The inside forward loops are started differently from the inside circles as the shoulders should face the centre of the circle right from the start. The skating knee should be well bent and the balance of the body should be strongly forward until half of the loop has been completed. Then the balance foot, which has been carried behind and outside the print, describes a small, quick circle directly over the loop and is thrust well forward, across and outside the print. The shoulders, however, remain twisted toward the centre of the circle. The balance of the body before the inside forward loop is strongly forward; after the loop it is strongly backward. After the loop is made straighten the body up and bring the arms quickly to the sides of the body; the first movement adds impetus and the second tends to prevent the following curve from becoming a spiral. Loops should be made on a strong edge. After the loop is made less edge is required; in fact as little edge as can be used to follow the correct curve of the circle back to the starting point.
LOOP. Left inside forward, loop, inside forward. (LIFLIF)
Loops are somewhat dependent upon the freedom with which the skater is able to control his ankles. They should not be held too stiffly in these figures since a firm edge is needed even in the small circles which will be formed and there is change of the balance from the forward to the backward part of the blade, or vice versa, in the various loops. There should be no noticeable pause at the centre of the loop. The balance foot should not be employed to jerk the skater out of the loop into the finish of the circle.
CHAPTER 14.
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.