String Theory for Figure Skaters

Today was my first lesson with Miss Bianca after my shingles recovery. She was glad to see me back.

Before my lesson, I was watching her teach her student (a girl of about 8) how to do lunges. Miss Bianca thinks lunges are "a cute little element".  She took the girl's hand to help her balance going down and coming up. "You're next!" she said cheerfully. I eyeballed the hand holding assistance. "You know I can take you down in a heartbeat don't you?" 

Miss Bianca thinks,
"I will get my revenge..."

Ten minutes later, when my lesson started, I laid down a competent lunge right off and said, "That's it for today!"  We both laughed. I was better than the eight year old too!

After reviewing my basic skills,  I did a two foot spin. After Lake Placid and my 10 minutes in Evelyn Kramer's spin class, I can do a two foot spin. I never thought that would happen. It's not a great spin, it's a slow, ladylike spin. Just two revolutions.

Slow but steady...

Miss Bianca told me to pretend I had a string attached to the top of my head and pretend it was pulling me up to the ceiling. This was to keep me from looking down when I did a spin.

Here I am in the appropriate upright position
while Miss Bianca instructs and an
ice tourist stares.

So I did a 3-turn entry and got an extra revolution...not any extra speed though.  Conservation of angular momentum's got me down....

The string theory works though. I don't get dizzy and I get an extra revolution.

Good head position in a back spin!

My First and Second Spin

When I was in LTS back in 2008, a coach teaching Adult Gamma taught a group of us how to spin. I don't remember her instructional technique, but first time I tried I did a forward spin with 3 or 4 complete rotations. It was beginner's luck.

I could feel the rocker, and the spin was solid, centered and beautiful. I remember thinking, "This is how Johnny Weir feels every day." Please don't make fun of me for that.

From that day til today, I have not been able to do a successful one foot spin.

So I went to freestyle, expecting it to be empty, but figure skaters have no holidays. It was full. At the end of the session, I was practicing my two foot spin (which has a definite sucky quality). On the spur of the moment I decided to do a 3 turn entry, and hold the free foot off the ice on the back edge but not check it.

So, yeah I did a back spin.

TWO ROTATIONS!

I look like this:
Only backwards
And twice.

Yeah, afterwards I'm like this.

But, hey! It was a back spin.

No charge for the wobble the second time I did it. Man, two spins in a row is my limit!