Cannot get off toepick in spins

[adhara]

I'm not spinning ON my toepick, it just drags. Is it realistic to fully keep the drag pick off the ice?

For background:
- I've been skating for 10 years, but didn't have coaches that actually knew how to coach spinning until like three years ago
- I can spin in really pretty positions but they are nowhere near as fast as some of my friends

I also have Risport Royal Prime boots and MK Gold Star Revs (I only got the Revs because the standard ones were going to be a 5 month wait and my old blades were FLAT). There is about 1-2 mm of space between the from to the blade and the front of the boot. Also wondering if moving this could help???

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I'm not spinning ON my toepick, it just drags. Is it realistic to fully keep the drag pick off the ice?

For background:
- I've been skating for 10 years, but didn't have coaches that actually knew how to coach spinning until like three years ago
- I can spin in really pretty positions but they are nowhere near as fast as some of my friends

I also have Risport Royal Prime boots and MK Gold Star Revs (I only got the Revs because the standard ones were going to be a 5 month wait and my old blades were FLAT). There is about 1-2 mm of space between the from to the blade and the front of the boot. Also wondering if moving this could help???

Gold Star blades have a higher heel lift which should help you with spins, but you may be having issues with mount or a whole ton of other things.
And yes, you need to get over your spin rocker, spinning should not including your drag pick dragging.

 

[Diana Delafield]

I'm not spinning ON my toepick, it just drags. Is it realistic to fully keep the drag pick off the ice?

For background:
- I've been skating for 10 years, but didn't have coaches that actually knew how to coach spinning until like three years ago
- I can spin in really pretty positions but they are nowhere near as fast as some of my friends

I also have Risport Royal Prime boots and MK Gold Star Revs (I only got the Revs because the standard ones were going to be a 5 month wait and my old blades were FLAT). There is about 1-2 mm of space between the from to the blade and the front of the boot. Also wondering if moving this could help???

Different boots and different MK blades, but I had that happen when I got new boots and blades while at a summer training camp in Ontario, and the blades were attached by an unfamiliar technician who "copied" the position on my old ones. As well as spins dragging, I also then had problems with hooked turns on that foot I'd never had before, so I took them to my usual technician when I got home to Vancouver. That one blade had been attached at such a slight diagonal from heel to toe it was impossible to see with the eye, but when he took it off and reattached it a sliver of a fraction over at the front so it was now as straight as the other, problem solved. Yours could be something different, but do get that checked out.

 

[adhara]

Different boots and different MK blades, but I had that happen when I got new boots and blades while at a summer training camp in Ontario, and the blades were attached by an unfamiliar technician who "copied" the position on my old ones. As well as spins dragging, I also then had problems with hooked turns on that foot I'd never had before, so I took them to my usual technician when I got home to Vancouver. That one blade had been attached at such a slight diagonal from heel to toe it was impossible to see with the eye, but when he took it off and reattached it a sliver of a fraction over at the front so it was now as straight as the other, problem solved. Yours could be something different, but do get that checked out.

Yeah, my tech is very knowledgeable about everything and said she could bring the blade forward if it kept happening. I had completely new blades (I've never been on 7 foot before, though I did come from Gold Seal), so I will for sure ask for that to be moved.

Gold Star blades have a higher heel lift which should help you with spins, but you may be having issues with mount or a whole ton of other things.
And yes, you need to get over your spin rocker, spinning should not including your drag pick dragging.

I came from Gold Seals, which I had used until they were DEAD and super flat and still wasn't on my toepick this much. But yeah I'm not unfamiliar with that heel height. In the past it took a WHILE but I could get off the toepick after lots of practice. Now it's like impossible.

I'm hoping it's my blades and not fully a problem with my skill. I feel like I should have the foot control needed for spins carry over from being a senior ice dancer and having jumped triples in the past at least a little bit. Now I practice spins SO MUCH that I think I should have gotten the hang of it by now.

 

[adhara]

Now that I think about it, turning on these blades has had me spinning out of control much more often than I used to (as a senior ice dancer... suspicious) and I've had lots of problems being on my toepick when skating in general.

 

[bostonskaterguy86]

Hmm...I'm not a tech (and not even a particularly competent spinner, lol) so take with a grain of salt, but it seems to me that if the blade is mounted further back on the sole, that would mean that the pick is placed closer to where you'd normally expect the spin rocker to be (under the ball of your foot), and shifting your weight forward to spin would be more likely to put you on the pick. That could be at least part of the problem!

 

[adhara]

That one blade had been attached at such a slight diagonal from heel to toe it was impossible to see with the eye, but when he took it off and reattached it a sliver of a fraction over at the front so it was now as straight as the other, problem solved. Yours could be something different, but do get that checked out.

I got it checked out. It was diagonal on my right foot, biasing the outside edge. I got it fixed and everything is better. Only problem is that my spread eagle is slightly less beautiful now

The boots are too old for me to change the placement front to back but I'm getting new boots in a few months and will try then. For now, I've been tying my boots much tighter and that has been helping me keep myself from going forward. Unfortunate as I prefer my boots very mushy but it's worth it for pretty spins.

 

[Diana Delafield]

I got it checked out. It was diagonal on my right foot, biasing the outside edge. I got it fixed and everything is better. Only problem is that my spread eagle is slightly less beautiful now

The boots are too old for me to change the placement front to back but I'm getting new boots in a few months and will try then. For now, I've been tying my boots much tighter and that has been helping me keep myself from going forward. Unfortunate as I prefer my boots very mushy but it's worth it for pretty spins.

Happy to hear you got one problem solved, but at the expense of something else. But better to have another position a shade less artistic if it means a safer spin !