Say I'm in a group class, or in a private with a coach who doesn't know me well and the coach says, "Show me your 3 turns."
Geeze, this is like forward stroking. No matter what I do it's the wrong thing. With double knee bend. Without double knee bend. Whatever.
So, after a particular series of lessons I came up with what I'll call the 'chinese menu of 3 turns'.
You may need to be of a certain age to remember the kind of menu I'm talking about. "Take one from Column A, One From Column B, and One from Column C".
Column A--Initial Body Position
- Facing out of the circle
- Facing in the circle
- Extended (freestyle way) slightly offset
- Tucked toe to heel (closed hip)
- T position (open hip)
- Extended (figures way) free foot following the tracing
- Extended
- Not Extended (similar to ballet presentation position)
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| The girl in white has her arms in the position I'm writing about |
'Figures style' would be 'begin facing out of the circle, free foot following the tracing, with arms extended'. I also call this 'busy arms' style since as you turn to face inside the circle for the turn the arms have to switch about.
'Dance style' 3 turns. 'Begin facing in the circle, arms extended,' and at that point all hell breaks loose. Toe to heel, T position, extended leg. It's all fair game.
'Scary Style'. "Beginning position facing out of the circle. Hold your arms in presentation. Get your foot in there somewhere.' Turn.
Without the extended arms or the extended free leg, there's hardly any rotational inertia. 'Scary style' 3 turns snap around like a BB in a beer can.
Thank god, there's not actually any use for these. The few times I did them......I felt like this.
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| That 3 turn was so fast, my eye hasn't caught up with me! |
And don't forget the backwards ones! And the Waltz Three, where your free leg is extended going into the turn, then brought to the skating foot at the point of the turn, and then extended again on the glide out of the turn. Who comes up with all these? But I think the arms never switch positions--otherwise you woldn't be able to check your rotation. They just seem to do that when you rotate upper body against the lower and your head turns with your shoulders and directs your gaze to your back arm, which has npw become the leading arm in your new direction of travel. My coach absolutely hates busy arms. He will take his gloves off and set them on top of my extended arms at the tops of my hands, then I have to skate an element (fill in the blank here--crossover, three-turn, stroking--you name it) without losing the gloves. If he wants arms to move, they have to be "Graceful, Fluid Arms". That's when I get handed a blade guard. I have to then skate an element while creating arm positions (usually the ballet positions) and simultaneously pass the blade guard from hand to hand, and front to back and vice-versa while doing so. I must say these exercises have really improved my posture as well as make me skate with better body awareness and control. I look like a nut on the ice, but I do them on my own now as part of warm-up, just as my coach wants me to do. Now if only I could do decent backward three-turns!
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