counting spin rotations in variations where you can't see?

[Spazactaz]

such as cannonball/pike/pancake variations in a sit spin... HOW do you count your rotations?!?! lol. when my eyes are flat against my leg i am blind and basically i just have to guess and hope that i've done 8.

anyone know any tricks?? :p

[Aussie Willy]

God I have never been able to figure out how many rotations I have done in a spin. I do the spin for as long as I am meant to to go with the music. But then I don't really compete that much these days and when I did I never actually thought about it.

[Jozet]

My daughter would consistently count too low (and it seems to be a pretty common problem), so what we did was have someone actually count out loud - loud enough for her to hear - while she was spinning so she could sort of re-calibrate her counting, or just get more of an intuitive feel for when she hit 3, 6, 8 revolutions.

That doesn't help if you're on your own trying to get an exact count, but for competition, it did seem to help her.

[orbitz]

Don't you generally have an idea of when you've gone around 1 revolution once you've settled into the spin, even if your eyes are closed? So once you hit a pancake position, for example, it might take 2-3 free revolutions before you feel settled and have an idea of what your body is doing; Then you start counting. Throw in maybe 2 extra revolutions at the end after you're done counting to make sure you've met the requirement.

[FigureSpins]

You have to go by sound - get into position and listen for the background noise. The rink sides are always louder (because of echo) than the ends, so you can orient yourself like a compass needle and listen for "like" sounds to know you've completed a rotation. If your music is playing, it's easier since the sound doesn't move the way other skaters do on the ice. The speakers are fixed in place, so just listen carefully.

[Doubletoe]

You have to go by sound - get into position and listen for the background noise. The rink sides are always louder (because of echo) than the ends, so you can orient yourself like a compass needle and listen for "like" sounds to know you've completed a rotation. If your music is playing, it's easier since the sound doesn't move the way other skaters do on the ice. The speakers are fixed in place, so just listen carefully.

I can sort of hear my revolutions, too. I look at the ice in front of me during my pancake spin so I could sort of count revs that way, but I find that it makes me start "spotting" and that makes me dizzy. Instead, I count in my head and have my coach watch me and count actual revolutions. Then I see how my revolution count compares to his and adjust my count to make sure I'm holding it long enough (I may need to count to 10 in order for it to actually be 8).