Skate Spinner?

Question

hey, i was wondering if this will help figure skaters?

http://www.pro-motionharness.com/skatespinner.html

and a vid of it:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3bXAL-U72sw

i saw a previously asked question about this and i was wondering if it will help me in my situation:

I love skating and i cant go that often because of a 40-45 mins distance to the nearest rink. im pretty much limited to skating.

i go skating probably about once or twice a month because of distance and gas and stuff. do you think this will help me?

i understand its different than on ice especially the entrance! but wouldnt it help get into the positions? like sit spin and camel?

on ice im learning one foot spin (not scratch) but wouldn this help me get the feeling of "crossing " over my foot for scratch spins?

what do you think? worth it or not?

its about 55 dollars total including shipping.

help?

thanks!

Answer 1

Honestly I've used one before and yes they are not the same feeling or anything, but I've found that the balance is completely different from what you are doing it on a spinner rather than when you are doing it on ice, and after doing several off ice sessions with a spinner I actually started to struggle with my spins on the ice because the ones on the spinner are so much different then actually doing them on the ice. I've found that there are better exercises that I can do off of the ice rather than using the spinner.

Answer 2

I have a similar device, and it helps, but its very hard to use.

It takes a lot of practice to get your balance right on it and stuff like that.

---It also makes you very dizzy, very quickly, so be aware!

Answer 3

Our coach recommended against these when my daughter was younger because they can develop bad habits.  But she is only 10 now so by younger I mean *younger.*

One thing I saw with the one that was two plates with ball bearing in the middle -- the sandwich type -- was that you would learn about how you body position and things like having your arms tight effect your rate of spinning.

One thing I saw with the one that you put under your foot like a shoe was the amount of travel those skaters had and since those people would be very good skaters I had to wonder if that thing doesn't make the whole travel issue greater... so either it would be great to work on your travel or it would make the travel worse...  

As with anything they have the potential to really do good things or the potential to really do bad things for you.

As I write this I began to wonder if the "younger" with my daughter might have been levels as wells as understanding... you are just starting  a long road of spinning and it would be disastrous to grab onto a bad habit now.

Sorry, I don't know more about these but these are some thing to think about.

And, ultimately, they do look like fun... maybe you could get it just as something to do!  :)

Answer 4

I had the same situation with the ice rink being far away (45 to an hour) but because I really liked skating I still went four to five times a week because I actually was commited to the sport and loved it.

Answer 5

wow!!! those ARE really good! and i think they really, will help skaters!!! good luck!

P.S.: they actually look fun! i want to try, maybe that will help me on my two foot spin! ;) good luck!

Answer 6

First, I must say I'm impressed with the video because I certainly did not have that success with my spinner (which looks nearly similar to theirs).

As in that other question, I still think the entrance to a spin is most crucial (mainly the technique to center while moving)  . . . and you don't get that with a spinner because it is from a stand still.  Granted, you can do a spin on the ice from a "stand still" like a sort of pivot entrance on the one foot spin (like what the boy was essentially doing in the video) or for the wide step entrance on back spins (the girl was doing all lefty back spins).  But eventually you will have to get out of the stand still mode to do moving entrances (especially for a program!).  

I think the first key to a good spin is a good entrance . . . that's why I'm not so sure about spinners.  With a good centered spin, the positions will come (and you'll have an easier time with them).  Without a centered spin first, even a good off ice spin position won't happen or last.  You can possibly learn to spin with the positions on the spinner, but then you'd be skipping the most important part of spinning (if you were to transfer what you're learning on to the ice).    

Another thing to consider, the spinner you want and the spinner in the video is different.  It's this one: http://www.spinner-jame.com/purple.html   But now I see that video comes from that company's site . . . so you just know these skaters were trained by that company!  

It's good you're asking here . . . but perhaps you can ask others at your rink for their opinions as well.  It's ok to go up to any coach off the ice who seems to be on a break - I'm sure they'll give you their 2 cents about what they think!  

Perhaps you can also find someone who will let you borrow theirs before you fork out the money for it (a lot of my friends bought one . . . and it ended up just sitting there . . . like I said in the other question, I used mine as a door stop!).  Then you'll have first hand experience to know that it'd be worth it or not!!  

Good luck deciding!  Nice to see you back - it's been awhile!!   :)

Answer 7

Wow, I think this is great. Iv seen them on web sites and wondered what they were.

Yes, it might help you with balance and stuff like that, but you have to remember that when your on ice it's slippery and your spinning on a blade.

Still it looks like fun.

I'm also in the same position as you. But I live in new Zealand.

Good luck with your skating!

Answer 8

ya i take off ice lessons also and my instructor brings it to class and we use it all the time. it really helps you get the feeling of balancing your spins and stuff.I really need it for my scratch spins!! It really helps me though i think you should buy it it will improve your spins and it is really fun to play with. The kind i use is the one on the website but the youtube one looks fun.

Answer 9

I am in a similar situation, I am very busy and only get to skate about once or twice a week. I decided to purchase a spinner thinking it would better my spins, like sit and camal. But I was wrong. I spent around $60 for the gold metal pro spinner and I can barely use it. The directions that came with it were not help. If anything when I got back on to ice after using it, it may have hurt me not helped me.

If I were you I would talk with your coach or another skating friend and see if it really is something that may work for you.

One product that I purchased and did love was the Maxi Flex.

http://www.rainbosports.com/shop/site/pr...

...It is a fantastic product that has really helped with my flexability in my spirals and helps with positioning in spins such as the layback.

I hope I could help! Good luck!

Answer 10

That video is pretty neat.  I've never seen anyone do as well as the girl on the video on the spinners though.  I have had one like she is on for quite a long time.  While it is possible to do a decent, yet short lived, spin on those, the downside to the plastic spinner is there are very limited surfaces you can use it on without A) killing yourself or B) ruining the rocker on the bottom.  You can't use it on cement, tile, hardwood...so that doesn't leave many other surfaces.  After many uses, mine is pretty flat on the bottom and doesn't work anymore.

I got a new one for Christmas though.  I got the round gold one with the ball bearings in it, probably similar to the one in your picture.  I have yet to really try it.  In my opinion, the spinners are good for working on positions in spins only since it's kind of hard to imitate your entrance.  I think I would only use a spinner to practice if my entrance technique was solid.  The thing with my new one versus the plastic one mentioned earlier is there are rubber feet on the bottom of the new one so you can't travel like you would on the plastic one and as you see in the video.  The directions that came with my new spinner show the skater spinning high up on her toe, which as we all know, you can't do in skating.

Answer 11

I would never use one of those they really do s***w up the balance. the people on those vids have used them before and know what they are doing. so many coaches have told me that you will gain bad habits using that product. if you skate to have fun you can get them but if you compete don't use it. it may help for you to get the feeling of the positions but I don't think it would do you much good once you get on the ice. ask your coach what you should do. hope I helped