Spinning help please?

[Steven666]

1) How do you practice without getting dizzy quickly?

2) How do you put the second foot on the floor like I keep being told to do (I spin just on one foot touching the ground)?

3) How the hell do you spin clockwise when your very right footed and right handed like me (left hand and foot are for decoration and completeness only)?

4) How long does it take before you can spin say like Jamie?

Good help well be rep'd with my greatness power of 1!

[Gav]

Oh god, not again...

Pas the popcorn.

[David Bailey]

This one's been covered quite a lot, I'd recommend searching for "spinning" threads for advice.

For example:
http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/l...-spinning.html
http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/i...-any-tips.html

[Gadget]

1) How do you practice without getting dizzy quickly?

2) How do you put the second foot on the floor like I keep being told to do (I spin just on one foot touching the ground)?

3) How the hell do you spin clockwise when your very right footed and right handed like me (left hand and foot are for decoration and completeness only)?

4) How long does it take before you can spin say like Jamie?

Good help well be rep'd with my greatness power of 1!

s l o w . . . d o w n.

The objective is not to get round as quickly as you can; see how little 'power' you can use to get round. The do it really slowly, with precission.

Very precise 180º turns where you can stop on the opposite side without putting any weight on your trailing foot

Spin one way, then the other to limit dizzyness. (swap feet or reverse the movement, but reversing the movement is a lot harder and takes a while to get right.)

Keep your head up.

Have a gentle flex in the knees; don't think on lifting the heel off the ground, rather of putting your weight over your toes.

Use the 'spare' foot to draw a circle in the sand as you go - when you get better at it, pull the foot closer to your spinning foot (with the knees just as bent).

[Lee Bartholomew]

Do I?

Dare I?

[martingold]

Do I?

Dare I?

dare you

[Lee Bartholomew]

dare you

Maybe.


Give me a couple of hours

[Yliander]

1) How do you practice without getting dizzy quickly?

slowly – and by learning to spot – which is where you keep your eye focused on a fixed point while your body is turning, until you can’t any longer than snap your head around so that you can see the same spot – you head will be moving at different pace to your body.

2) How do you put the second foot on the floor like I keep being told to do (I spin just on one foot touching the ground)?

??? strange advice - spare foot shouldn’t be in contact with floor – it should be next to the foot you are spinning on and just off the floor – this provides a good central point to be spinning around. Also remember to make sure the heel of the foot you are spinning on is off the ground.

For a basic spin - the foot you are not spinning on is placed on the ground to stop the spin and then you can step back on the foot you were spinning on to stabilise your balance as needed.

3) How the hell do you spin clockwise when your very right footed and right handed like me (left hand and foot are for decoration and completeness only)?

practise – and by starting slowly with ¼ and ½ turns.

As Gadget mentioned – it’s not about throwing more power into the spins – too much power will just throw you off balance – try a little less power, pulling up through your core to create a very stable centre to turn through and see how you go – can be an idea to start with ¼ and ½ turns ….

4) How long does it take before you can spin say like Jamie?

think there is a magic potion for that one

[Lee Bartholomew]

My written advice for the time being is


1) keep your head level. Looking up or down will cause you to travel

2) you need to be on the ball of your spinning foot

3) your non spinning foot is not on the floor but hovering off the ground

4) You need good momentum from your partner. Spinning on your own is herder than with a dance partner

5) you need to pull your weight up as high as you can.

6) Spot if you can but dont worry if you can't. Spotting is not everyones thing. If you are aiming for more than 3 spins then spot on the slow down.

7) Take advice only from the people you know that can spin the way you want to. Many forumites will be quick to offer advice on how to do multipul spins but are only able to manage 1 at most.


Will follow up on this later with vid lesson if poss.

[Gav]

At the class I went to on Tuesday night, part of the intermediate routine was a variation of a full man-spin (i.e. 1 full spin instead of a 1/2 turn). Most of the ladies I partnered in the rotation were cringing and looking shocked. When I finally got one who could express what they were feeling, she said that all the other men were just shuffling round slowly and me spinning properly was scaring them!

[dep]

Man spin with the extra turn was my ambition.

spinning (im)properly was scaring them!

and nearly falling over forced me to temporarily abandon and revert to the double beat walk round.

[Steven666]

At the class I went to on Tuesday night, part of the intermediate routine was a variation of a full man-spin (i.e. 1 full spin instead of a 1/2 turn). Most of the ladies I partnered in the rotation were cringing and looking shocked. When I finally got one who could express what they were feeling, she said that all the other men were just shuffling round slowly and me spinning properly was scaring them!

Ah, but everytime I see that taught, it's given two extra beats from a normal manspin. Why? It's just encouraging the shuffle round!

[Caro]

5) you need to pull your weight up as high as you can.

I'm not a spinning expert (and far from it, sadly ) but I think most of them would challenge that - right ?

I think you'll spin better if you concentrate your energy down into the floor - trying to 'go up' will just send you off balance. You can be on the balls of your foot and remain grounded into the floor rather than trying to reach up. (bent knees help).

[Gav]

I'm not a spinning expert

We can see that from your avatar, bloody awful technique and bouncing too!

[David Bailey]

I think you'll spin better if you concentrate your energy down into the floor - trying to 'go up' will just send you off balance. You can be on the balls of your foot and remain grounded into the floor rather than trying to reach up. (bent knees help).

Yes, that sounds like standard posture advice - the whole area of "vertical string through body", "lift up from the waist up, and down from the waist down", etc.

I don't know if that applies to spinning, but I don't see why not.

[Caro]

bloody awful technique and bouncing too!

I'm just gonna go and kill myself, now.

[Astro]

Don't spin on a dirty floor.

[Trouble]

There are different types of spinning.

1. MJ. this is a balance issue and of course spotting is essential to avoid the dizzyness. The power for the spin generally comes from the lead.

2. WCS. this is a footwork issue. Controlled and making sure the steps are done correctly. Fast spinning can be achieved but it is not done on one foot taking the main weight as MJ tends to be.

3. Salsa This comes from launching the power in your arms and shoulders to get you around. Main weight on one foot similar to MJ.

So there are various techniques ive been taught, they all work well in the right environment. I am only a double spinner tho, treble now and then.

Jamies spins are freakishly inhuman.

[dep]

There are different types of spinning.


Jamies spins are freakishly inhuman.

I've witnessed his unaided spins, they're real and he's human.
But, how long does it take for the talented to achieve that?

[Gadget]

4) You need good momentum from your partner. Spinning on your own is herder than with a dance partner

The latter part of the statement may be true, but the former I would strongly dissagree with: certainly use your partner to 'push' from, but it takes a very good lead to give a follower momentum that will not affect their balance.

It also takes practice and experiance to convert the direction of force given into the direction required - How many people can throw a ball with accuracy? You are throwing the follower's momentum - a self-guiding ball. The less accurate you are, the more off-target and the more correction the follower will have to make.

When you spin you are on one foot, your body mass balanced over the axis of rotation, aiming to be equally distributed on all sides of this axis. This axis should be perfectly vertical. All the tips and advice are trying to find ways to make this happen.