[Franck]

Originally posted by jiveoholic
I am starting to realise that a man spinning and a lady spinning might be more different than one thinks.

When a lady spins, she is lead by a man. She twists her body in the opposite way as has been described and then rebounds off then man's hand (without using her feet!) with a rigid arm. It has to be done this way, otherwise a man cannot lead a double spin rather than a single (in the same time that is!).

I am not sure that this is true. Both and women would normally use their own momentum for spinning, the man leading is only there to provide the timing of the spin, not the energy for it.
I do not think you can really lead a double spin, this is up to your partner. You can certainly emphasize your action, to encourage her to double spin, but at the end of the day it will be up to her. Women will use the manÕs hand , but certainly do not have to (as demonstrated in Òair dancingÓ when there is no hand contact), and either of you should still be able to double / treble spin.

Originally posted by jiveoholic
I wonder whether it is about time to introduce a few standard moves where the lady leads the man to spin!

Oh, no! that would be the thin end of the wedge, next thing, youÔll have women leading...
Your partner should not have to lead you at all into a spin, in fact, she should not feel anything different at all prior to the spin.

Originally posted by jiveoholic
I am beginning to think that one of the important points with spinning (as a follower) is that it is done from the arms and not the feet. This of course fits perfectly well with the fact that when stepping in and out on normal jive moves, it is the arms that change the direction of motion and not braking with the feet. Turning therfore only differs from stepping in and out because it is about angular mometum change rather than lateral. Well that has now confused everything!

Ok, you have lost me now , but I think I agree, your arms / upper body play a very important part in spinning, and I often recommend that you use your elbows when practising to create momentum, one elbow chasing the other, but never getting any closer (like a dog chasing his own tail! )

Franck