Natural clockwise skaters who jump counterclockwise | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Natural clockwise skaters who jump counterclockwise

dlarry1

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
While I am certainly no expert in biokinetics, I was a college diver and it was quite common for athletes to rotate in a direction not dictated by their dominant side. Sometimes it was determined by the ease of the other movements going on (forward versus backward flipping, for example), and I also had a teammate who had a very bad crash when young and learning to twist. From that moment on, he would only twist the other way.
 

Sabrina

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2013
From my limited own experience, I guess it is really easy to jump in both directions, if you only do single jumps. Doubles or triples are different. Same thing happens with spins. I guess most skaters are able to spin either way, but there is a difference in speed and quality of positions, so most skaters use only one direction. We have just a few people trying 2 direction spins, most recent that comes into my mind being Misha Ge.
 

Ducky

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
It's not that uncommon, on instagram I saw a few posts from a lot of skaters who naturally preferred to jump clockwise but their coach encouraged them to jump counterclockwise, so they learned it that way. It actually seems that being allowed to be a clockwise jumper/spinner is more rare.

Also, doesn't the ISI system test for doing reverse jumps? I know I've seen a video of Gracie Gold attempting a clockwise double axle before.
 

MalAssada

Medalist
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
Here are my two cents, from being a leftie with a dominant right foot. I jump counterclockwise, and I've attempted clockwise jumps just to make sure. Jumping against your preferred direction is just... weird. Like, even just doing a half turn jump on the floor, it throws off my balance a lot. So I imagine that had I been forced to jump in my wrong way, I'd definitely try to stay closer to the ground so I didn't tilt so much.
When skating, I also spin counterclockwise. Imagine my surprise when, upon entering my university's rec gymnastics team, I found it in much easier to "spin" clockwise! I spent months not managing a full turn before my coach asked me to try it clockwise, just in case. It was a whole new experience.

So yes, I suspect Satoko might be able to jump a little higher if she had been taught how to rotate the way she prefers. But with my recent experience with spinning, I wonder how many skaters just never bothered to try because jumping felt more natural the other way.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
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Mar 3, 2014
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It's not that uncommon, on instagram I saw a few posts from a lot of skaters who naturally preferred to jump clockwise but their coach encouraged them to jump counterclockwise, so they learned it that way. It actually seems that being allowed to be a clockwise jumper/spinner is more rare.

Also, doesn't the ISI system test for doing reverse jumps? I know I've seen a video of Gracie Gold attempting a clockwise double axle before.

According to the excerpt of the interview with Rohene in @Dorispulaski's Post 15, evidently they do. And Rohene decided to continue practicing clockwise and counterclockwise triples, as well as spins, "just for fun". :eek:
 

WednesdayMarch

Nicer When Fed
Medalist
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Mar 24, 2019
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United-Kingdom
According to the excerpt of the interview with Rohene in @Dorispulaski's Post 15, evidently they do. And Rohene decided to continue practicing clockwise and counterclockwise triples, as well as spins, "just for fun". :eek:

I'm not sure I'd consider that "fun"!

I used to be able to spin in both directions but I was definitely better counterclockwise. I didn't like jumping clockwise, so stuck to doing both spinning and jumping counterclockwise but my coach as a child/teenager always made it quite clear that it was up to me to choose the direction that I liked best. There was no pressure to "conform to the norm". (I'm also ambidextrous. Nobody would play tennis with me at school because I would just swap hands if it made a shot easier. And my husband used to be freaked out when I'd swap hands when painting things or chopping up trees and shrubs in the garden. He's used to it now and not a little jealous.)
 

yume

🍉
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Mar 11, 2016
(I'm also ambidextrous. Nobody would play tennis with me at school because I would just swap hands if it made a shot easier. And my husband used to be freaked out when I'd swap hands when painting things or chopping up trees and shrubs in the garden. He's used to it now and not a little jealous.)
Seems like ambidextrous are a nightmare in some sports:laugh:
Like in football. An ambidextrous center forward would be a nightmare for any defender. It's already difficult to deal with those who have a dominant left foot.

In skating too. Someone who can do triples in both directions can do a 3lz-3lz for example. And if he's injured on right foot and can't use it for take-offs/landings, he can use the left foot instead.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Yes, I remember seeing Rohene Ward jumping triple lutz both CW and CCW. He could do a quad toe and 3axel at a standstill in warmups. Then he'd fall on everything in the program! He was a mystery to say the least!
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Michelle Kwan, early in her career, included spins in both directions. She quickly found that her counterclockwise spins were much better than clockwise. The novelty of spinning in both directions was not worth the loss of speed and centering.
 

labgoat

I have no words
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Jan 3, 2007
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I believe Robin Cousins also spun in both directions.
 

WednesdayMarch

Nicer When Fed
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Mar 24, 2019
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Seems like ambidextrous are a nightmare in some sports:laugh:
Like in football. An ambidextrous center forward would be a nightmare for any defender. It's already difficult to deal with those who have a dominant left foot.

In skating too. Someone who can do triples in both directions can do a 3lz-3lz for example. And if he's injured on right foot and can't use it for take-offs/landings, he can use the left foot instead.

If I'm honest, I'm just a nightmare in any sport! And I should probably admit that swapping hands in tennis didn't necessarily mean I was going to hit the ball... :palmf:

With skating, though, I was never convinced that non-skating spectators realised I was spinning in both directions.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Jan 9, 2017
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Olympics
According to the excerpt of the interview with Rohene in @Dorispulaski's Post 15, evidently they do. And Rohene decided to continue practicing clockwise and counterclockwise triples, as well as spins, "just for fun". :eek:

Ryan Bradley is another that does this.
 

pandatours

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 12, 2015
You can train yourself to use your less dominant hand/side in some cases but truly ambidextrous people are rare. I can taught myself to use chopsticks with my left hand when I suffered from tendinitis. My aunt is left handed but writes with her right hand because in China they force you to learn to use your right.

It’s easier to train this kind of behavior with kids. Rafael Nadal is a leftie in tennis but natural right handed. He was able to train his left arm into an absolute machine, but he is not ambidextrous in other areas.

I’m guessing along the way Elena could jump clockwise and her intuition was corrected in the opposite direction. I don’t think it had an impact on her jumps later on because she’s always jumped doubles and triples in one direction
 

ronngnoz

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Since in ballet people do everything in both directions, maybe it might also stop so many injuries if people landed on either foot instead of just one
 

SmallAminal

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Just came across this thread and its so interesting to hear everyone's examples and experiences.

My son and I are both "mixed" in our dominance (I wonder if there is a word for this?). For example, I am right-handed when I write, but I have to do certain things (e.g. open jars) with my left hand as its stronger and it feels more natural. When I broke my left arm I actually had some trouble doing day-to-day stuff because I'm not used to doing everything with the right hand. I also did hurdles in track and jumped left foot first (typically considered the left-handed way) and I also jumped/spun clockwise (probably because I had a strong preference from dance to turn clockwise....I was always stronger in that direction in dance).


My son is righthanded and jumps/spins clockwise. He plays tennis right-handed but plays hockey left-handed and his dominant foot is his left foot in soccer. Interestingly, his new tennis coach thinks that he maybe should have played tennis lefty since his backhand is so much stronger than his forehand. He also had a tennis friend that was right-handed but played lefty because that's how she felt most comfortable from the beginning.
 

hanyuufan5

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Medalist
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May 19, 2018
My son and I are both "mixed" in our dominance (I wonder if there is a word for this?).

There is. "Mixed dominance". :laugh: You were spot on.

I have some mixed dominance, too. I always guessed it came from having one left-handed and one right-handed parent.

As for jumps, I think some skaters have easier times with their non-dominant direction than others.
 
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