LOOPS, BACKWARD.
Loops are so very important a part of the equipment of the finished
skater that I have divided them into two chapters. They should have
large place in the careful, studious skating of all who are ambitious to
make good progress in this most graceful of sports.
There are some interesting peculiarities of loops which may be set down
as worth remembering. For instance, all loops are skated with the
balance foot following the skating foot before the loop and preceding it
after the loop. Again, all loops are skated with the balance of the body
strongly forward before the loop and strongly backward after the loop.
The balance foot should pass the skating foot very close to it in all
loops or there will be strong tendency to swing the skater into too
small a curve after the loop has been made. Loops should be almost round
as to shape.
The outside backward loop is in some respects the easiest of the four
loops. But it is not easy to get the right start for this loop. Perhaps
more daring is required in the strike off of the outside backward loop
than in any other school figure. For this reason, while championship
competitions insist that the start of all figures shall be from rest,
the beginner may find it encouraging to start the backward outside loops
after he has taken a slight backward outside stroke on the opposite
foot. This merely for encouragement. After a good start has been
learned, lessen the times that the assisting motion from the stroke on
the other foot are used and finally discard it altogether and start, as
one should, from rest.
Thrust out boldly on the outside backward edge as for the outside
backward circle, twisting the shoulders so that they are flat with the
centre of the circle of which the loop is to be a part. Turn the head
even more than the shoulders, looking almost over the unemployed
shoulder toward the spot where the loop is to be placed. At the moment
of commencing the loop the face should be almost directly toward the
loop and both arms twisted well toward the centre of the circle as in
the diagram. The twist of the shoulders and a sharp swing of the balance
foot around the skating foot, close to it, will give the right rotation
for the loop. After the loop has been made the head and the shoulder
over the balance foot should be kept turned well toward the direction of
the curve which is being skated. It will be found very difficult to
round out this finishing curve of the outside backward loop. The twist
of the shoulders and the carriage of the balance foot outside of the
print are the secrets of its accomplishment.
The inside backward loops, as has been said of the inside edges in
general, are easier to start and harder to get out of than any similar
strokes. To make a clean inside edge loop backward and get out of it
with a resulting curve of full size and true radius is an indication of
real proficiency in figure skating. Many good skaters fail in this
difficult figure. Yet it must be learned or other following and
combination figures cannot be accomplished.
This loop requires more edge than any of the others. It is about the
only loop which the experts of Europe agree upon as to the place on the
blade of the skate with which it should be executed. This is the forward
part of the blade.
[Illustration:
LOOP. Right outside edge, backward, loop, outside backward. (ROBLOB)
]
The start is made like the start of the inside edge circle backward
except that the head is turned over the employed shoulder instead of
over the unemployed shoulder. That is the face is turned away from the
centre of the circle of which the loop is to be a part instead of toward
the start of the stroke. The position is similar to that for the
execution of the three or the backward inside edge but there should be
more twist to the shoulders. The balance foot should be carried well in
front of the body, not too high, and over the print. The arm of the
employed shoulder should be extended well out from the body compensating
the weight of the balance leg which is on the other side of the centre
of gravity, as shown in the diagram. There should be strong backward
leaning of the body, as in all backward loops, up to the middle of the
loop when the balance foot swings past making a small circle, almost a
flip of the foot, and is carried well out, over the print. The curve is
finished like the inside backward circle. There is less use of the
shoulders, and more use of the balance foot in the execution of the
inside backward loops than in any of the other loops.
[Illustration:
LOOP. Right inside edge, backward, loop, inside backward. (LIBLIB)
]
[Illustration:
MRS. JULIEN M. GERARD, MRS. CHARLES B. DILLINGHAM and MISS MADELINE
COCHRANE at Hippodrome Skating Tea.
]