Lateral Twist??? | Golden Skate

Lateral Twist???

doug_log

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Can anyone answer some questions about the lateral twist? What is its GOE v. the split twist. I know Brasseur and Eisler did a triple one, and I remember commentators always making a BIG BIG deal about the difficulty of that move. Does anyone know anything about other pairs doing it?
 

Jhar55

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
The only pair I've ever heard doing a lateral twist was Kitty and Petter back in the late 70's early 80"s when they competed.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Jhar55 said:
The only pair I've ever heard doing a lateral twist was Kitty and Petter back in the late 70's early 80"s when they competed.

Brasseur and Eisler also did that, as mentioned in the first post.
 

Matt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 19, 2003
I have video from '91 Worlds of Brasseur & Eisler doing a lateral split triple twist and a regular split triple twist in the same programme. So, in the early '90s at least, they were considered a separate manoeuvres
 

ChiSk8Fan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Lateral twist lift

The twisting lifts do not have a very long history in the sport of Pairs Skating. In fact, even overhead lifting was not commonly done by the top pairs until the late 1960's. True Pairs Skating lifts must flow, circle, change edges and come down. The turns underneath for each position can not exceed a certain amount, or it becomes a "carry" lift, or what is called an adagio lift. Adagio lifts were illegal until recently, and now I believe the Pairs will all do one to show excellence in carry lifts (like Ina/Zimmerman doing the Candle lift----spectacular).

The split twist lift is a LIFT. It is not a throw or a jump. It is a lift with a release, complicated moves for the woman to rotate as if she were doing a jump, and the man should re-establish the hand hold to execute a smooth, lift dismount. This is why collisions on the landings are severe deductions. It would be like a routine lift falling down. No two footed landings either, same as with any lift.

For the woman to twist laterally after being lifted straight up is immensely difficult. The woman, instead of pushing straight up and rotating straight must push sideays, lay out and twist, then re-establish the catch position and re-straighten herself. Being pushed up in the lateral position is much more awkward and requires far more strength from the man due to wind resistance, gravity, etc. Getting the woman up high is much easier going straight up.

The Carruthers invented the twist lift, using a push off from the hip instead of both hips as in the twist lift. It involved two turns. The Seibolds also did it in the late 1980's. Braseur did the triple lateral, which literally broke her rib bones in 1994 from the catching and twisting and it was a move that did frighten her. At 1994 Worlds, they did a lateral single twist, a great example of this move's technique.

It is definitely a different technique and at the triple level, immensely difficult and dangerous.
 
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nicole_l

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 28, 2004
ChiSk8fan, thanks for the explanation.
All this talk of lateral twists versus split twists and I definitely can't tell the difference.
 

Cal Girl

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 9, 2004
I dont think I can explain a lateral twist but a Split Twist - as the girl rises up to the highest point she is in a split position (a straddle position) and then begins the twist for the revolution, single, double or triple.
I am not certain if the new system requires the split position in the lift or not. But it is much prettier and more difficult to do the split before the twist begins.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
AFAIK the lady must do the split in the air before she starts rotating. Elena Berezhnaya was an excellent example of a real split in the air;she held the air underneath before she started rotating. It was spectacular on the split double twist.
 

ChiSk8Fan

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 7, 2004
Vash01 said:
AFAIK the lady must do the split in the air before she starts rotating. Elena Berezhnaya was an excellent example of a real split in the air;she held the air underneath before she started rotating. It was spectacular on the split double twist.

Well, technically speaking, the split is only required if the Pair is intending to perform the split-twist lift. The more basic lift, which is also acceptable, is the twist lift. In the twist lift the Pair skates backward facing forward, establishes the hand hold of the lift, which is the man's hands on the hips, and the woman's on the man's wrists. There are two points of contact.

The woman reaches back with her free leg and both bend the knees deeply in unison, as timing is essential. The woman, while still holding the wrists, jumps up and to her left as she would in doing a flip jump. At the same time, the man lifts the woman up and to the left to full extension.

At the top of the lift, the woman pushes off upward and releases her hands, completes the rotation and checks the arms. A good twist lift will have both height and distance. The man must complete a turn from backward to forward with ice coverage to catch the partner.

The hand hold is to be re-established next. The man catches the woman at the hips, the woman can find the man's shoulders, and the set down must be on one foot with a dismount showing flow and speed.

Sometimes, the quadruple twist lift was done without the split. The split triple is much harder than the triple twist with no split. Underhill and Martini at one point did a triple twist with no split in shows, and it is a way to do the lift in a simpler fashion.

Either lift is very complicated, and very fun to see at any level of Pairs.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
ChiSk8Fan said:
Well, technically speaking, the split is only required if the Pair is intending to perform the split-twist lift. The more basic lift, which is also acceptable, is the twist lift. In the twist lift the Pair skates backward facing forward, establishes the hand hold of the lift, which is the man's hands on the hips, and the woman's on the man's wrists. There are two points of contact.

Either lift is very complicated, and very fun to see at any level of Pairs.

I was in fact referring to the split twist, in response to the question asked by the earlier poster. I believe it was about the split twist. I know the difference between a lateral twist and a split twist.
 
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icenut84

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Didn't Shen & Zhao also do a lateral twist at one point? IIRC they did one in the 98 Olympics, but I'd have to check my tape to know for sure.

Brasseur & Eisler's lateral twist was amazing in the 94 Olympics :)
 
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