The Beginning of a Layback Spin
Layback spins are so pretty (when they are done correctly). I just love the grace and the beauty of the classic position.
Unfortunately for me, my body doesn’t cooperate on this spin, so I have not been able to execute a correct one. My lower back is stiff, and my hips don’t want to press forward.
Honestly, I thought this would be an easy spin for me originally since I used to be flexible, but as the years have gone by, my flexibility is not nearly where it used to be. My stiff self can no longer bend backwards so layback spins have not been my friend.
One day during public skate, my skating friend and I were playing around on the ice. I thought it would be fun to try a layback spin again, and she looked at my technique. She mentioned that I needed to bend my skating leg more, so that the tongue of my boot cut into my leg. I had to really press forward into my skating boot so that it would offset the arched back.
When I tried that, I told her that my free leg started pinching. She said that meant I was doing it right. Nobody ever told me that a correct layback spin would cause a pinching feeling so it was a bit uncomfortable. Once I understood this, I started to be able to press my hips farther forward.
So for the first time in my skating career, I finally did the beginning of a correct layback spin. I know that this isn’t fully correct and that my hips still need to be pressed even further forward, but this particular spin was a huge win for me.
Maybe this old dog can learn new tricks after all!
