The Death Spiral | Golden Skate

The Death Spiral

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
The backward outside death spiral was invented in 1928 by Germany's Charlotte Oelschlägel and Curt Neumann (although it was first performed with the skaters holding both hands and the woman not fully lowered toward the ice). They performed the first one-arm death spiral in Budapest in 1928.

Charlotte.jpg

Canadian pair Suzanne Morrow and Wallace Diestelmeyer are credited with being the first pair to perform the element in competition at the 1948 Olympics.

Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov (USSR) are credited for creating three versions of the death spiral: Cosmic spiral (backward inside), Life spiral (forward inside), and Love spiral (forward outside).

Who does your favorite death spiral?
 
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Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Not an answer to your question, but if a team were bold enough to put the woman in the pivot position, would they, under cop, get credit for the move.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Ludmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov (USSR) are credited for creating three versions of the death spiral: Cosmic spiral (backward inside), Life spiral (forward inside), and Love spiral (forward outside).

Who does your favorite death spiral?

One that I always loved was the spiral of Underhill and Martini of Canada. Barbara Underhill got so low that her hair would brush the ice and pick up frost. Another was the spiral that Gordeyeva and Grinkov in their pro years. At the end of the spiral, Sergei would somehow use the spin's centrifugal force to lift Katia off the ice and drift through the air for a rotation or so.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Barbara and Paul's death spiral was truly beautiful. I loved watching them skate after they turned pro. I really think this spin - to be successful - has to have the girl in a position where her head is near the ice and her back is arched. There are a few that just don't get that nice bend. I thought when the man changes hands it kind of ruins the speed and flow and the last rotation ends up being snail paced.
 

Amei

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Barbara and Paul's death spiral was truly beautiful. I loved watching them skate after they turned pro. I really think this spin - to be successful - has to have the girl in a position where her head is near the ice and her back is arched. There are a few that just don't get that nice bend. I thought when the man changes hands it kind of ruins the speed and flow and the last rotation ends up being snail paced.

And the man tends to get a lean in his posture when he changes his hands.
 

Brenda

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Another was the spiral that Gordeyeva and Grinkov in their pro years. At the end of the spiral, Sergei would somehow use the spin's centrifugal force to lift Katia off the ice and drift through the air for a rotation or so.

That was a gorgeous move. Pairs in the past also experimented with combination death spirals where the woman would make a half- or full-rotation while lifted off the ice into another death spiral, on either the same or different edge.
Here's Marina Cherkasova and Sergei Shakhrai practicing a forward inside-change-forward inside-change with hold change-back inside combination: http://youtu.be/Y1b8NF9MhYs?t=16s

I'm surprised this hasn't already been co-opted by IJS since they've already made combination spins as convoluted as possible. Personally, I would actually love to see combination death spirals added to the system as an alternative so pairs can have more options instead of everyone attempting the difficult entry/exit level feature. But of course, in reality combination death spirals would probably end up as tedious and ugly as many of the combination spins today.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Mishk/Dmitriev had a gorgeous death spiral combo in their Liebestraum program. Flawless.

I think I remember Jenni Meno doing some pretty awesome death spirals too.
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Ludmila_Belousova"]Ludmila Belousova[/URL] and Oleg Protopopov (USSR) are credited for creating three versions of the death spiral: Cosmic spiral (backward inside), Life spiral (forward inside), and Love spiral (forward outside).

Who does your favorite death spiral?

This one. No question about it. I loved their spiral. Well, I loved everything about them actually. :love:
 

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
Can anyone answer me this. Is the photo here snapped during a death spiral(?!) :eek: :eek: :eek:

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_24740386/sochi-olympics-nbc-show-figure-skating-live-during

Either way :eek: :eek:

Edit: my first link failed so I tried this one. My knowledge is much stronger in the singles area so feel free to point and laugh at me if this is not a Death Spiral.

It's not a death spiral. It's an element, a lift, they do during Galas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GKPgIbEVF8
 

trouble77

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 15, 2014
One that I always loved was the spiral of Underhill and Martini of Canada. Barbara Underhill got so low that her hair would brush the ice and pick up frost. Another was the spiral that Gordeyeva and Grinkov in their pro years. At the end of the spiral, Sergei would somehow use the spin's centrifugal force to lift Katia off the ice and drift through the air for a rotation or so.

I saw a performance from G&G where they did 3 rotation on the air. On a side note, like you I also love Katia's Ina Bauer.
 

Antilles

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
The Wirtzes (Kris and Kristy) from Canada also had a lovely death spiral when they competed in the 90s. Underhill and Martini are probably my favourites. I like IJS overall, but hate what it's done to death spirals.
 

skatedreamer

Medalist
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
Country
United-States
This is a better pic, showing the whole move. http://i.usatoday.net/sports/gallery/2010/01/24/s100124_05figs.jpg

I really wish they would either get rid of the death spiral or allow the pairs to do whatever they want for only 2 rotations. The point getters they try to do now are just ugly. :slink:

Yikes, that really is ugly. You can tell the move is purposeful b/c he's holding on to her skate blade, but aside from that to me it looks like a slip or an outright fall. :disapp:
 

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Who performed the most memorable death spiral(s) this past season in your opinion?
 

solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
Who performed the most memorable death spiral(s) this past season in your opinion?
Marchei/Hotarek. I know that they didn't always receive the best marks for it (I'm not really interested in how the death spirals are rated), but I think her position is stunning. And this is coming from a brand new pair skater!
 

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Which was your favorite death spiral for the 2018-19 season?
 

andromache

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
I am never able to tell what is a "good" death spiral versus a "not-so-good" one. They all kind of look the same to me! :laugh:

So I am excited to see what other people think so I can maybe learn to tell the difference. :biggrin:
 
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