Figure skating spins
Spins are an element in figure skating in which the skater rotates, centered on a single point on the ice, while holding one or more body positions. They are performed by all disciplines of the sport, single skating, pair skating, and ice dance, and are a required element in most figure skating competitions. As The New York Times says, "While jumps look like sport, spins look more like art. While jumps provide the suspense, spins provide the scenery, but there is so much more to the scenery than most viewers have time or means to grasp". According to world champion and figure skating commentator Scott Hamilton, spins are often used "as breathing points or transitions to bigger things".
Figure skating spins, along with jumps, spirals, and spread eagles were originally individual compulsory figures, sometimes special figures. Unlike jumps, spins were a "graceful and appreciated" part of figure skating throughout the 19th century. They advanced between World War I and World War II; by the late 1930s, all three basic spin positions were used.
There are two types of spins, the forward spin and the backward spin. There are three basic spin positions: the upright spin, the sit spin, and the camel spin. Skaters also perform flying spins and spin combinations. The International Skating Union, figure skating's governing body, delineates rules, regulations, and scoring points for each type and variety of spin.
Background
Figure skating spins, along with jumps, spirals, and spread eagles were originally individual compulsory figures, sometimes special figures. Unlike jumps, spins were a "graceful and appreciated" part of figure skating throughout the 19th century. Jean Garcin, who wrote one of the first books about figure skating in the early 1800s, recognizes their beauty, especially when used as a way to conclude a figure artistically. Figure skater and historian Irving Brokaw categorizes spin variations not into positions as they are categorized today, but into different changes of the skating foot. He writes in the early 1900s about the importance of spins and insists that advanced skaters should be able to execute one or more spin varieties on either foot. Spins were performed in the early days of pair skating by more skilled and experienced skaters, often as conclusions to their programs. Figure skating historian James Hines states that even in modern skating, spins are placed at the end of programs to make them more exciting.Spins "advanced greatly" between World War I and World War II. The spins performed by Norwegian skater Sonja Henie, which can be viewed in her films made during the 1930s, often reached 40 or more revolutions and were "usually well-centered, fast, and as exciting to watch today as they were then". By the late 1930s, all three basic spin positions were used. Skaters were expected to spin in both directions at the time, but as spins became faster and more difficult, they were only expected to spin in one direction. Skaters like American Ronnie Robertson in the 1950s, Swiss Denise Biellmann in the 1980s, and Swiss Lucinda Ruh in the 1990s, had "an uncanny ability to perform spins", and were sometimes able to execute up to five revolutions per second in the upright position. Canadian figure skater Olivia Oliver holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest spin, 342 rotations per minute, which she completed in Warsaw in 2015. However, as researchers Lee Cabell and Erica Bateman stated in 2018, "Unfortunately, modern figure skaters often do not achieve these types of revolutions because the rules require skaters to perform spins in different body positions".
World champion and commentator Scott Hamilton reported that Robertson would spin so fast that he would break blood vessels in his hands. Hamilton also stated that Robertson and Ruh were so good at executing spins that they "would find that part of the blade that had no friction with the ice, and they would spin at the same speed forever. It just seemed like it would never end, and they could change positions and then recrank the spin and make it happen again". Ruh, however, suffered from chronic nausea and dizziness and would regularly lose consciousness during practices or in hotel rooms. She was eventually diagnosed with mini-concussions that were probably linked to executing spins and the forces generated by them, especially during layback spins. Ruh also later stated that the rotational speeds she was able to maintain and the long hours practicing and performing them most likely contributed to the severity of her injuries.
Pair spins became part of competitive figure skating between the world wars; side-by-side spins, along with death spirals, lifts, throw jumps, side-by-side jumps, and side-by-side footwork sequences, were a part of pair skating by the 1930s. In ice dance, there were limitations to dance spins, as well as for other moves associated with pair skating like jumps and lifts, when ice dance became a competitive sport and throughout the 1950s. Spins were limited to a maximum of one-and-a-half revolutions when done by one partner and to two-and-a-half revolutions when they spun around each other. These limitations were put in place to ensure its distinction from pair skating.
Execution
As The New York Times says, "While jumps look like sport, spins look more like art. While jumps provide the suspense, spins provide the scenery, but there is so much more to the scenery than most viewers have time or means to grasp". According to Scott Hamilton, spins are often used "as breathing points or transitions to bigger things" and are more difficult to explain to the audience "because there is so much going on". Hamilton stated that explaining the intricacies of spins, like edge changes, is challenging because they are difficult to see.Most beginning skaters learn how to execute spins in the counter-clockwise direction, but some may execute them clockwise. Most spins are executed on one foot, except for the two-foot spin, which beginning skaters tend to learn first, and the cross-foot spin. The two-foot spin consists of three essential parts—the setup, the windup, and the spin—as well as the exit, which can be done by rotating in a closed spinning position until stopping or by using a back inside edge with a change of foot.
The effect of linear and rotational forces is most apparent and most powerful when performing spins. The successful accomplishment of spins depends on the effective management of angular momentum, which occurs during the entrance of a spin and ends once a skater is in the spin and all linear force is translated into angular velocity. The skater rotates around the point at which their blade touches the ice, the most important point in the vertical axis made by their body, and a fixed vertical axis that extends from the blade on the ice to the highest point in their body. The absence of angular momentum means that fewer variables, or vectors, influence the resulting motion, so if the center of gravity is maintained, spins should be easier to perform than other elements such as jumps. The change from angular momentum to angular speed around a fixed vertical axis is difficult to control, though, as is the change from one force to another in general. Moving forward quickly also cannot be efficiently converted into fast angular speed, so the conversion of fast linear motion, which produces a lot of force, into fast rotational motion is small. Therefore, is it a waste of energy to build up speed going into a spin; entering a spin slowly achieves the same result and will probably be more consistent.
A spin consists of the following parts: preparation, entry, spin, and exit. During the preparation phase, skaters decrease the radius of the skating curve and velocity/speed, which means that the skater must increase how much they lean into the spin. As researchers Lee Cabell and Erica Bateman state, "A step against the gliding edge exerts a force on the ice; the resultant torque about the axis of rotation results in the angular momentum that is used during the spin". Greater force during the initial push of the spin's preparation phase results in greater torque and angular momentum, which will result in a faster spin. The exit coming out of a spin occurs in two stages: breaking the spin's rotational spin and the exit itself. There are many exit variations of spins.
The entry phase of a spin produces a logarithmic curve with an indefinite number of radii, smallest at the end and largest at the beginning. When the entry curve radius is decreased, the skater will change the angle of their lean towards the vertical axis, gradually reducing the velocity/speed. The curve ends with a 3 turn, then the center of gravity is slightly lower, resulting in the skater beginning to spin. After the initiation of the actual spin, they will exhibit a large moment of inertia. Their shoulders are square to the hips and rotating with each other at the same angular velocity. The skater's center of gravity must be directly above their base of support in order for them to execute a balanced spin. If the spin is not balanced and centered, the vertical projection of the center of gravity moves away from its base of support, which results in the spinning blade making small loops on the ice.
The skater's goal for most spins is to rotate as quickly as possible, to have a well-defined and pleasing body position, to maintain perfect balance before, during, and after the spin, and to remain in one place, called centering, while executing a spin. A good spin should rotate in one place on the ice, "drawing a series of tiny overlapping circles on top of each other" into the ice. A skater who executes a spin that is not centered will travel across the ice, "producing a series of loops strung out along a curve or straight line, so that the skater will end the spin several feet away from the spot on the ice where she began it". In order to rotate rapidly, the skater must increase their speed, which is accomplished by reducing the distance of the vertical axis from the parts of their body. This is done by bringing their arms and free leg closer to their body, in line with the vertical axis. Since the true center of gravity is at the point in which the blade meets the ice, the skater must also lower their arms and free leg toward that point. The force created by the spin is generated outward and upward, or via the path of least resistance, as their speed increases. When skaters allow the force to follow the path of least resistance, however, they will lose some of the force that contributes to rotational speed, so when they increase a spin's speed, they must move their arms and free leg inward and downward. Exactly how this is done varies depending on the type of spin skaters perform.
Skaters experience dizziness during spins because as they spin, their eyes focus on an immobile object and follows it until the object passes beyond their peripheral vision. Then their eyes race ahead to focus on a new object and as the spin ends, their eyes continue to follow this pattern, causing dizziness. It takes practice to train the eyes to return to normal, which dissipates the experience of dizziness.