"floating around on your axis" | Golden Skate

"floating around on your axis"

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
How Important to score is "floating around on your axis" i.e. not staying in the same place as your spin started - "spinning on a dime"?
 

CDMM1991

Medalist
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
It could [should] be very important in the GOE of a spin, point wise. Just in general, keeping your spin centred or 'spinning on a dime' is very important for the control of a spin, and the quality.
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
seanibu said:
How Important to score is "floating around on your axis" i.e. not staying in the same place as your spin started - "spinning on a dime"?


Do you mean traveling? At least that is what we called it in my days of skating. I am not familiar with the term "floating around on your axis." Anyway, for the spin to be text book perfect it is of the utmost importance to stay centred. Also the more centered you are the faster your revolutions are and centering your spin is important if you plan to do a change foot spin.
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
Thank you, you all have cleared that up nicely!:bow:

As for the Traveling, I have heard that comment but I thought it sounded so much like Basketball - which I really don't like - and was used on TV so the novice fans (like myself even though I have been a "closet lover of the sport" since '94) would understand what they're talking about. I as well as others (that I am meeting now that I am out of the "closet") may not be up on the "tech" aspects, but know what I like. I feel like this knowledges is only adding to what the sport can bring.
 

julietvalcouer

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
I've always heard it called traveling, by coaches and skaters and not just TV people, which makes sense as it refers to how you're traveling across the ice instead of staying on one point. When you look at the marks it makes on the ice, too, traveling leaves a "telephone cord" kind of patern. (And when you're learning to spin, like me, you see it a LOT... :scowl: )
 

sk8er1964

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Just a little aside about centering -- if you are centered, you are less likely to get dizzy! :biggrin:
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
sk8er1964 said:
Just a little aside about centering -- if you are centered, you are less likely to get dizzy! :biggrin:


Very interesting! I wonder if that will ever happen for me? I have the "Short phone cord prob."

I have never heard anyone say "on axis," I just steer away from it because of the basketball association to "traveling." I should just get over it though, sometimes I do get hung-up on stupid things.

Anybody have any suggestions on how to stay centered? Or how they avoid "traveling?"
 
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julietvalcouer

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
And while we're on the subject, besides staying centered, any other tips for us spinning newbies on how not to get dizzy? Right now, the only way I get 'un-dizzy' is to make sure I alternate spinning clockwise and counter-clockwise, so it sort of balances out, but as not everyone can do that I know there must be some other way. The trick I used when lunging a horse, looking down at the ground, obviously can't work!
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
I spin occasionally throughout a day - spin board, chair on the foot walking down the hall. These have helped but still have to put down 2 blades after 3-4 rotations. I am not the best source of course, but just little spins throughout the day seemed to help me. There is also that one skater who has that "stop for a milli-second" of his head during his spinning and jumps.
 

julietvalcouer

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
That's called "spotting", and it involves focusing on a stationary point for as long as you can and then whipping your head around at the last minute. It works fairly well in ballet, where you're moving very slowly, but I don't see how it could work for things like scratch spins, where you're simply turning too fast to do it without straining something. (And forget it on laybacks!)

My coach mentioned something in passing about how 'that's what it would look like if you spun with your eyes open' and I thought, "You're supposed to close your eyes?" Are you?
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
I only THOUGHT that closing you eyes would make it worse. Did your coach say anything about spinning thru out the day - a form of conditioning?
 
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antmanb

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
julietvalcouer said:
And while we're on the subject, besides staying centered, any other tips for us spinning newbies on how not to get dizzy? Right now, the only way I get 'un-dizzy' is to make sure I alternate spinning clockwise and counter-clockwise, so it sort of balances out, but as not everyone can do that I know there must be some other way. The trick I used when lunging a horse, looking down at the ground, obviously can't work!

The only thing that really beats dizziness is more and more practice. I always find the first few spins of a session leave me more dizzy and after a while its ok. I think your brain learns to unfocus your eyes so that you don't get dizzy. Have you seen those ugly pictures of the ELite skaters when they're mid jump or mid spin - their eyes in those pictures look like they're looking up and to a corner. I think that's where your eyes go when you are not focusing on anything.

Ant
 
I

IcyBallerina

Guest
You hav to unfocus your eyes. It happens after practicing spins regularly, but here's a way to preview the feeling:

Look at a wall across the room.

Hold up a finger at arms length, and without moving your eyes, change your focus so that you're looking at the finger.

Without changing your eyes at all, take away the finger!

The feeling of staring at something that's not there is how I feel when I spin. Trying to look at something while spinning is what causes dizziness.
 
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