Balance versus Balancing...

The key is to be balanced or in balance. We often confuse balancing for that.
In skating I use the expression “be balanced to move not move to balance”
I can use my appendages for two things either balance OR acceleration. It is either or…
True balance has no tension. It is natural weight distribution with your center of gravity over your point of contact.
What we are looking for is dynamic balance.
In skating rotation is a main ingredient. The most important thing is to have balanced weight distribution around the rotational axes. This is to insure smooth rotation when in motion.
As rotational speed increases the effects of unbalance become more and more detrimental. The fact is, the force caused by unbalance increases by the square of the speed.
If the speed is doubled the force quadruples, if it is tripled it increases by the factor of 9 and if the speed quadruples it increases by a factor 16!!!!
Now apply that to single, double, triple and quad jumps and you can imagine the wear and tear on the joints…
Our biggest problem in skating are abuse injuries caused by poor body alignment (see blog” alignment in skating to prevent injury”)
We need to go back to teaching the language of skating with its proper grammar and technique based on the laws of physics, not personal opinion…