Skating Fridays

Layover Camel Spin Attempt

If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be attempting a layover camel spin, I’d laugh in your face. And then laugh again. A spin like this just wasn’t anywhere near my radar.

I’ve received many “dashes of doom” (0 points) on my camel spin attempts during competition and have had a heck of a time trying to even get 3 revolutions during practice. So to even think that I’d one day be working on a camel variation? Fuggedaboudit.

Lo and behold, after working with my new spin coach, my camel has improved tenfold. It’s now a lot more stable, and I can usually get 5-6 revolutions. One week during our lesson she counted 10 revolutions! Not bad for someone who was unable to execute camel spins previously.

My coach liked my camel so much that she started me on a layover. Normally, skaters do layovers on a back camel since they are more stable. But since my back camel is still a work in progress, she had me try it on a forward camel.

I’m still in the beginning phases here, but you’ll see that I am trying to align my shoulders and start to tilt my head up. It’s a very disorienting position, but once I get used to looking up, I’ll have to twist my head some more so it looks like a real layover position. My arms aren’t in the right position yet either but they are only 1 step behind the real thing.

May I present to you… my initial attempt at a forward layover camel spin!


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