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2012
My daughter is not very flexible, but daily practice with her blades in position against the wall has meant she can now do them on both sides after a year. Hers have the break most of the time, but it is more that she isn't brave enough to lean back more while tucking in. She can do it leaning back but it is simply "scary" and has more to do with back and ab strength than flexibility (for her).
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2014
Some of it is hip structure. I never had to work at mine because I have excessive hip external rotation (my toes can point backwards when I turn out. That's just how I am, and it isn't really a positive as it makes jumping harder because I have to constantly work to keep my hip closed. But a friend of mine has a lovely spread eagle she worked really hard to get by daily stretching. However, there are some people who physiologically will never be able to do it, it's just the structure of their hips.
:shocked: Wow amazing! I didn't know there could be a downside for great turn out. Very interesting!
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
Yes,having open hips definitely makes jumps, spins and flying camels harder for me because I really need to focus on keeping my free hip closed.
But to answer your original question, open hips won't automatically enable you to do a spread eagle, but closed hips will definitely prevent it. "Open hips" means your hip joints are located farther to the outside of the pelvis/hips. It is purely structural and you are born with either open or closed hips.
But even if you have open hips, if you don't also stretch your groin and inner thighs, you may not have the muscle flexibility to get into the position and hold it. On top of that, you need some strength in your inner thighs and you need to know how to squeeze your butt and pull your thighs together if you want to do a spread eagle without the break at the hips. Before even trying a spread eagle on the ice, I recommend doing lots of butterfly stretches at home and plies against the boards at your rink to see if that enables you to get into the spread eagle position without straining your knees or sticking your butt out. When doing plies against the boards, hold onto the boards, turn your feet out against the bottom of the boards while keeping your knees DEEPLY BENT, and then press the insides of your knees against the boards. Do not straighten your legs, just hold the position and push your pelvis toward the wall. Then do the same thing but start to straighten your legs while keeping your knees pressed against the boards. Your end goal is to be able to straighten them while keeping the knees against the boards and also pressing your pelvis against the boards. Keeping the insides of your knees pressed against the boards will keep your knees facing the same direction as your toes and keep you from damaging your knees.
It's tricky to get into the position on the ice while moving, so that's a specific skill that you'll need to learn once you've determined that you can do the position (both off ice in bare feet/shoes and on ice against the boards). If you can physically achieve the position, I'd be happy to provide you with specific instructions for getting into the spread eagle position on the ice.
But to answer your original question, open hips won't automatically enable you to do a spread eagle, but closed hips will definitely prevent it. "Open hips" means your hip joints are located farther to the outside of the pelvis/hips. It is purely structural and you are born with either open or closed hips.
But even if you have open hips, if you don't also stretch your groin and inner thighs, you may not have the muscle flexibility to get into the position and hold it. On top of that, you need some strength in your inner thighs and you need to know how to squeeze your butt and pull your thighs together if you want to do a spread eagle without the break at the hips. Before even trying a spread eagle on the ice, I recommend doing lots of butterfly stretches at home and plies against the boards at your rink to see if that enables you to get into the spread eagle position without straining your knees or sticking your butt out. When doing plies against the boards, hold onto the boards, turn your feet out against the bottom of the boards while keeping your knees DEEPLY BENT, and then press the insides of your knees against the boards. Do not straighten your legs, just hold the position and push your pelvis toward the wall. Then do the same thing but start to straighten your legs while keeping your knees pressed against the boards. Your end goal is to be able to straighten them while keeping the knees against the boards and also pressing your pelvis against the boards. Keeping the insides of your knees pressed against the boards will keep your knees facing the same direction as your toes and keep you from damaging your knees.
It's tricky to get into the position on the ice while moving, so that's a specific skill that you'll need to learn once you've determined that you can do the position (both off ice in bare feet/shoes and on ice against the boards). If you can physically achieve the position, I'd be happy to provide you with specific instructions for getting into the spread eagle position on the ice.
Last edited:
Thank you for your advice!
Actually I'm not a skater and even though I'd really, really love to learn how to skate, there are no ice rinks where I live, so right now it is an impossible dream. Hopefully next year when I move...*fingers crossed* All I do is to imitate camel spin positions or layback positions or spiral positions at home from time to time.
I just wanted to know what makes good spread eaglers in general.
Anyway, I think I'm good with butterfly stretch, but when I tried doing plies against my kitchen counter, it looks like I can't quite press my pelvis against the wall. I have a feeling that my hips are closed...
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2013
- Country
-
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
It's hard to get your pelvis against the wall. It's hard for me even though I *can* do spread eagles! So keep working on it and see if it gets better!
I am quite new to figure skating (working on all doubles pretty much) but I haven't even gotten close to doing anything that looks like a spread eagle. I think that younger people have easier to learn this, I know at least four male skaters under the age of 10 that can do spread eagles without any problem at all. However, I started so late that I don't think that I will be able to get a good one at all, we'll see
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
When you say you "started so late" how late is that? I started skating at 27 and learned my spread eagle at maybe 28 or 29. If your hip structure allows it and you do the stretches, it doesn't matter if you are male or female; the flexibility should not be a problem. Good luck, and feel free to ask if you need help with technique getting into it on the ice.
Well by late I meant at almost 14 (I'm now 15) but I consider it kinda late since I have gotten extremely interested in the sport and wanna go "far", or at least as far as I'll manage to do. And I'll try to do what you said and we'll see how it goes after a whileWhen you say you "started so late" how late is that? I started skating at 27 and learned my spread eagle at maybe 28 or 29. If your hip structure allows it and you do the stretches, it doesn't matter if you are male or female; the flexibility should not be a problem. Good luck, and feel free to ask if you need help with technique getting into it on the ice.
. It looks like a fun move to be able to do reallySimilar threads
