How to ice skate: How to do a scratch spin: Help/Breakdown.

[lourie966]

Oh and what do you mean by holding an edge? :) thanks!

[lourie966]

@princesitadecubillas Yes, obviously..

Anyways, on topic: thank you SO much. I needed this. I'm going to subscribe, I love you HAHA. I also have a request, a half lutz? I know that's really easy. I just can't get the jump part right after we half spin (when we pin our right foot toepick to the ice). If you can't post a video about it, advice please? Thank you so much!

[heartbandit99]

Question: is your inside edge always the same? IE, when you say to hold the position of your right foot crossed over your left and your left foot holding the back inside edge, is it always the inside edge? Sorry, beginner question :)

[princesitadecubillas]

Does the left foot touch the ice during the spin??

[iamawesome3121]

thanks gina! I was just wondering, when you do the last crossover in the entrance, I kinda have to stop first before spinning. Do you know what I should do to prevent that?

[Lillooetgurl]

thank you! this rlly helped my spin!

[ImmaAmazing]

Thanks soooo much for the video! I love how much detail you go into! No coach I've ever had was ever that specific. Thank you so much!

[CharmedClover]

thanks for the video (: I'm not quite sure what you mean by the holding the edge longer? Is it the right foot during the windup, or is the left foot during the step in?

[diver3star]

great........... gina 

[harajooku]

Does anyone happen to know what basic you learn the scratch spin in? I'm in Basic 7 currently. Thanks!

And thank you so much for your videos, they help me soo much :D

[SarahAnneIcePrincess]

@harajooku You don't learn the scratch spin until Freeskate 1, but I'd get the basics down early, it'll take a while to get it (trust me, it took me six months to get my scratch spin good lol)

Happy skating!

[harajooku]

@SarahAnneIcePrincess Haha thanks so much! Would working on my one footed spin help?

[Emmilita]

YAY! thanks so much! i used to have a beautiful scratch spin.. quit ice skating... just got back after two years off the ice. and i can't even do a scratch spin! this really helped. (: thanks darling!

[crazyskater648]

Yay! I tried these tips out today and I can finally do my scratch spin without messing up every time I try to do one . Thank you!

[crazyskater648]

Yay! I tried these tips out today and I can finally do my scratch spin without messing up every time I try to do one . Thanks you!

[crazyskater648]

OMG YOU SAVED MY LIFE! Even my coaches didn't take me anywhere with the scratch spin! You helped me A LOT and I am going to test out this hypothesis 2morrow at my busy rink and I hope it works. Ever since I got new skates, my figure skating has leveled down by much and I just couldn't do my scratch spin right. Thanks you!

[thespartanchannel]

Thank you for making this video! I can do this spin, but not well. I'm definitely going to remember that sweeping bottles off the table trick next time!

[Gina10179202]

@thespartanchannel You're welcome! Good luck. :)

[ILoveHarryStyles1D]

hii gina i dont know how to stop traveling on my spin and also i dig my toe-pick into the ice to much do you know how i can stop doing these things

thanx xxxx :)

[Gina10179202]

@ILoveHarryStyles1D You need to work on balancing your body weight over the 'sweet spot' on your blade, which is the rocker. This can only come with practice. Your toepick should scrape the ice slightly when spinning, but not too much.

[pinkee0707]

You're amazing.

[Gina10179202]

@pinkee0707 Thank you!

[sotospt52]

Hi Gina and thank you for your help! One question only: when you reach the center of the cycle, you keep your outside or inside edge? and while you are spining wich edge do you have?

[TheKatieSmile]

...these are definitely the most helpful tips i've ever recieved for that spin, btw. :)

[novideosforme123]

its funny cuz everything u said i had to do on the oppisite side cuz im a clockwise skater lol. great tips tho! :D

[Terrymaharch]

Hi Gina. I always use my toe pick during my spin.

And when I try not to ,I fell.

This problem keep bothering me for few months.

Can you give me some suggestions?

[figuresk8tr4life]

i have been learning how to do a scratch spin since the beginning of april and i still can't get it. when i try to cross my leg over, i lose balance and fall onto the inside edge way too much. i also can't get my leg in the free position and all the weight on my spinning foot.... any tips?????

[loveabb]

can you please do a help video on layback spin?

[cbarragan9]

i always seem to spin on my toepick, just above the sweet spot, i've tried to lean back more but then i fall backwards. do you have any tips on skating on the rocker? thanks :-)

[prosperabovehaters]

good information but it was just sooooo boring. try to have fun explaining next time, but thanx for the info.

[LuckyGoldenRingz]

Hey Gina, I've been practicing the scratch spin for awhile, and I'm extremely great at finding my center of balance. The only reason I find myself falling out of the spin is because I haven't learned the foot position for the scratch spin. I still hold my foot straight up - which obviously knocks of how your balance is set. Any tips on learning how to do the crossed foot position? I've tried doing it slowly.. but it doesn't seem to help either.

[TheKatieSmile]

how long took it to you until you were abled to do a perfect spin like that ?

i've heard, that every element like jumps,spins and so on have to be practiced at least a 1000 time until its secure :D

is this right ?

(i keep learning my spins nearly everyday, but its sooo hard.)

((and sorry for my english, i'm german)

[Gina10179202]

Hmmm, I can't quite remember, but I think it took me a couple of weeks to be able to do it, but a few months for me to do it WELL.

[sylviarox32123]

@TheKatieSmile

lol its not hard and btw how old r u?cuz im 10 and i can almost do axle

[lucylikeslollies]

i have a lot of trouble spinning on the right part of the blade, and the first time i tried to do the scratch spin my blade hit my leg - it didnt hurt though - but i was scared to try it again just incase i did hurt myself, any tips?

[Gina10179202]

Don't worry - accidents happen with skating. You just have to forget the fear.

[lucylikeslollies]

i know you are soooo busy with other videos and stuff, but do have any tips at all on the side splits that you could write down as a comment? because i'd really love to do them, and noone gives you good tips anymore, i researched for ages and didnt find anything.

[Gina10179202]

I'm afraid I don't have any tips, other than to slowly work your way down into them. I'm really sorry!

[lucylikeslollies]

this has nothing to do with the video, but can you do the side splits? because I can do the front splits, but whenever I try the side splits, I go into the front splits! I dont know how it happens. your request list is probably closed now, but i was just wondering if you could actually do the side splits. because for me its really hard.

[Gina10179202]

Nope - I could do them, but I lost them when I injured my hamstring.

[JudeHarrison0289]

I'm having trouble with the balance. Like i keep tilting towards the right, i get into the spin but the problem is crossing my legs and keeping my arms in, i get few good rotations without it but it just doesnt feel right. I can't stop tilting, i practiced it again today but i keep tilting towards the free leg side. Does that make sense? i don't quite understand the explanation of this.

[Gina10179202]

If you're tilting towards your free leg, that must mean that you're getting too deep on your inside edge. Assuming you're a CCW skater (and you spin on your left foot), then try raising your right hip a little. Hopefully this will stop you from making your inside edge too deep.

[ImmaculateRecovery]

really good help video ,i can do all the spins but just not this entrance :P are the shoulders released as you step in the outside edge or at the apex of the 3 turn ?

[Gina10179202]

The shoulders are released when you step onto the outside edge. :)

[emiliem97]

You go into the inside edge and then backward crossovers? im a little confused but it did help. thankyou! :D

[Gina10179202]

You do backwards crossovers, then hold the inside edge.

[ATimeToLove]

Thx! dat waz an awesome vid, but i keep on putting my other foot down right before going in to a spin. i just can not step in to the spin. ahhhh!! sooooo hard!! do u have any ideas why? plz HELP:DD

[Gina10179202]

Make sure that your weight is over the leg which you are stepping in on - try not to drop your free hip.

[JBgymnast]

WHen I hold my backwards right inside edge before stepping into the spin, I tend to go onto my toe pick. I can still manage some spins from it, but I feel like it takes away a lot of my power, and makes the entrance slow, and choppy. Does anyone have advice on fixing that?

[Gina10179202]

You should try and think about the part of your foot you're using. Try to put your weight a little further back on the blade. :)

[Jemzy10]

Thats really helped me,

Your really helpful thankyou xx

[Gina10179202]

You're welcome!

[iare07]

Thank you, Mizzi :-) I've had a lesson in between so I asked my coach. I always get so amazed when she spins and explains at the same time. Shame I only understand abou 30% - 0% per cent of what she says then, depending on her speed and the noise around us. But it's very amazing and funny all the same...

[iare07]

Hi Georgie, what I was always wondering about - and you don't say much on that either - how do you end the rotation?? I never manage that. :-( I tried waiting until the spin had slowed down pretty much, keep my bodyy tense, extend arms and the free leg. But I still... sort of... spin. I even tried looking to the right. Didn't work...

[mizzi101]

I know i';m not Georgie, lol. But I saw you ask this and so i thought I could help. =]

It helps to pull your free leg out. Like once spinning, then un tighten your free leg when you want to stop, so its like when you were starting spinning, and put your free leg down, and do a backward outside edge glide out of the spin.

[Gina10179202]

Yeah, what Marie said. :P Loosen your air position, then glide out onto your landing foot.

[Amiemichellelynn]

thnks!!

[Gina10179202]

You're welcome!

[whenigrowup064]

hi georgie! i really love what you're doing, it has and hopefully will help me a lot, so thank you! i just recently started skating and i can't have lessons, but i'm making progress :) i haven't got very far on the scratch spin though because i have new skates and there's a big painful wound on the inside of my left foot, but it's healing along and i'm gonna work on it more. i was wondering if as i'm spinning i should be thinking about keeping my heel up or holding the inside edge.

[Gina10179202]

You sound like you're doing really well! I would suggest trying to bear both in mind, but not by thinking of these two things separately. Instead, just think about spinning on the ball of your foot (not on your toe, or it'll scrape too much,) and slightly on the side of your big toe (assuming you are spinning on your left foot.) That should put you on the correct part of the blade. Good luck!

[whenigrowup064]

Thanks! i'm not really that far along, i struggle to get even the basic on foot spin, but one day at a time... i always assumed that it was a outside edge, i'm gonna try again tomorrow or the day after that and probably come back to bother you with some more questions :)

[whenigrowup064]

forgot - also wanted to know if the spinning foot should be slightly bent or completely straight all the way during the spin. thanks

[XxtwilightLoVeR11xX]

when you set (pushing into your spin)you bend you spinning knee, then when you go into the spin, unbend it and make shure your posture is straight or you will fall. thats about it. and you dont HAVE to bend your knee to much. it just increases the speed of the spin

[whenigrowup064]

thanks, can't wait to go back out there and practice

[ATimeToLove]

wow!! u really helped me!!

u rock!!

[urmom27]

so are you actually spinning on the toe pick at the beginning? like...while the right leg is still not brought in?

[Gina10179202]

You are not actually spinning on the toe pick. Throughout the spin you are on the rocker, but right at the start of the spin, for less than a second, you rise up on your toepick.

[urmom27]

ohhh ok great

thanks!

great video =)

[nightfairy12]

The first time I tried this spin, there's always space between the free leg and skating leg. So the next time I tried it(last friday), I finally did it but my free leg's toe pick touched the ice. Just tiny bit but I fell...what should I do about that???

[Gina10179202]

hmm, that's interesting. I'm not quite sure, but I'd tell you to raise your right hip (if your right leg is your free leg,) up a little more, without losing balance. If that doesn't work you could always angle your free leg boot slightly so that it doesn't touch the ice.

[nightfairy12]

ok..thank you..I'll try that :)

[camiheartzacnskating]

Happy B-day! and Great tips!

[Gina10179202]

Thanks very much!

[figurespinner321]

Thanks, that really helps! I do the whole spin right, centered, but I just need speed!

[Gina10179202]

You're welcome. :) For more speed, make the crossovers a bit more powerful and step in with a little more knee bend.

[SexySiberian]

Thanks very much for the video. It's very useful, and I think the powerpoint presentations are particularly helpful. Also, I think that if you have a barbie doll, perhaps you could use that to demonstrate certain positions by showing us while you're speaking where one's legs/ arms etc should be. It's always easier when you can see something. So if you're unable to demonstrate yourself because you can't get the right distance from the camera to show you in full, a doll could work. Thanks again.

[Gina10179202]

Thank you very much. I appreciate the tips. :D

[pumpkon]

hey, thanks alot for the advices! but i'm having huge trouble with crossing my leg over in the spin posission. can you help me with that?

[Gina10179202]

I'd be happy to help. :) What exactly is happening when you try to cross your leg over? Do you feel like you're losing speed, losing balance, or something else?

[pumpkon]

its like i'm losing my balance yes.

[Gina10179202]

Ah, okay. You should think about holding the 'open' position that I talk about in the video for longer, until you're centered, and when you bring your leg in, don't swing it across your other leg, but bring your free leg boot quite close to your knee, and then bring it DOWN into the position. When you first start, do it slowly. :) If you don't understand that, let me know and I can make a quick video sometime.

[pumpkon]

thank you. i'll try that :)

[iv4etoK]

"the ice is still there" :D thanks for the video. I will try all that as soon as there's rink in my town. Also most of the time i look down :( because the seasonal rinks have such bumps on the ice that you can dig your toe pick in everything..sucks

[Gina10179202]

Thanks for the comment. :) My ice has holes in it from drips of water from the leaky roof, which is MAJORLY scary. My advice would be to decide where you are spinning first, and make sure it is an area which is as smooth as possible, so that you can have the confidence to keep looking up as you spin. If it is ALL bumpy, then look up anyway! Looking at the ice won't smooth it out, either. :P Good luck!

[LuvnJCandJB]

Happy Birthday! and thanks for the help :)

[Gina10179202]

Thank you, and you're welcome. :D