Spins with Janet Champion

BY TERRI MILNER TARQUINI WITH JANET CHAMPION

A “center” is defined as the middle, the heart, the part where things go on around it.

So it is with figure skating spins.

“For centering spins, we can learn a lot from the print we make on the ice,” Janet Champion said. “The best print for spin entry edges is half a heart shape. Strong edges are essential for fast and centered spins.”

A child skating star with the Ice Follies and Holiday on Ice starting when she was nine years old, Champion is a widely acknowledged specialist in spins, holds three master ratings, is a frequent presenter at PSA conferences and was inducted into the PSA Hall of Fame in 2012.

Her wealth of skating knowledge comes from coaches Edi Scholdan, Eugene Turner, mentor Eugene Mikeler, and all the many PSA educational opportunities she has attended over the years. When she first started coaching, Champion and Ronnie Robertson, an Olympic silver medalist and spin master, skated together, sharing spin ideas and techniques.

Coaching grassroots to elite athletes since 1968, Champion has been coaching in Colorado since 1987. She has seen new spins born since the IJS system was developed, but spin basics remain the same.

“Centering a spin and creating the force with which to spin fast is the same now as when Ronnie Robertson was the fastest spinner in the world,” Champion said.

TWO-FOOT SPIN

At the beginning levels, learning a two-foot spin is a good way for a skater to feel how to press their feet and edges against the ice to make a spin start.

Starting with a toe pivot around the left toe, the skater will press the right foot against the ice like in a one-foot swizzle. When spinning, the skater’s feet should be shoulder width apart and it’s really important that the feet stay on opposite sides of the spinning circles. If you bring your feet too close together, you are going to trip. To start the toe pivot, I like to anchor the left arm in front and let the right arm sweep from the back around in a wide circle into the front while the right foot is pressing against the ice. As the skater starts spinning, their arms will be rounded to the front of the body, which I call “hug a tree.” Pulling the arms all the way in at this point can cause a loss of balance. Let’s get the hips and feet spinning before pulling the arms in.

Remember, arms don’t make a skater rotate, but they can make a skater rotate faster when used with correct timing.

Rotating counter-clockwise in the two-foot spin, the left foot is traveling backward on the ball of the foot, which is known as “the sweet spot.” The right foot is traveling forward on the middle of the blade. The skater should be revolving around the spinning circles smoothly and evenly.

ONE FOOT SPIN

Continuing when the two-foot spin is fast enough, the skater can pick up the right foot and bring it to the inside of the knee on the left spinning leg. Voila- there’s your first one-foot spin!

From there, I teach the one-foot spin from a forward outside edge starting on a hockey line. The left arm is in front and the right arm is back at the start. Using the hockey line, the skater can learn the half-a-heart shape. Start on the line, spin on the line.

On the entry edge, the free leg must stay back until the hook of the three-turn. Again, timing is essential. If the free leg is allowed to start swinging to the side before the point of the three-turn, the spin will start too soon (before the hockey line) and travel in little loops, instead of centered circles.

The skater should be on the middle/back of the blade on the entry edge with the body weight leaning into the circle. Ankle flexion and knee bend should increase to create the hook into the three-turn. At the point of the three-turn, the free leg will then swing wide from the back to the side. At this point, the skater is spinning for a moment with the arms and free leg out. I tell the skaters to feel like they are making themselves big before pulling into a smaller position.

When the three-turn hooks and the free leg swings, the skater should relax for a moment to allow the centrifugal force to pull their free leg out, then resist the force by pulling the foot in and gain speed in the process. I like to help skaters feel this by having them hold onto the wall with their left hand. I take their right free foot skate and pull it out to the side. By doing this, I’m the centrifugal force. First, the skater has to keep their hips still and relax their leg so I can pull out on the free foot. Then, I have the skater resist me, while pulling the free foot to the inside of their skating knee. Relaxation, tension and using the correct muscles against centrifugal force is what makes spins work.

An interesting tip for centering the spin is to have the skater “spot” their head to their right on the hook of the spin. Using a hockey line again, I stand to the right of the skater when they push off to start the spin. As they hook the spin on the line, they should see me standing there and “spot” their head. The spin starts with the head slightly to the right.

To feel this, the skater can also stand on two feet facing a piece of the hockey glass so they can see themselves. They should turn both feet and hips a quarter-of-a-turn counterclockwise, while continuing to look at themselves in the glass. This is spotting the head.

SCRATCH SPIN

The forward scratch spin should not be ignored. Besides being an audience pleaser, learning the forward scratch spin can teach a skater a great deal about how to create and center a spin.

I frequently find, whether starting a spin, changing positions, or changing feet, skaters often focus on hitting a certain position instead of getting themselves spinning first. On the forward scratch spin, the same timing, free leg swing and spotting the head applies to what the skater learned previously. One of the detriments to centering is muscular tension at the wrong time and/or tightening the wrong muscles. A skater must learn to “relax on the air” giving centrifugal force a chance to pull out on our arms and free leg. Centrifugal force is the thing that makes a skater’s ponytail pull straight out. So, relax a moment before starting to accelerate.

Use the adductor muscles to resist centrifugal force to spin faster. Adduction are those movements of the arms and free leg toward the midline of the body.

There are many times in spins when we want to arch our back. The scratch spin is not one of them.

As the skater starts the scratch spin, the free leg should take a position at about 2 o’clock, that is, half way between the front and the side of the body. The hips must be underneath them, not tipped to the back. The body should be in a piked position, pushing the belly button toward the spine. Then start acceleration by pulling the free foot to the top of the spinning knee. Try not to move the thigh around as you pull the foot in.

Reach the arms in front (you have to grab onto the air). There is more centrifugal force farther away, so the arms need to reach out before they pull in. Then, finish the foot and arms. So, foot, arms, foot, arms. Note: When the skater pulls the free foot into the knee and presses it down into the crossed ankle position, the foot should be flexed so the boot is parallel to the ice instead of toe pointed downward. This makes more surface of the free foot to resist centrifugal force on the way down to the crossed-ankle finish position.

BACK SPIN

I start the back scratch spin from a back toe pivot. Anchoring the left arm in front and the skater’s body weight on the left foot, they skate a left back inside edge around the right toe pick (a back inside pivot). The skater presses the left foot against the ice for at least one half circle before shifting over to the right spinning foot, crossing the free foot immediately into the back spin crossed-ankle position.

Another way to get the positioning of this is to start at the wall. Have the skater face the wall, holding with both hands in front. Stand on the left foot with the right toe pick in the ice to the side. At first, pretend to do the pivot so the feet stay still until the body weight is shifted. Turn the hips one quarter of a turn counter clockwise while shifting weight to the ball of the right foot. Do not let go of the wall and as much as possible, keep the head looking straight to the wall as the hips turn. Now the skater is in the back spin position over the right side of the body with the head and shoulders a bit to the right.

When the skate pivots, the feet remain parallel until they cross. Don’t let the pushing foot get ahead of the pivoting toe. The edge pressing against the ice gets the spin started whether starting from the pivot or skating a forward inside edge into the back spin. Remember, when we push against the ice, the ice pushes us back.

FORWARD SIT SPIN

The forward sit spin starts like the scratch spin with a strong entry edge and wide free leg swing as the toe hooks to start spinning. The skater should reach out with arms as the free leg swings (make yourself big), before drawing arms, free leg and hips into the sit spin position.

It’s not a sit spin until the spinning leg, knee to hip segment, is at least parallel to the ice.

The hips can go a little lower but sitting down with hips close to the ice loses the athletic strength of the sit position. Not only does this position look poorly, but there is a greater chance of falling down in the too-low position.

The upper body tips forward bending from the hip joint. The best balance in the sit spin position is when the skater’s shoulders are over their knees. This position is difficult for skaters with a short torso and a long leg segment from the hip to the knee. Try to adjust each skater’s balance to have the shoulders over the skating knee.

It’s easy to spin fast in sit spins because of what I call a “closed” position (arms and legs are pulled into a tight position). The adductor muscles are engaged. For instance, camel spins are not “closed” positions and require different muscular effort than sit spins.

For sit spin exercises, of course I use shoot the ducks and also one leg squats at the wall. This squat will show where weakness lies with each skater. Standing off ice in the doorway of the hockey box, keeping the skating foot flat on the floor to get a good Achilles stretch, bend into the sit spin position one leg squat. Keep the free leg in front during the squats. Start with five squats, but most skaters can do 10 squats on each leg.

FORWARD CAMEL SPIN

There really are only two positions which make a camel spin work – the entry edge glide and the spin position. With the body in an arabesque position, push forward on the half heart shape entry edge. The body must be arched forward on the entry edge as well as in the camel spin itself. The camel spin becomes difficult when a skater, stands too upright on the entry edge, then has to arch forward as the spin starts. Sometimes less movement works better.

Besides the two (almost the same) glide in and spin positions, a correct knee action is essential. The skater should glide into the camel on a well bent knee. As the toe hooks to start the spin, there is a second knee/ankle bend. I tell skaters when you think you should straighten the skating leg, bend it more and keep the skating leg bent for at least half a revolution as the spin starts. High level skaters can save a camel that is rushed at the start by re-bending the skating leg.

How you straighten the spinning leg is important as well. To check this position, I have skaters do the camel position at the wall. First, take a glove and put it on their spinning leg exactly at the bend between the leg and the body. Then simulate the glide in position and the spin position standing at the wall. If the glove drops to the ice, the angle of the leg to body is incorrect and the spin won’t be balanced in this position. If the glove stays, the skater is in the correct position.

Working on spirals will also help camel spins. Pay attention to quality positions in spirals, free leg to the back, following the line of the free hip, free foot pointed and turned out. The body is arched with arms outstretched. Practice standing still in the position with no wobbling around. Standing still on an edge is one of the most important things to learn in skating.

BACKWARD SIT SPIN

For beginners, the back sit is much more difficult to execute than a forward sit. For this reason, I stress the importance of learning how to center and create spinning force in the back scratch spin.

To feel the position of the back sit spin, have the skater practice shoot the ducks on the right foot in a straight line down the ice and the one leg squats in the hockey doorway. Have skaters bend forward from the hip joint and arch the body forward, rather than hunching the body forward. There will be a sharp angle between the body and the skating leg in the sit position with the shoulders lined up over the knees and free leg and arms reaching forward. Try for a counter-balanced position with the hips reaching back and the upper core and arms reaching forward. So, half the weight behind the axis and half the weight ahead of the axis of rotation.

Sometimes the axis is through the skater’s body and sometimes it’s outside the skater’s body, like in sit spins. If you freeze frame a sit spin from the side, draw a straight vertical line starting at the ball of the skater’s foot, and there’s the balanced position.

"The edge pressing against the ice gets the spin started whether starting from the pivot or skating a forward inside edge into back spin. Remember, when we push against the ice, the ice pushes us back. (BACK SPINS)

As I mentioned before in sit spins, the hips can be too high, too low or correct (parallel to the ice or a bit lower). Relaxing and sitting down too low is where the athletic strength of the sit position is lost.

A couple of tips for getting balanced in the back sit spin: 1) Keep the head weight to the right throughout the spin, especially at the start. Our body follows our head so the skater needs to stay over the right hip in the back sit. 2) As the skater is bending into the sit position, they should keep the knees a little apart until reaching the full sit position. If the knees come together before bending down all the way, they get stuck at that level and cannot get down lower. 3) Some skaters can do back sit spins with their free leg straight but not many. It helps balance to bend the free leg slightly, turn the free foot out and allow the foot to cross over in front. If you study videos of many good back sit spins, you’ll see that free foot crossed over rather than straight in front.

BACKWARD CAMEL SPIN

In camel spins, I teach the free side lifted, so, not a flat or parallel-to-the-ice shoulder line. The beauty of the camel position is enhanced and the free leg can be turned out and be higher when the free hip is lifted. You can also see the speed of the spin increase, as well as the beauty, with this position. When skaters do a spiral gliding on a fast and bold curve, the free side is higher than the skating side as they lean in to the circle, with the arms swept back and free arm following the line of the free leg.

When I performed with Holiday on Ice sometimes we would practice together. One of my friends, Otto, who was German, used to tell us, “tight the back” to help our camel spins. It’s so true: Engage the muscles of the back and feel like there is a chain connecting from the back of the head through the back and out to the tip of the free foot.

With camel variations, there will be some positions with the shoulders square and parallel to the ice, but I teach the basic camel as I have described above.

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