Double Spins

[KazMK]

A move that I really want to master without ending up in a heap on the floor!!
What is the knack for not loosing your balance during a spin and also not becoming too dizzy?
I have not yet mastered the art of the double spin and when I try it I just dont seem to have enough momentum to keep the spin going.

Any advice greatfully received.

KazMK

[KatieR]

Originally Posted by KazMK

A move that I really want to master without ending up in a heap on the floor!!
What is the knack for not loosing your balance during a spin and also not becoming too dizzy?
I have not yet mastered the art of the double spin and when I try it I just dont seem to have enough momentum to keep the spin going.

Any advice greatfully received.

KazMK

#

I think the main thing about spinning is remembering to spot. pick a mark on the wall or whereever you are and dont take your eyes of it till the last second then snap your head back around to the exact same spot. Also, find a secure spot for your arms so they arent flailing around, this can also put you off balance. I started by folding them in front of me, but now I tend to keep put them on my hips for a bit of styling... also practice practice practice.. .I put my shoes on every day for at least 10 minutes and just practice spinning...
and with the double spin, I find not taking my other foot far of the floor it can also give a bit of balance.

[David Franklin]

From the rec.arts.dance FAQ:

• Keep knees slightly bent and relaxed - don't lock your knees!
• Keep spine, neck, head on a vertical axis. Maintain good posture - remember "KEEP NOSE OVER TOES". Keep the body "square" - head straight over shoulders over hips,- not to one side or the other. A person's head accounts for about 10% of his/her body weight - thus head placement and orientation have a huge effect on balance. Looking at your feet is as sabotaging as windshield-wiper-like oscillating your head from side to side. But so is the placement and orientation of every other body part. Dance posture is terribly important. Don't arch your back.
• Keep eyes looking forward, not down!
• Don't go up high on your toes.
• Spot on your partner in a turn.
• Use your arms for momentum.
• Keep feet together, turn on the balls of your feet, not heels.
• Stop in a definite pose.

Here are a few of my own thoughts:

• You shouldn't need that much momentum. It's far more likely you are running out of balance, or killing your momentum trying to keep balanced (e.g. putting a heel down).
• Although you're actually losing your balance, not loosing it, maybe that was a freudian slip - as it's important to keep your body tight, not loose. Pay particular attention to your free leg - if you don't control it, it will control you!
• I personally think spotting is over-emphasised. It's perfectly possible to spin without spotting - and there's an argument that a really fast spin is impractical to spot. (Ice-skaters don't spot). And there's that "head is heavy" thing - it's very possible to throw yourself off balance by over-enthusiastic spotting.
• If all else fails, cheat. Use both feet. Very few will notice, let alone care...

[Rebecca]

The only advice that I would give (once you've digested all of the above) is to allow yourself to spin, and to believe that you can. Years of ballet training taught me all of the technical stuff but really I find that when I'm relaxed and having fun I can keep on spinning. If I'm uptight for any reason, or I try too hard my brain sends signals to all of the wrong places (i.e. I tense my shoulders and throw them back or fidget my feet).

So, find a partner you enjoy dancing with and who you know will laugh with you not at you if you stumble, relax your knees, feel the floor with your feet but don't look at them (they can do it all by themselves), and have faith. .

Good luck and enjoy

Rebecca

P.S. Once you've mastered it I'd check out with different dance partners whether or not they like their partner spinning loads. I love it but I know I've annoyed a partner or two by attempting to showcase

[Zebra Woman]

Originally Posted by David Franklin

If all else fails, cheat. Use both feet. Very few will notice, let alone care...

Absolutely agree . IMO FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT is a very good plan. (I wouldn't recommend it on that 'other' thread though )

I spent several months paddling myself round with my spare foot when I started doing double spins. Anything.... just to get round in time. I still do cheat sometimes (if I've had anything to drink or hit a sticky spot on the floor or I've been pushed too hard into the spin).

IMO Sneakily paddling myself round with my spare foot is a very useful skill. In fact these days if someone complimented me on a fab double spin (very unlikely) I don't think I would even bother admitting it was a fake.

[Sparkles]

Originally Posted by Zebra Woman

IMO Sneakily paddling myself round with my spare foot is a very useful skill. In fact these days if someone complimented me on a fab double spin (very unlikely) I don't think I would even bother admitting it was a fake.

I completely agree; in fact I would say a '100% correct, well-balanced and expertly-timed double spin' is all but non-existant as far as my dancing goes .
Cheat, as long as you cheat well and with confidence no-one will ever know

[robd]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

P.S. Once you've mastered it I'd check out with different dance partners whether or not they like their partner spinning loads. I love it but I know I've annoyed a partner or two by attempting to showcase

I love it when people double (triple, quad,...) spin provided they come to face and resume the dance in time with the music. If the spin stops just after the (half)beat it can be annoying to say the least.

[Zebra Woman]

Originally Posted by robd

I love it when people double (triple, quad,...) spin provided they come to face and resume the dance in time with the music. If the spin stops just after the (half)beat it can be annoying to say the least.

You've just reminded me of the fun I had learning to do a double spin . I spent a long time doing one and three quarter spins . I would finish on the beat, look ahead - no partner! Then out of the corner of my right eye, 90 degrees further round, I would see him standing there waiting....... I would immediately accuse him of moving round a bit while I was spinning to make it harder for me.

Of course that was a bad idea he told his mates and they would all shift round clockwise a bit if I was spinning. Just for a laugh....

Oh how we laughed.

Well it all turned out fine as in the end I sort of mastered doing 2 and a quarter spins with these guys so a simple double with anyone else was a piece of cake. Thanks guys

FWIW I think that trying to do three is a good way of getting better at doing two. With really good footwear and not near any sharp objects of course.

[KatieR]

Originally Posted by David Franklin

[*]I personally think spotting is over-emphasised. It's perfectly possible to spin without spotting - and there's an argument that a really fast spin is impractical to spot. (Ice-skaters don't spot). ]

I find when doing lots of fast top turns in a row (Clayton had me do about 7 last Saturday night) I need to spot or I end up all over the shop. I think to learn to spin properly, spotting is a very useful technique and then once you become a little more confident in your double spinning, its not so important. i just find it really helped me.

[Whitebeard]

One of my partners in beginners class, I believe, pulled off a perfect double spin. No input whatsoever from me; (and Lou does that too in freestyle). I had to enquire, was it so, and received the affirmative. Nice, cheeky little lady; don't think I've had a solo with her. Next door, bright as a button, just like her mother, was her 7 or 8 year old daughter; did they practice at home I enquired? Yes; then they moved on, more than one.
At a Ceroc night, perhaps even a Leroc night, you never know what's coming up next.

[Lou]

Originally Posted by Whitebeard

No input whatsoever from me; (and Lou does that too in freestyle).

Awww..

It's the same as anything - practice!

Oh, and fear, of course - as I know that if I get lazy & my timings start to suffer, during the class Sherif will make pointed comments about people needing to do 2 turns in one beat...

[Ballroom queen]

Originally Posted by KazMK

A move that I really want to master without ending up in a heap on the floor!!
What is the knack for not loosing your balance during a spin and also not becoming too dizzy?
I have not yet mastered the art of the double spin and when I try it I just dont seem to have enough momentum to keep the spin going.

Any advice greatfully received.

KazMK

As well as all of the above, a good pair of dance shoes with a suede sole.

[Lory]

Originally Posted by KazMK

without ending up in a heap on the floor!!

For me, the biggest hurdle was just having the guts to go for it!

I had a bit of a mental block about it (no comments about me being mental thanks )

In the end, I think you just have to accept the fact, that you might end up a heap on the floor a few times to begin with, I know I did

[Whitebeard]

Originally Posted by Lou

..... during the class Sherif .....

Ah, that's your little secret.

If he's your guru, you've just gotta have attitude.

[LMC]

Originally Posted by Lory

For me, the biggest hurdle was just having the guts to go for it!

I had a bit of a mental block about it (no comments about me being mental thanks )

In the end, I think you just have to accept the fact, that you might end up a heap on the floor a few times to begin with, I know I did

I still fall over every time I double spin. If the double spin is successful it's the resulting surprise that makes me fall over.

But I agree about Lory being mental, takes one to know one. Hang on a sec, sorry, I mean I agree that you have to believe you can do the double spin - I'm not quite there yet, but there are already little circular marks on the work kitchen floor where I've been practising!

[El Salsero Gringo]

Originally Posted by NewKid

I still fall over every time I double spin. If the double spin is successful it's the resulting surprise that makes me fall over.

But I agree about Lory being mental, takes one to know one. Hang on a sec, sorry, I mean I agree that you have to believe you can do the double spin - I'm not quite there yet, but there are already little circular marks on the work kitchen floor where I've been practising!

Here's a hint someone might find useful: if you want to practice spins on a lino floor, take a can of ironing spray-starch, and give the floor a quick spray first. It works wonders.

[Whitebeard]

Originally Posted by El Salsero Gringo

Here's a hint someone might find useful: if you want to practice spins on a lino floor, take a can of ironing spray-starch, and give the floor a quick spray first. It works wonders.

You can use an iron then ?? How quaint and old fashioned.

And lino ?? Do they still do that ?? Mine's vinyl, and in stockinged feet I'm quite a dervish.

[spindr]

Make sure that you can *really* dance a single spin:

• Do a single spin -- but just let the rotation finish -- DO NOT STEP BACK]

Useful questions:

• Are you still on the same spot that you started?
• Are you still "on-balance"?
• Did you HAVE to step back?
• Are your feet close together?

If you can't stay "on-balance" for a single spin -- then you will start to "fall" out of a double
And of course you shouldn't step back (out of the spin) unless the leader leads it.

SpinDr.

[Whitebeard]

A moment's digression following my remarkable achievement in leading a double spin during class.

Guys; isn't it great to wander onto the floor ..... as you do from time to time. Lazily hold up an arm (as instructed; I hasten to add) and have an attractive young lady less than half your age rush over with radiant smiles, grab your free hand, and drag you into the line-up ..... thereupon to perform for you alone. If only real life were like that!!

[DavidY]

I'm very much reminded of this:

Originally Posted by Douglas Adams

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say on the subject of flying.
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying.
The knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
...
The first part is easy.
...
Clearly it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.
One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.
It is notoriously difficult to prise your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.

For me, the relevance of this to spinning is the whole doing-it-accidentally thing. If I try really hard to spin, I probably won't. If I have a casual intention to spin and then think about something else, I stand a lot more chance.

You still need to do all the things other people have said like keeping tension and not having flailing limbs (and I'm the first to admit my actual spinning technique isn't very good). I agree with ESG that you need a good surface too.

The first time I ever succeeded in doing a double spin was on a good dance floor, when I was relaxed near the end of a good night, and did it almost by accident. Once I'd managed it once it was easy to do a few more on the same floor, and it does give you confidence that it's not totally impossible.

(I can't offer any help about actual flying, but maybe the folk here can)