Camel Spin Help

I am having some trouble with my camel spin. I've been working on it several months (its not a spin I learned when I was younger). When I hit it okay, I can manage ~5 revolutions but more often than that I botch the start and fall out of the inside edge after 2-3 revolutions which travel a lot and are pretty slow (if I really screw it up I'll fall out of it before getting into the spin and then repeat that several times before I get my timing back). I have two videos (the first is the example of a bad spin, the second is a better one). I can feel it when I get it right but then have trouble carrying that over to the next attempt. Any help would be very appreciated! Thank you!

Honestly, your "bad" camel spin is not much worse than your "good" one. You don't get the feature for holding a plain position for 8, so there's no real reason to go longer than 5 revolutions before changing foot/position.

My coach keeps telling me to keep my weight over my skating leg, because I have a tendency to be off-balance and then my weight pulls me to the inside edge and I fall out, as with your "bad" camel (though my camel would make your bad camel look perfect). What tips does your coach give you? I know it can be difficult to keep all of the tips in your head, so work on them one at a time.

Also, if I may make a suggestion: please don't do camel spins in public skate. It's VERY dangerous.

Thanks, my "bad" spin can definitely be much worse. It's just whenever I try to take a video to see what I'm doing wrong it Seems to magically improve (why won't it be awful when I want it to!). I think a part of it is my weight being too far over the inside edge, thinking about things one at a time is definitely helpful, thanks!

I generally agree with you about certain elements at public skates. Unfortunately at my rink public skates end up being a weird conglomeration of freestyle and public skating, so I generally only practice stuff like that when the session is pretty empty and when I have an open space (the general rule is figure skating in the center). Otherwise I often just practice MITF at busy publics. But I can't tell you how many times I've almost been taken out by a kid doing some double without paying attention. Still, it is good advice as a general rule!

Looks like you're rolling off the edge. Can you try touching your right arm to the outside of your left thigh, as you enter the spin, and hold it there for the first few rotations? This might help you to lock the center more.

Seren said:

I generally only practice stuff like that when the session is pretty empty and when I have an open space (the general rule is figure skating in the center).

Click to expand...

You consider THAT "pretty empty"?

Anyway, what does your coach say about it? I don't want to go giving any potentially counter-productive advice.

Hi! I agree with the advice to listen to your coach's tips, one by one.
One thing I notice though is that your skating (spinning) leg is slightly bent throughout. I find that if skaters can fully straighten the skating leg, pushing the skating toe out in front of them (which also shifts the hips back a bit), it helps to "lock" the position over the correct balance point. Hope that makes sense! Good luck!

On the better one, it looks like you got deeper ankle bend and pressed your blade into the ice more when you stepped down onto the left foot for the entrance edge. The result was a deeper, rounder entrance edge, which made it easier for you to keep your right hip up as you went into the spin. I find that if I step down onto the left foot, literally pause a moment to bend and press it into the ice, and THEN push onto the edge, my body alignment is better and I get that deeper edge and higher free hip.