The eyes have it
In ice skating, it's almost always the tiniest things that make the biggest difference in a move. Just the slightest lean, the tiniest change in position of the knees or the shoulders, or the placement of hands can change everything. When it comes to the subtleties of body positioning on the ice, the eyes are the first key to everything. Even from the very first day that a new skater is on the ice I start telling them the first of all my coacherly mantras: "Where ever your eyes are looking, that's where you are going."
Of course, it's true that you can look left and skate the the right, but it takes far more effort. The subtle detail of where your eyes are looking changes your balance so much that you have to push your body to hold an opposite edge and skate the other way. for many beginner skaters, just getting them to stop looking at their feet and start looking where they want to go changes their posture and, thus, their skating so drastically that within minutes they've got the confidence to glide comfortably around the rink without stumbling.
It's not only beginners who have to think about where their eyes go, though. Whether you are working on moves in the field, jumps or spins, the eyes are always important.
Eyes are vital for jumps. You simply can't get as much height on a jump if you look down as you will if you keep your eyes up. On top of that, if your eyes are down, your head will tilt downward, too. To complete your rotations in the air, your body needs to be as straight as a rod. A car with a crooked axle won't roll straight, and neither will you.
To make sure that your eyes don't drift down to the ice, make a conscientious choice to watch the wall as it appears to zoom past you in the air. If there are different pictures on the walls around the rink, try to see each image as you spin in the air. This will not only help you to keep your eyes up, it will also help you to keep your head fixed in one position relative to your body as you rotate. The same trick can be used to help you with scratch spins.
When a skater enters a spin from backwards crossovers, they need to step inside the circle on their spinning foot to get the best entrance into the spin. The problem is, it feels unnatural to step inside the circle to start a spin. Usually, when you step from backwards to forwards, you step in a way that would take you "out" of your circle, to into the center of it. In order to step inside the circle, you have to make a drastic change in direction.
There are several exercises I use with students to help them get used to the feeling of this odd step, but in the end, the most effective advice is, "look where you want to go next."
Decide exactly where you want your spin to be centered and look there as you hold the final back-inside edge before the spin. Just before you step forward, shift your eyes forward so that you see the edge of the circle that you've just skated. Think to yourself, "I'm stepping back alongside where I came," then turn your skating foot for the push and step forward onto your spinning foot.
From that moment on, there should be nothing left but satori. keep your eyes straight ahead and be in the moment. Be in your body. Feel your left arm trace a quarter circle as you enter the spin. Feel your right leg come around your body, adding its contribution to your angular momentum. Feel the place where you hold your body open in the spin, checking to make sure your back is straight, your body "squared up", your blade balanced on the "spinny spot." And, when you know it's all just so, pull your arms and free leg in and enjoy the ride.
In life as on the ice, you can do some pretty big things with seemingly small changes. Where are your eyes? Remember, "where ever your eyes are looking, that's where you'll go."
