According to the 2023/24 ISU Technical Panel Handbook for Single Skating, a level four spin must include one of the following six features:

  1. Difficult change of position on the same foot
  2. Difficult exit
  3. Clear change of edge
  4. Both directions immediately following each other in sit, camel, layback or difficult variation of an upright position
  5. Clear increase of speed
  6. Difficult variation of flying entry

This video is a demonstration of a level four combination spin featuring a clear change of edge.

Basic Position: Camel Spin (0:01-0:04 – 2 Revolutions)

The skater begins with a basic camel position, keeping her body balanced over her skating knee as she pushes into the entrance edge. During the entry, her arms are held together in front of her, and she leans forward to balance over the edge, letting herself turn three quarters of a circle before straightening her skating leg and opening her arms to either side. In the camel spin, her free leg is positioned behind her with her knee higher than her hips and her left shoulder pressing downward. She maintains this base position for two revolutions, the minimum required to gain credit.

Gateway Feature: Outside Edge (0:04-0:05 – 3 Revolutions)

This feature is one of the six gateway features listed above, and therefore qualifies the spin to be a level four.

To transition to the outside edge, the skater bends her left knee slightly, draws her left side in front of her, then straightens her knee again. This helps her engage her core to shift her weight to the outside edge. Additionally, the skater twists her core to the right and bends her free leg to increase the difficulty of the position. 

During this transition it is important to keep the free leg aligned straight behind; a common mistake is to let it drop, which can shift weight away from the center of the spin and cause the skater to lose their balance.

Camel Sideways Variation (0:04-0:05 – 3 Revolutions)

During her outside edge camel position, the skater also twists her shoulders away from the ice and bends her free leg. This counts as a difficult variation of the basic camel position, since her shoulder line is twisted to a vertical position.

Jump Within a Spin (0:06-0:07)

Next, the skater jumps from her forward camel to a back camel spin. This constitutes fly within a spin, which counts as a level for the second side of the combination spin. To perform the fly, the skater straightens up her back slightly, while bending her skating knee (her left knee) and kicking her free leg forward as she jumps. Throughout the fly, she keeps her left arm in front of her.

Camel Forward Variation: Catch Foot Camel (0:09-0:12 – 3 Revolutions)

Lastly, the skater performs a back catch foot camel spin. She bends her free leg upward without letting it drop toward the ice, and grasps the heel of her blade with her palm facing down. She keeps her head up and maintains tension in her free leg throughout the change of position. Finally, the skater presses her free leg upward and tucks her left arm behind her back. She holds the spin for roughly three revolutions before exiting.

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