Spin Cycle

The spin cycle is a series of spins from easy to difficult, skated at the beginning of a session with no previous spin warm-up. This exercise is intended to help increase consistency across spins even on the first attempt.

There are no second chances. If a spin is good or bad, it doesn't matter. Just move on to the next one. Between spins, think about what would have made the last spin better and what you need to do to have a perfect next spin. Visualize your next spin completely. Feel it in your body from entrance to check in your imagination. Then spin.

Check every spin, no matter how it felt or even if you fell out of it.

Do Not think about how “bad” your spin was. Only concentrate on fixes. For example, imagine that you just did a change foot spin and the back spin traveled really badly. Your next spin in the cycle is a back spin. Don't think, “That back spin traveled so much!” Do think, “I need to sit on my spinning foot as I enter the spin and then I need to make sure my spine stays stright as I stand up and pull in. I need to pull both shoulder blades together so that I won't accidentally pull back on my left shoulder and get crooked.”

Adjust your spin cycle to match current skills and practice needs. Start from the simplest spins and finish with the hardest. It is perfectly legitimate to start the cycle with a two foot spin if you feel that it will help you in your spin progression. Put spins that build on each other or that share some aspect that you are working on together.

There is one exception to the no second chances rule. If you fall out of the entrance before you even reach the curlicue (the part where you actually start spinning), then you may repeat the spin attempt. Make sure to take an extra moment to re-visualize the spin, making sure that you see and feel the entrance as well as the rotation and check parts of the spin before you step in to do the real spin a second time. If you still don't get past the spin entrance, move on after your third try.

Here is an example cycle:

1. Scratch spin
2. Change foot spin
3. Back spin
4. Sit spin
5. Change foot sit spin
6. Camel spin
7. Change foot camel spin
8. Layback
9. Hair cutter
10. Back camel
11. Back Sit
12. Flying Sit
13. Flying camel
14. Death drop

Bonus question: Do you know why I ordered the spins this way? Which spins are in skill-based groups where one spin is next to another spin that shares some commonalities? Share your answers in the comments!