Best spinners in skating

[Vash01]

It was the 1994 Olympics. When two triple jumps were required in the SP starting in 1995, Natalie faded away from the skating world because of her jump inconsistencies. Really a shame cuz her spinning ability was amazing. And Lucinda set the record for most revolutions on one foot (it was something like 110 revolutions). I have no idea who had the record before that.

Thanks. Here is her 1994 Oly SP. These days we see the ladies do all of those spins but nobody does a better spin combination than Nathalie did then. She was way ahead of her time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnoRJ8gZpZU

[Vagabond]

... Courtney? Her spins are all mediocre minus the one spin she invented, the twicks spin...

You should read more carefully before you post responses to other posts.

[judgejudy27]

Natalie Kreig, Lucinda Ruh, Denise Biellman, Kay Thomson, and Alissa Czisny are the top 5 of all time for me.

Kay Thomson is not that well known today either as an overall skater or spinners but she had wonderful spins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTjYXJfH1ws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ID5wSy4og

I would give an honorable mention as well to Dorothy Hamill who was a tremendous spinner.

[floskate]

Well personally I see Ruh as being on a whole other level to Krieg but that's what is so great about such a subjective sport. Also never rated Biellmann beyond her biellmann and its variations. Her sit spins and camel spins were no better than anyone else of her era. Dorothy Hamill would easily be in my top 5.

[steve skater]

I love this spinning oeuvre by Craig Heath, in Sun Valley.
I love that he does nearly every spin out there and that he hits great basic positions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju-ZpqvxnHE

[TheresMaude]

Ito was a fantastic spinner. Easy to forget what with all the other pyrotechnics!

[ks777]

Naomi Nari Nam was a very good spinner. Watch this 1999 US nationals LP, especially toward the end ( start watching at 2:40 for the spins), but the whole program is gorgeous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S7EEHAM6nU

She was definitely very special. Naomi, Sasha, Yebin Mok, AP McDonough and Bebe Liang were all good spinners.

[ks777]

Yukari Nakano was a good spinner too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZanb...eature=related

[BigB08822]

Was NNN coached by Nicks? The similarity to Cohen is just uncanny. Their 2axels are identical as well as how they skate in general. Most of their jump technique was the same.

[smarts1]

^ Yes I believe so.

[numbers123]

I never appreciated Sasha's spins. They looked forced to me. But skating is subjective.

Who mentioned Scott Davis? I think that Dai has some spins to die for too.

[kappa_1]

I'd say Nathalie Krieg, Lucinda Ruh, and Stephane Lambiel in whichever subjective order.

While Alissa Czisny is a brilliant spinner, the best spinner today, and matches these three Swiss spinners in terms of speed, centering, and (ball park) cleanliness of positions, she has not matched the level of the aforementioned in terms of innovation. The three Swiss spinners were all ahead of their time in terms of their inventive positions and how they used them in their programs.

Honorable mention to skaters like Sasha, Nakano, Bebe Liang, AP McDonough, and Mirai Nagasu.

I think in terms of flexibility, no one beats Lipnitskaya and Fleur Maxwell.

[Vash01]

Was NNN coached by Nicks? The similarity to Cohen is just uncanny. Their 2axels are identical as well as how they skate in general. Most of their jump technique was the same.

Yes, they were both coached by Nicks at the same time. NNN's career was cut short due to injuries, or she would have challenged Sasha (and may be even Michelle)

[easilydistracte]

Todd Eldredge and Scott Davis, I think, were two of the best American men for spins.

Fumie Suguri, possibly? (Have to go look for some YT clips.)

[muffinbiscuit]

I thought Scott had a great sit spins, but not a camel.

[bartek]

Thanks. Here is her 1994 Oly SP. These days we see the ladies do all of those spins but nobody does a better spin combination than Nathalie did then. She was way ahead of her time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnoRJ8gZpZU

WOW!! This is the first time I see this and I think she spins even faster than Ruh and Czisny! WOW!! Her layback and biellman are extremely fast and well centered.

For me the top 5 is Ruh, Krieg, Czisny, Lambiel and Cohen.

Honorable mention: Nakano, Slutskaya, young Zhang and Nagasu, Naomi Nari Nam.

The worst spin I have probably ever seen was done by Ludmila Nelidina at 2002 SA where she landed a triple axel.

[Marco]

I absolutely love this huge combination spin of Alissa Czisny's: http://youtu.be/Ksf53zXX9vc?t=2m23s 30+ revs in total and she barely lost any speed at all!

And speaking of Zhang, here is her 30 rev layback: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7QSZ...outu.be&t=2m0s and her most difficult and complicated layback spin ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQhf7...youtu.be&t=12s

[skatesindreams]

In other words, Ronnie Robertson.

(If you aren't a North American of a certain age, I encourage you to watch the whole video. It is a fascinating glimpse into the past. )

More about Ronnie Robertson and his spins, from an article in the Los Angeles Times; published after his death in 2000:

When news of Robertson's death began to circulate, skating fans mostly remembered the strong, elegant man for his spinning ability. Robertson spun so fast for so long that NASA had Robertson down to its Texas headquarters to measure the human blur. Robertson spun 420 times in a minute, seven revolutions per second. Ed Sullivan invited Robertson onto his show, according to one account, "to demonstrate that Robertson could spin faster than an electric fan."

John Nicks, a figure skating champion himself and the Costa Mesa coach of Olympic hopefuls Sasha Cohen and Naomi Nari Nam, remembers that "there were stories out there that the faster you spun, the more your blood ended up in your fingers and Ronnie spun so fast that he would actually bleed out his nails."

BTW, NASA really wanted to study him because he could spin so fast without becoming dizzy/disoriented. From the obituary in the New York Times:

Robertson's ability to spin at an estimated 240 revolutions a minute was studied by scientists in the American space program who were trying to determine how astronauts could maintain balance in a weightless environment. But they apparently reached no conclusions on why Robertson never became dizzy.

''Everyone told me it was a natural ability, that I had one of the best centers of gravity they had seen,'' Robertson told The Los Angeles Times in an interview in 1982. ''My weight was distributed just right, my legs were bowed just enough to spin.''

[MR-FAN]

''Everyone told me it was a natural ability, that I had one of the best centers of gravity they had seen,'' Robertson told The Los Angeles Times in an interview in 1982. ''My weight was distributed just right, my legs were bowed just enough to spin.''

Which begs the question: Are great spinner born or made? Does every skater have a limit of how well they can spin that, regardless of how hard they train, they can't surpass?

[El Rey]

Yes, they were both coached by Nicks at the same time. NNN's career was cut short due to injuries, or she would have challenged Sasha (and may be even Michelle)

So sad. I think NNN was even better than Sasha. I remember Sasha even saying NNN was the more talented one in a fluff piece.