Why Do Figure Skaters Turn Left? Why Do Ballet Dancers Turn Right?

Рет қаралды 88,846

2 жыл бұрын

Twisting and turning skills are vital in many athletic and artistic endeavors. Figure skaters, gymnasts, and ballet dancers typically have a preferred side of turning on the ground and on jumps. This video looks at the turning tendencies of athletes and ballet dancers. The turning propensities (clockwise/counterclockwise) differ widely depending on the activity. I review some academic research on turning preferences in humans with some surprising results. Innate biological factors can explain some turning preferences, but learned behavioral factors are also a likely determinant.
Background and my story: balletfocus.com/new-youtube-v...
Thanks to Stephen Nelson and Flavio Bessi for helpful comments.
Sources
Skating
Jason Brown, Nathan Chen, Cha Junhwan, Sakamoto Kaori, 2022 Olympics, @Olympics
Yuzuru Hanyu, 2018 Olympics, @Olympics
Tara Lipinski, 1998 Olympics, @3Axel1996
Evan Lysacek, 2010 Olympics, @Olympics Figure Skating
Johnny Weir, 2010 Olympics, @Olga Trofimova
Todd Eldredge, 2002 Olympics, @3Axel1996
Oksana Baiul, 1994 Olympics, @Mintaka Alnilam
Sara Hughes, 2002 Olympics, @Olympics
Michel Kwan, 1998 Olympics, @TripleAxel1991
Roslyn Sumners, 1994 Olympics, @3Axel1996
Toller Cranston, 1976 Olympics, @gem7ini
Dance
Angel Corella, Paloma Herrera, Susan Jaffe: ABT Now DVD
Mikhail Baryshnikov: Live at Wolf Trap DVD, Turning Point DVD
Gillian Murphy, Angel Corella, ABT Swan Lake DVD
Francesca Hayward Nutcracker: @Notas de Ballet
Cesar Corrales in Don Quixote: @Dancersdiary
Francesca Hayward and Cesar Corrales: @Royal Opera House
Katherine Healy skating: @floskate
Katherine Healy Swan Lake: @whitewallsm
Royal Ballet Dance Class: @Royal Opera House
Daniil Simkin: @Daniil Simkin
Vladimir Vasiliev, @gramilano
Angel Corella, Herman Cornejo, Gillian Murphy: American Ballet Theatre Swan Lake DVD
Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov Swan Lake: @Royal Opera House @Profokiev
Michael Jackson Moonwalk Evolution: @Omar Iván
Prince's Best Dance Breaks: @PurpleRainsTube
Gene Kelly-Anchors Aweigh with Jerry Mouse Dancing: @Peter Webb
Fred Astaire Dancing With A Hat Rack, Royal Wedding: @Bill Green
Gregory Hines Solo Tap Scene White Nights: @jbbe2
Men's Gymnastics
Sam Mikulak, Kohei Uchimura, Oleg Verniaiev, Max Whitlock, Nile Wilson, 2016 Olympics, @Olympics
Women's Gymnastics
Nastia Liukin, 2008 Olympics, @Gymnastea
Simon Biles, 2016 Olympics, @Olympics
Aly Raisman, 2016 Olympics, @gymgem
Diving
David Boudia, Thomas Daley, Sascha Klein, Meaghan Benfeito, Brittany Broben, Chen Ruolin: @Olympics
Misc
Brain Asymmetry: @Brainfo
Biomechanical Analysis of Dancers: @mendip89
Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Child: @Jimi Hendrix
MLB Best Plays by Catchers: @Never Too Much Sports | MLB & More
Sufi Whirling Dervishes of Konya: @TravelS Aerial and Nefhith
Elgar: Serenade for Strings-Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra: @AVROTROS Klassiek
Baseball pitcher David Cone WS 1996 Gm3: @MLB
Looking back at Mariano Rivera's incredible career: @MLB
Top 10 Moments of Derek Jeter's Career: @MLB
Neymar wins dramatic gold for Brazil in Rio: @NBC Sports
Gymnastics spotting-Running Full Spot: @UGCheer app
Snowboarding, Are You Regular of Goofy?: @Snowboard Addiction
Photographs
Figure skater spin: Women Single Figure Skating Short Program at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, January 11, 2020, Sandro Halanbk, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Royal Opera House and Ballerina: Russ London at English Wikipedia
San Francisco Ballet, Ed Dunens, Wikimedia Commons
Mariinsky Theater: A.Savin, WikiCommons
Francesca Hayward: Francesca Hayward in Manon, photo by Alice Pennefather, Royal Opera House
Simone Biles: Rio de Janeiro - Ginasta Simone Biles, dos Estados Unidos, termina com medalha de bronze a prova final da trave (Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil), Wikimedia Commons
Da'Von Doane: notmydayjobphotography.com
Diver in London 2012 Olympics: Mark Pain
Background Information
Left-handed catchers: The player who no longer exists in the Majors, Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com, 2021
The Real Reason There Are No Left Handed Catchers; I NEED to Know Why There Are NO Lefty Catchers in The MLB, @Antonelli Baseball
Left Handed Classical String Players
Left Handed Violin Playing, violinspiration.com
Lefty Figure Skaters
Southpaw figure skaters face a different set of challenges, Hayley Mick, The Globe and Mail, 2013
Counterclockwise Ballet Turners
Why Do Ballet Dancers Turn Clockwise, balletfocus.com, January 21, 2014
Francesca Hayward, Cory Stearns on Counter-Clockwise Turning, balletfocus.com, April 30, 2017
Prince and Ballet Training
Prince: Always in Motion, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, MplsStPaul

Пікірлер: 527

@pavti1189 2 жыл бұрын

I'm a ballet dancer and we always train to turn both directions. Most of us have a favourite side and if we get soli and have to do a lot of consecutive turns (usually fouettés turns) we sometimes get to decide and then obviously most dancers would chose their favourite side. Since in my experience that means turning over the right shoulder for most (probably comparable to being right handed), that often leads choreographers to suggest that. However: in the corps de ballet you don't get to choose and you most likely will have to turn both ways. Also in some choreographies you need to turn which ever way fits.

@MaddieFishblob 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly!! And when you take into account both en dedans and en dehors turns, u pretty much turn 4 ways😆 I guess most ppl are righties when given the choice, and fuettes are en dehors so I get why the vid points the R out for ballet 🤔

@publicjewelrybox 2 жыл бұрын

I went from figure skating to ballet, from turning left to turning right, and it was such a hard adjustment! Turning left was always better for me, but everyone else went right so I had to do what they did, and my pirouettes were always weaker. It was so frustrating to me, because I knew I was capable of doing it better on my stronger side, but was forced to do it on my weaker side to go with the choreography everyone else was doing.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experience in ballet and figure skating!

@sabinedeixler2637 2 жыл бұрын

I actually don't get why you've had to turn right in ballet. As a former ballet dancer in the Netherlands we've always turned equally to both sides. I preferred piques and en dedans to the left and en dehors to the right... Just curious: where did you dance and did you do competitions? I've seen that in the US in group competitions they only turn to one side in most of their turns.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

@@sabinedeixler2637 I danced at a non-professional company Ballet Midwest in the 1980s. Never did competitions. I have been to YAGP competitions and have never seen a CCW female.

@lindatannock 2 жыл бұрын

Coaches should never force a skater to jump in a particular direction! That's crazy. I went from 7 yrs of ballet to figure skating, and was a natural lefty, but I could spin both ways (I'm ambidextrous, so don't know if that's a reason). I'm an ex professional figure skater and ice show performer btw. 18 yrs competing and performing

@ElizabethAnderson23 2 жыл бұрын

@@lindatannock I wasn't even given the option as a child. I'm also naturally ambidextrous. I do think clockwise would be my natural direction, but it's a bit late to change.

@hannahherrera6202 2 жыл бұрын

So the reason that figure skaters call ccw turners “righties” and cw turners “lefties” is because of the foot that they land their jumps on. So although righties turn left, they land their jumps on the right foot. From my experience in skating, if you are right handed a lot of coaches assume you are right legged and that’s the direction they teach you. (Unless it feels really wrong and easier to go the other way) Also in figure skating there was a recent rule change with spins where spinning both directions in one spin is one of the features for a level 4 spin. So it is likely that we will see more skaters spin in both directions.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for clarifying the "lefty" term. Also the rule change and impact on skating.

@strawberrylime33 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for letting me know about the spin rule change. I dislike how spins are so similar, just to get that level 4. So are u implying that this season, we will see a layback to a haircutter in one direction and then vice versa?

@hannahherrera6202 2 жыл бұрын

@@strawberrylime33 Although that would be possible, I think it is more likely we’ll see the rule implemented into combo spins and change foot spins. Similar to how Satoko Miyahara does her combo spin that changes direction.

@strawberrylime33 2 жыл бұрын

@@hannahherrera6202 sorry, I don't understand. I need a condensed version of the ISU spin rules so I can understand why they all look the same.🤣😭😆😭

@joy7367 2 жыл бұрын

maybe also because when u turn acw u can use ur right arm for the rotation

@player_2_has_joined626 2 жыл бұрын

i’m a figure skater, there are lefty and righty skaters, it usually depends on what your dominant hand is or your preference, most people jumps/spin counterclockwise because it’s much easier to practice with other skaters on freestyle sessions

@Greta.Abbe-Good 2 жыл бұрын

The same is true for dancers. My dominant side is my left side, which often sucks because choreography almost always favors the right side….

@bronwynsteck 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly. Left handed ballet dancers go the opposite way to the majority of dancers. There are obviously more right-handed dancers, because fewer people are left-handed, thus the belief that in ballet, they all go in the same direction. But I find it interesting, when watching ballet on KZfaq (which I do an awful lot of) that there are many more male dancers who are left-handed, compared with the number of women

@carlycarlucci1301 2 жыл бұрын

Japan & Russia don’t allow leftie figure skaters; unfortunate since there are so many great ones, overall.

@chloeclemence2991 2 жыл бұрын

I do both dance and figure skating. For figure skating I turn ccw and for dance, I turn cw

@fluffyvbunny 2 жыл бұрын

@Donny Hathaway tell me about it ahh omg (lol)

@jlimballet 2 жыл бұрын

I’m a ballet dancer. When doing consecutive turns like fouettés as shown, coordination of the head arms and hips is very important. With a lot of us being right handed the coordination on that side is better/faster making consecutive turns easier to the right.

@christiecakes014 2 жыл бұрын

Totally agree. Your left leg develops more as a strong support while your right leg is better able to move through the positions. Regardless of whether I was turning clockwise or counter-clockwise, I always did better when my left leg was the one I was balanced on.

@siribaimusic 2 жыл бұрын

I’m a lefty, but I have always turned more strongly to the right in ballet, and am a clockwise figure skater which I came to after several years of ballet prior to beginning skating. I don’t think it has to do with coordination of the dominant side (also, our nerves cross again) in ballet but simply, “first side - stronger side”

@danceandmore88 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly, there is no rule for turns in ballet- in class, you do as you're told, on stage, you choose your stronger side for multiple turns.

@soraiabranco8687 Жыл бұрын

if your right side is stonger and more control, then it should be the side giving you the balance, this is, the side that stays in the air... So right-handed people should turn counter-clockwise

@AlleyBetwixt 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting video. If I had to guess about ballet dancers preferring clockwise it would be that it's the 'first side'. In class you always start with your right leg working and your left leg supporting, especially at the barre. Then consider that the en dehor pirouette is the most common. So on 'first side', that's a clockwise turn on your left leg. In every beginner level class I've ever taken, that's how you first learn your pirouette. Even though you always practice both sides, the first time you figure out the mechanics of doing an actual pirouette, I'd guess 99% of the time it's an en dehor on 'first side'. That might make it forever feel more comfortable for the majority of dancers to be on their left leg, turning right. It is for me.

@TheMisspurple101 2 жыл бұрын

As a former figure skater and a left-handed person, I wanted to say that lefty vs. righty is the leg you land on when you jump. I was a righty skater even though I was left-handed. So I spun counter-clockwise or to the left but landed on my right leg.

@mistyminnie5922 2 жыл бұрын

INCREDIBLE video. So well researched and structured. As a figure skater, I knew of the counterclockwise prevalence and was surprised by the fact that in ballet it seems to be the exact opposite! In our very first turn class, we were encouraged to try out both sides to feel what seems more natural. More students preferred counter clockwise and two out of about twelve students preferred clockwise. As it was the first time, it seems unlikely to me this was because of conformity. Who knows!

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the skating perspective!

@asvegas777 7 ай бұрын

There’s definitely an instinct in some people, and it could be very strong. I have preference to spinning cw/leftie but not for jumps and since I can also spin ccw & it’s not easy to have different jump and spin directions im encouraged to spin the rightie way. But some people do have a very strong preference in both and they would do better trained leftie. However it’s harder since coaches are also mostly cw rotators and it can add another layer of difficulty skating in public or crowded freestyle ice. From what I’ve seen people are encouraged to learn the ccw/majority direction if they can at all. (In my case this means my spins suck in either direction 😁 - but I’m just an adult skater for fun)

@roamingramon6517 2 жыл бұрын

Doing both for a few years at a time. My take is that the momentum of turning is produced two different ways. I'm right handed and in both figure skating and ballet, I did all my spins and pirouettes on my left leg because I used my right leg to start, control the speed, and stop which I consider my dominant leg. To me, just because I'm doing spins or pirouettes on my left leg doesn't mean it's my dominant leg. In figure skating whether jumping or doing spins, the body has to contract to gain speed which would require the right leg to go counter clockwise. With pirouettes in ballet, the body doesn't have the advantage of having the momentum from gliding on ice so I have to create movement by using my dominant leg (my right leg) to gain speed in rapid fashion by quickly expanding the body which would need me to travel clockwise.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting! Thanks for sharing

@mtsanri Жыл бұрын

This is the correct answer in my opinion. In ballet fouettes (CW) you use the dominant right leg to gain momentum

@reighn831 Жыл бұрын

As a balletdancer half-turned figureskater (I still dance contemporary, just not classical anymore) I've had an incredibly hard time getting used to the turns here haha, in ballet we use our arms as a force in turning, in skating you use your legs, so the difference makes sense, it's just hard to get used to. At least my clock-wise backward turns are great :')

@savannah4439 2 жыл бұрын

My guess is that ballet turns being done en dehors (standing on left leg while turning over right shoulder) became standard because the lines look better/longer while the open part of the turn is facing the audience. Vs if you’re turning the same direction as your standing leg, your line gets shortened and you immediately start facing away from the audience. That’s not really an issue for skaters since they spin too fast for it to matter (plus skates kind of kill the line anyways haha). As for why en dehors over the right vs over the left…my best guess knowing the general history of the art is that it has to do with where the most important people in the audience sat (for example royalty or the richest patrons) lol

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting. Thanks!

@melissamybubbles6139 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting. This makes sense, since ballet audiences only sit on one side of the stage. Skating arenas have fans on all sides. Skaters are expected to reach out to fans on all four sides, and visit all corners. It may not matter what direction you rotate on since the camera follows you everywhere.

@savannah4439 2 жыл бұрын

@@melissamybubbles6139 that’s a great point! I completely forgot about the audience for skaters!

@siribaimusic 2 жыл бұрын

That is not what en dehors means. It has nothing to do with right or left. It means away from. It can be done left or right.

@megs4683 2 жыл бұрын

this is a great point but mostly it’s because most people turn better on the right, rather than the left

@flowmovementtherapy2096 2 жыл бұрын

I danced at a high level in ballet and then later learned to dance salsa to a high level. In both dance styles we are taught turns first to the right (clockwise) and then counterclockwise. It may just be that you learn to do it well clockwise before trying it on your non-dominant leg. It could also be that ballet was a court dance and the female would have had her left hand in the right hand of her partner as they both danced in the same direction (think walking down the street holding hands). In this configuration the woman had to turn right as the man turned left as then circled around to rejoin hands. So perhaps the right handed turn of the woman is a consequence of the structure of the court dance.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting point about court dance origin. Hadn't thought of that

@natsirtboy 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly I was thinking the same, some teachers though "unbalance" the class allowing more repetitions to the right than to the left, so you end up more trained to that side

@cbpd89 2 жыл бұрын

I didn't have that experience in ballet, we really got the exact same amount of practice on both sides. Every teacher does things a little different I guess!

@natsirtboy 2 жыл бұрын

@@cbpd89 that's true, every teacher have a style

@flowmovementtherapy2096 2 жыл бұрын

@@cbpd89 It wasn't until my grade 12 teacher in the mid-1990s that we switched which side we started on. So I had 8 years of training always starting to the right.

@jiperezv 2 жыл бұрын

really great research!! I'm a ballet dancer myself and turning CW (to the right) might be related to the preference of starting the exercises (barre and centre) to the right. Our standing leg is therefore the left and is probably more comfortable and stronger, thus making turns CW easier to perform. It is rare to start a turning combination in centre in CCW motion.

@sabinedeixler2637 2 жыл бұрын

That's exactly what I was thinking. Not only do we start to the right but often teachers spend more time on the right side (our teachers for example only talked us through the right side. Then they just said: and now repeat to the left, so we spent more time thinking about the right side. Sometimes they would rush through left if we spent too much time on correcting). There was one teacher who we have had class with on three out of the six days and she started on the left with everything to shake habits up. It changed the world and suddenly my weaker leg and side became my stronger one. So good point you were making in your comment.

@elizabethsaltmarsh8306 2 жыл бұрын

I have a counter example. My ballet school started with our right hand on the Barre, so we used our left leg as the working leg first and then did the other side. But pretty much all of us were right turners in centre.

@yanyuet 2 жыл бұрын

In ballet class, we actually train both sides quite equally. Only for choreography do we have a particular side

@christiecakes014 2 жыл бұрын

Even so, I'd say most dancers have a preferred side or one they do better on. I certainly did 😄

@cbpd89 2 жыл бұрын

Even though people train both sides, they still end up with a preference. That is really interesting!

@timrstern 2 жыл бұрын

Ver interesting! I know that for a fair few people the preferred direction of turn in ballet depends on the supporting leg: I am a righty for en dehors and a lefty for en dedans because the supporting leg is the same. My left leg is stronger and helps me balance more than the right leg. it would be inteesting to look at the prefered supporting leg or take-off leg in skaters to see correlation. Some other people have indicated some cultural reasons as to why ballet dancers turn right, I think another reason might be the strong and deeply engrained traditions of ballet. Choreography and ballet training are quite ridgid systems. Choereogaphers tend to not change the directions of turn unless it is an easily transferable solo or movement combination. Somehow right has become a norm but this is nt going to change because most of the existing repertoire has been made with rightys in mind.

@annasolovyeva1013 2 жыл бұрын

I used to be a figure skater and that's easy. Landing is the most difficult part of a jump or a spin (spins don't land, but have the same exit curve and pose), and it's a movement learnt at an early age and trained with meticulous repetition, on and off ice. Especially off ice, the same place you do barre, just in the middle. Put weighs on your ankles or a rubber espander on your free leg, Jump, take a required air position with arms and legs crossed, legs should be straight and in the right place, toes down- land - take the exact position required for stopping spinning with one leg standing on backward outer edge, another in the air at 45° between side and backwards, straightened and with a pointed toe, your arm on the side of the leg in the air pointing forward and another arm to the side, you must take it while landing, check in the mirror, count to three, step on two feet, repeat 40 times, every day, for all the years of your training. As a ballerina you could sure relate to it, it's the frequency of batmans and plies in ballet. You land on your main leg, if your main hand is right, it's right. A leftie also needs to skate clockwise around the rink to jump, that interferes with the training of others who skate counterclockwise as righties mostly, so trainers often teach lefties to skate counterclockwise like everyone else. Many trainers could refuse teaching lefties at all as well.

@flowmovementtherapy2096 2 жыл бұрын

Same with me about dominant supporting leg

@jenniferbrindle7885 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting! I started ballet at a young age and remember struggling with certain turns because it felt unnatural. My teacher encouraged everyone to turn the same. I later switched to figure skating and was told right handed meant I turn counterclockwise. I excelled much more at spinning and jumping in skating, therefore sticking with the sport much longer. I honestly have never though about how the differences in spinning direction from ballet to skating might have payed some part in my success or preference in one over the other.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your perspective on skating/ballet!

@lysiamoreno7431 2 жыл бұрын

this doesn't make sense at all since in ballet you're always encouraged to do everything on both sides, usually right turns are encouraged bc most people are right handed

@jaguar6414 2 жыл бұрын

As a childhood gymnast, I almost always turn on my right foot, favour my right hand, and turn clockwise, and am almost incapable of any of the same skills in the opposite direction. In gymnastics specifically, the direction doesn’t matter, but the consistency does: if you learn to do a basic skill in one twisting direction, you keep twisting or turning that way so that your tumbling lines are physically possible, and so that when preparing for combinations, there is less chance of balance deductions due to small foot adjustements and off centred hips and chest. I think the results from gymnastics are largely skewed by the fact that the sample was of olympians: If you measured the turning habits of children who do gymnastics, at lower levels, and thus have no need to have one consistent turning direction, you may find that variety of direction and favouring a side increases, whereas olympians often have to choose to either adjust some skills, or others, so that they can be strung together. Same goes with diving: backwards twisting is generally lead by a dominant hand, but the correlation may be disguised by the fact that divers often train a certain twisting direction based on the visual field of the judges, the specific manoeuvre, or the preference of the coach. I personally believe studying these habits in untrained people and children is a better indicator of the natural variation in turning preference. I was always encouraged to twist whichever way felt more controlled and natural, however, For sports like archery and discuss, my instinct was the opposite of the training given by coaches. In archery, your dominant hand is generally used to pull the bowstring, however, whenever I pick up a bow, my instinct is always to hold the string with my non dominant hand. Some things to think about…

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@Griffw06 2 жыл бұрын

I’m a diver and I prefer counter clockwise. I would say 90% of my fellow divers also prefer that, but the other 10% who were gymnasts turned divers preferred to turn clockwise. Note: I’m also really into watching figure skating and I enjoy doing off ice jumps and spins, all of which I turn counter clockwise. I also do musical theater, and when it comes to dances, my choreographer typically has us turn clockwise because he did ballet, and I found myself and other people struggled to turn clockwise and found it more natural to turn counter clockwise.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for confirming the CCW direction on diving.

@reighn831 Жыл бұрын

For the people wondering, in ballet you turn with a backwards force, meaning you always turn 'backward' no matter if it's clockwise or counterclockwise. In skating, you mostly turn forward, in the same direction in ballet you use your arms as momentum, which is why you turn 'backwards' because your arm force cannot take you forward because your elbow isn't inversed. In iceskating you use your forward momentum to turn, which is why they turn 'forward' this is where the difference comes from, because with skating, if I have to turn forward I turn counter-clockwise, in ballet I turn clockwise

@mountfujieagle 2 жыл бұрын

This is an eye opener. It never crossed my mind to look out for the direction of the turns. Great work and analysis, Kent. Thank you very much.

@mcmoon_ 2 жыл бұрын

I wish you included rhytmic gymnastics here, as they also do turns/spins with a high difficulty and seem to be a dominance of clock wise turns in elements like backscale pivot, ring pivot and penche pivot, I would say as I see most gymnasts are right handed. But overall, this is an excellent video!

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion. There is an article by Bessi that may be of interest: www.researchgate.net/publication/283497616_Laterality_in_Artistic_Gymnastics

@virginiaandreotti 2 жыл бұрын

I think in RG the direction of turn is dictated by the best split. The majority of gymnasts have more amplitude in their right split than in their left split. This righties are going to jump en tournant turning clockwise. Endedans turns with the leg to the front or side is going to be counterclockwise. Endedans turns with the leg in the back (attitude, arabesque, penché) are going to be clockwise. All of this is reversed if, like me, you have a better left split :) Exception made for fouetté turns where there is no split required, so that is probably the only turn where each RG gymnast choose their favourite turning side.

@iullea 2 жыл бұрын

yah! rg is hard, because many turns are clockwise, but they’re also counterclockwise turns like backscales. i’ve never could rotate counterclockwise rotations great. it’s so complicated :(

@emilkagorski5915 2 жыл бұрын

If it hasn’t been already mentioned, Canadian figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond (2018 Women’s World Figure Skating Champion and 2018 Olympic bronze medalist) also jumped in the clockwise direction.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@shelleyblandford4907 2 жыл бұрын

Same with the current Canadian champion, Madeline Schizas, I think Karen Magneson was a lefty as well, but back then in the 60's they had to learn both directions.

@boytwin3 Жыл бұрын

Dancer/Teacher here! In ballet, when on one foot, we regard one leg as the working leg and the other leg as the standing leg. In class, we work both sides to strengthen all muscles but, in regards to turning, the standing leg is the axis of the turn and the side that is preferable is the one where the dancer feels more stable; where the working side can move around... (hope this makes sense). Stability in dance usually has less to do with a dancer's legs, and more to do with the spine/torso/hip alignment and core strength. Usually the working leg is the right leg, and the standing leg is the left leg, especially in outside turns... (In ballet, a lot of teachers start with the right leg.) Again, dancers typically work both sides to minimize dominance, but the body and mind is funny and tends toward preference. Lol Interesting video!

@KentGBecker Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your ballet perspective!

@lizwhalley8949 2 жыл бұрын

This is SO interesting! I wonder if the difference in ballet could come from the fact that most turns are done on the point of the toe, not the ball of the foot. Perhaps the greater need for fine control of balance means that the dancer is more successful if she uses her dominant leg as her axis. Whereas for figure skating and the other sports, the foot is flexed or in a boot and you can't get that fine balance control, so it is preferable to use the dominant leg to gain momentum and balance the "swing" of the spin.

@Elizabeth-yp4fd 2 жыл бұрын

It’s definitely an interesting thought but in figure skating we spin on both feet the same direction a forward spin turns into the center of gravity and a back spin turns away on the non dominant foot and surprisingly those can go faster and tighter than the forward spins.

@sabinedeixler2637 2 жыл бұрын

An interesting thought, but I don't think that going on point is the problem. Most dancers prefer to do adagio with their right leg up, since it is their stronger and more flexible leg. So in arabesques, developpees... they will balance on their left toes. I've had my better leg but being on pointe and balancing on both feet equally well has never been an issue.

@mayap8191 2 жыл бұрын

you can still turn en dedons on your dominant leg though. My personal theory is that fuettes are commonly used in combination with pirouettes, and you can’t really do fuettes en dedons, so the turns are usually en dehors for better transitions.

@mayap8191 2 жыл бұрын

My teacher also started us off turning outwards because she said it was the “least natural” way and therefore was like resistance training in a way, and then once we started turning onwards it would feel much easier :) (also sorry if I misunderstood anything u said haha)

@siribaimusic 2 жыл бұрын

You learn all turns on the ball of the foot in ballet (Demi pointe) - long before you do them en pointe in pointe shoes. If you can’t do a pirouette on Demi pointe you would not attempt one en pointe.

@ez8605 2 жыл бұрын

(Figure skater): Thanks for posting this-I’ve been curious about it for a while. In my experience on the West Coast of the US, we determine kids’ rotational direction by telling them to “spin” or do a two-foot spin before they’ve learned any jumps or spins and then watching which way they turn. However, I read (unverified) that Japanese skater Satoko Miyahara was a natural “lefty” (in my perception we call people who “jump the other way” “lefties” because, like left-handed people, they’re less common) but was made to learn everything counter-clockwise because of the difficulty/danger of being a lefty on Japan’s crowded freestyle sessions. In my experience in the US though, this was never too much of an issue, even on crowded sessions, because lefties skate into axel, sal, and loop in the same direction that “righties” skate into lutz. As a result, you have people skating in both directions and jumping in both corners regardless of the direction that people rotate. Not sure if Japanese sessions are more crowded than ours were (usually limited to 25 people) though

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting comment! Thanks for sharing about Japanese skaters. It might be that the degree of encouragement on direction may depend on how crowded the rink is.

@overgrownkudzu 2 жыл бұрын

this is what russia does too, they don't really train lefties

@gabrioxxx Жыл бұрын

Kent, you are so accurate in your descriptions . Your videos are most interesting I thank you for allowing me to broaden my knowledge about the wonderful world of ballet.

@aliceguillot5146 2 жыл бұрын

This was a super interesting video, I always wondered why figure skaters turn on the left while most dancers turn on the right. I actually have a little theory about it : ballet seems to be the only one of all the sports you compared where the person "spots" during turns, which means you fix your eyes on a spot and keep it as long as possible, then turn and bring your attention to the spot as soon as you can. You can see it clearly in the video, the dancers head stay facing the front longer. Spotting is the way for dancers to reduce their dizziness, and it helps a lot with control while turning, especially because dancers turn on their toes VS whole foot in skating. In figure skating, the turns are way faster than in dancer, which doesn't allow skaters to spot, so I'm guessing they can't reduce the dizziness in any way (please tell me if I'm wrong, I'm not a skater myself). The main factor to decide which side to turn is probably which leg is stronger ; it seems natural to jump, land and turn on your stronger leg. As a professional ballet dancer, I am a right turner (clockwise) and what makes me prefer to turn on the right is that spotting is easier when I turn clockwise, and I feel less dizzy. Then, of course, years of training makes your legs work in a certain way and one often becomes stronger (the standing leg). Ballet dancers of course have to train both ways, even if one side is better. I once had a knee injury on my left leg, which made it weaker. During the recovery time I found that my turns were unusually better on the left (counterclockwise) because it was my right leg on the floor, though I still felt more dizzy than when turning clockwise. So I guess for ballet dancers your favorite turning side is the one you are less dizzy doing, because dancers need the control to be able to balance and hold still poses. As a majority of dancers turn clockwise/to the right, and a majority of people are right handed, I think there is probably a relationship between the two. Anyway, just a little theory based on my personal experience, let me know if this makes any sense at all for non dancers

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your perspective on ballet! I have seen some figure skaters spot their jumps, but it is rare.

@lynni3461 2 жыл бұрын

So I dance ballet and i do figure skating. So first of all figure skaters dont spin on the hole foot, they spin on the ball of the foot. And actually turns in figure skating are way harder that in ballett. I skate counterclockwise like the most skaters do. Which means our forward spins are on the left leg and our backward turns are at the right leg but still in the same direction. I think in ballett its because the goal is that a lot of dancers are dancing on Stage together and If one of them is turning the wrong way ot looks off. In Figure skating there is synchronized skating where its the same thing but there its just twizzle not spins on one spot so it doesn't matter. Why the left leg as supporting leg in Ballet? In my Theory its because the most dancers are Right handed. Its more about the axis and the alignment which desides in which direction you spin. So you spin on the stronger leg and the free leg is normaly the leg which is more flexible since left is most of the time the non flexible leg thats why left is supporting. Hope this helps but thats just my theory. I also have had troubles doing everything off ice but in training we still spin on both sides and on both legs on ice. We even jump in both directions to be even and help with rotational speed.

@aliceguillot5146 2 жыл бұрын

@@lynni3461 thanks for clarifying! I have no doubts that spinning on ice is really hard (I can't even skate 😂) it looks like our experiences differ. You said that dancers turns on the leg that is the least flexible to keep a better axis, that's a fair point however for me, I prefer to turn clockwise no matter which leg I turn on (en dehors vs en dedans turns). I guess the dizziness/right handed preference is the biggest factor for me but each dancer is different and some might have a prefered leg to turn on. For my part, I am better at any kind of turn that is clockwise! It is true that in group choreographies, turns are often clockwise, it's because it's the prefered side of a majority of dancers, however if it's a solo, the dancer usually gets to choose which side they prefer.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

@@lynni3461 thanks for sharing your figure skating perspective!

@jonnarobinson7541 Жыл бұрын

I have taught ballet for a very long time. Spotting does help the dizziness but it does not remove it. Eventually the brain recognizes the difference in position and it adjusts to think it is normal. This occurs with ice-skating and fast turns in dance.

@kellyandthehorses2877 Жыл бұрын

I am a left handed turning figure skater. Turning to the right. I am older, from back in the days you didn't do that, but my coach thought it was important we turn the direction we naturally want to do so. I achieved up to triple jumps. I also danced ballet and modern. In those we trained both directions. Like others have said if we could choose, I would choose clockwise. I did also learn how to do all skating spins and jumps in both directions as a coach. After 30ish years in skating I think it is all about the mindset of the coach. I've been called weird for my rotational direction by other coaches my whole life.

@thelittlemushroom7579 2 жыл бұрын

Not me having to make an L on both hands to be on the same page as everyone

@oliwiakaczmarkiewicz7889 Жыл бұрын

such interesting video! thanks for great research!

@user-nu5fq9mc8b 2 жыл бұрын

When I first started skating, I had a “lefty” spin and a “righty” jump. I am right handed, but I think one part of it might’ve been that I was also learning ballet at the same time. Eventually I went to a skating camp where the instructors drilled me into spinning counterclockwise, but super interesting to see the graphs

@Marta44339 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the informative and very interesting analysis. I really enjoy your posts.

@lucy8025 Жыл бұрын

Fascinating. Thank you!

@mylesgarcia4625 2 жыл бұрын

What a FASCINATING and ILLUMINATING piece. I never really gave it much thought than one side mattered more than the other. Magnifico!! Thanks for sharing.

@jellynoodle 2 жыл бұрын

I've always been wondering about this, thanks for sharing

@kathleenoneill7414 2 жыл бұрын

Your video was very entertaining and engaging. I loved that you compared aspects of Ballet to over elite sports. I hope you will make more Ballet to other sports comparison videos in the future. I told several friends to watch this video. Bravo! This is a great way to remind people what amazing athletes are found in the Ballet world. Please more comparison videos.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the suggestion and telling your friends Kathleen!

@Peter-hz3vs 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting topic to look at. I am a dancer who has been wondering this topic until KZfaq recommend me this. Keep up the good work

@brianlau7827 2 жыл бұрын

This is one of the most educational videos I've seen regarding turning preferences. I used to be a gymnast, and I started out the sport using my right leg for entries and turned clockwise, because I'm right handed. As I progressed more into the sport, I was forced to do everything with my left leg and turn counter-clockwise when I was learning all the basics. I definitely had to rewire my brain around doing a cartwheel with my left leg, but I eventually got it. It's weird seeing how there's so much diversity between left and right leg entries and twisting preferences in gymnastics. One prime example that the video pointed out is Simone Biles. She uses her right leg for skill entry, but twists counter-clockwise.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your gymnastics perspective! Why were you forced to turn CCW? Was it your coaches?

@brianlau7827 2 жыл бұрын

@@KentGBecker yeah my coaches forced me to start using my left leg for entries on my first day doing competitive gymnastics. Eventually when I started doing twists, I was inclined to twist CCW. I think it was more efficient from a coaching perspective to have all the athletes within the club do entries on the left leg and twisting CCW. The direction I also chose to spin on the pommel horse also solidified my coach’s decision to make me switch legs. However, when doing just upright twisting, I’ve personally always felt more comfortable turning CW. We didn’t necessarily need it in MAG, so no one said anything about it.

@katierasburn9571 2 жыл бұрын

This was surprisingly fascinating, thank you

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@janetslater129 2 жыл бұрын

Also, in terms of skating, back in the day, you didn't see clockwise skaters as the training was geared towards people skating counterclockwise. A skater may have naturally been a "leftie,' but was trained rightie, like how people were forced to write with their right hand. Now, it's a bit more acceptable to have clockwise skaters, especially now it's also more acceptable to have people who are left handed. Clockwise skaters are still very much in the minority in terms of the Olympics and kid levels, but I have noticed that there a good amount of adult skaters who are clockwise.

@msquidward17 6 ай бұрын

I am a figure skater. When I was learning how to spin, I was a huge Dance Moms fan so I would spin clockwise to mimic them. That is why I am a lefty. I also think the term 'lefty' is based on the leg that I land on for my jumps. When going counterclockwise the skater lands on the right leg.

@NoPayNoGain Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this great piece of work!

@KentGBecker Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@ltsf 2 жыл бұрын

As a ballet school graduate I have to say we practiced pirouettes on both sides but in choreography 99% it's in right side cuz majority of people are right sided if u get what I mean

@bentucker6793 2 жыл бұрын

As a male ballet dancer (professional for almost 20 years). I do feel right dominant (right handed) so to me it does not matter the leg I want to turn to the “right” “clockwise” Most dancers have a leg they want to turn on. So inside and outside turns for be different directions.

@piros100 2 жыл бұрын

I've started ballet as an adult about 8 years ago. I'm right handed but my turns are much better to the left despite all other combinations being harder for me to do to the left than toghe right. I think it might be due to the fact that I am more consciously focusing on my placement to the left because I struggled more to that side.

@kiaras.6493 2 жыл бұрын

As a rhythmic gymnast I had to learn every possible direction. I usually diffefentiate between turning inside left or right and turning outside left and right. Turning inside means your frontside leads the turn as we humans choose naturally to do and turning outside means our back leads the turn as seen in professional dance. For pasé turns, adetuté, arabesqué etc as well as most jumps I prefer to turn inside to the left or as you would say counterclockwise. For all the more flexibility aquierring turns I prefer turning inside to the left, clockwise. That would be because my flexibility is better on my right side. For foetté, pirouette and leg hold split pivot I choose turning outside to the right, clockwise. However I started learning the foetté and the pirouette naturally to the left side, counterclockwise, turning inside. I got only corrected later when I joined a modern jazz dance club for a short while. But turning inside and outside was still a thing I always had to learn and try. My turning deer jumps/pidgeon jumps are always outside turns, leaded with my back. The direction of them is up to which foot I am leading with before I do them and the position I am moving to. So it doesn't matter if left or right, I do them on both sides. Maybe not equally good, I actually don't know, but neither side feels wrong and I do them both as I please. Of course I can only talk about my experiences but when I see other rhythmic gymnasts they also learned every possible direction and just go with their preference or follow the coaches whishes (mostly in groups). I think the reason for that is while it is still a gymnastics kind of sport, there is also a high focus on ballett in the sport. Also taking elements from other kinds of dance become more popular these days.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your perspective. I don't know much about rhythmic gymnastics but have seen it a few times.

@kiaras.6493 2 жыл бұрын

@@KentGBecker It's a beautiful sport but extremly difficult. If you enjoy dance, gymnastics and figure skating you probbaly also like this one.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

@@kiaras.6493 Will check it out. Thanks!

@yolandawu6000 2 жыл бұрын

My ballet teacher is actually a ccw turner (leftie) and in her case because new ballets are so rare and ballet is such an old art and sport, a lot of choreography adheres to the usual right side, meaning her options are either to completely reverse the variation or turn at what would look to be an odd angle for the audience. Right side is also generally taught first, turns to the right, kicks to the right, balances to the right, jumps to the right. So it builds more muscle for the right leg to go and move while the left is stronger as a supporting one.

@maha-em7jz 2 жыл бұрын

obsessed with this somehow. so niche, but so detailed and interesting. mad respect for looking at so many videos of people turning and spinning lol

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! It was a lot of fun looking at many videos in different sports. Maybe a niche topic can go mainstream!

@Neppy22 7 ай бұрын

That was super fascinating! I think the difference between ballet and the rest is you're in a group on stage and the goal is to get everyone to move exactly in sync with leg heights etc being exactly the same (like The Kingdom of the Shades). You can and do have a preferred side as a dancer but unless you are on stage alone its got to be everyone moving exactly the same.

@KentGBecker 7 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@brittneywashington4504 2 жыл бұрын

I was a figure skater growing up, and when I first began to jump and spin my coach asked me what hand I wrote with (left) and tried to teach me to rotate clockwise as it was understood that lefties preferred that direction. My coach, on the other hand, was a 'rightie', or preferred counter clockwise rotation. Because she could not demonstrate clockwise jumps and spins, I ended up switching to counter clockwise because it was easier for me to replicate the move in the exact way she showed me.

@tsunacarr 2 жыл бұрын

For string musicians, there are left-handed ones, but they do hold the instrument swapped because fundamentally both hands are doing very unnatural movements, so having your dominant hand on the fingerboard vs the bow shouldn’t make a difference.

@sofiacampos3572 2 жыл бұрын

The research is increíble 😊!!!! I am a former figure skating coach and back in the day athletes were encouraged to spin counterclockwise. Coaching has changed and now athletes are encouraged to spin on the side they feel more at ease

@raceytray3963 2 жыл бұрын

I confused a boyfriend once when I was watching the Olympics and said “oh, Gabby Douglas is a lefty just like me!” He was like “wait, you’re left handed?! How did I not know that?”

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Interesting that Gabby twisted CCW but turned CW on her pirouettes.

@Angelfeather100 2 жыл бұрын

Never thought about this. Such an interesting topic!

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@karensmith7487 10 ай бұрын

I went from ballet to figure skating. My sister and I are both right-handed, but she excelled, and turned CW. When I did my (super-fun!) CCW chaine turns, I snapped across the dance room faster and better than everyone in the ballet class. But I practically caromed off the walls, going higgeldy-piggeldy each time I had to do chaine turns to the right! I just couldn't do it in a straight line--so embarrassing to 9-year-old me! But in skating, I finally found freedom, jumping and spinning CCW as long as I wanted! And, much to my surprise and relief, everyone else was CCW, too! Eureka!! At last, I had found kindred spirits, and I "understood" how people turned; CW always seemed so foreign to m, and I never "got" how they could do that. Interestingly, when doing freestyle strokes in swimming, my sister breathes on her left side, and I breathe on my right side. Life is strange sometimes!

@KentGBecker 10 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experiences in dance and skating!

@NiinaW 2 жыл бұрын

In my gym in the netherlands we learn both directions in pirouette turns in gymnastics. But the difference with ballet is that gymnastics makes you turn inwards around the standing leg rather then outwards

@sheilathelenVTS 2 жыл бұрын

1. Early coaching influence. 2. YES - totally agree on the same direction - to avoid collisions/safety. 3. RIGHT EAR DOMINANT (thus, putting the right ear on the axis - especially for flight movement/control.) 4. Totally agree with NOT L or R handed - as the factor. 5. LOVED THIS VIDEO! GREAT JOB!!!

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Interesting ear dominance angle.

@kathleenpeterson285 2 жыл бұрын

This is fascinating.

@hannaheneghan661 2 жыл бұрын

this is such a good video. i really like this video.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for tuning in!

@uclagymnastx-ing 2 жыл бұрын

As a gymnastics coach, it's especially interesting when explaining and teaching gymnasts to have consistency and understanding in regards to twist direction on front and back tumbling, handstand pirouettes and which hand on their blind changes. For some, the brain has a really tough time with spatial awareness and direction from being right side up to being consistent when upside down.

@cloverhamilton2453 2 жыл бұрын

For ballet it’s not uncommon to practice with the teacher, so you usually do a combination twice on the right and once on the left due to that first practice session.

@LifeofDayy 2 жыл бұрын

I’m a figure skating coach and a counterclockwise skater. It takes us so long to practice and perfect jumps and spins that it just makes sense to concentrate on one direction. But I have learned to do the more simple upright spins in both directions for when I’m demonstrating to young students since they seem to do better with “mirror image” instruction.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Do you encourage skaters to turn in a particular direction or do you have them figure it out?

@overgrownkudzu 2 жыл бұрын

@@KentGBecker it comes naturally, when you start learning there's just a side that feels easier or more natural and that's what you stick with usually

@terezar880 2 жыл бұрын

You are correct with the figure skating encouragement of the group. In Japan, where figure skating is quite popular, skaters are just taught to spin and jump counter-clockwise to avoid collisions. Someone already mentioned Satoko Miyahara, who started skating clockwise, but had to learn to jump counterclockwise. She can still spin in both directions, which is awesome. Interestingly enough, there's more ice dancers who naturally spin clockwise, but they have to learn both directions just like ballet dancers, so you usually don't notice.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing about Satoko and Japan skating!

@courtneyozog3675 2 жыл бұрын

Reading this I almost forgot about twizzles! We have to be ambidextrous, but I still feel a natural affinity for CCW.

@carlycarlucci1301 2 жыл бұрын

Being ambidextrous has served Satoko well in her footwork sequences. Her natural lefty preference + adopted righty skills make her well-rounded outside of her level 4 spin ability: her multidirectional step sequences are rewarded.

@magsmccat 2 жыл бұрын

I do figure skating and ballet, and I think the reason behind the turn preferences is because of your balance and how you were taught. A lot of it is because in ballet, you are taught to do turns with the free leg going in the other direction of your body, if that makes sense. You do your turns on the left foot clockwise, and turns on your right foot counter clockwise. Meanwhile in skating, you do spins on your left foot counter clockwise for a normal spin. A back spin has your right foot also counter clockwise, like in ballet. If you are a left handed/ dominantly left skater, than you do normal spins on your right foot going clockwise, and back spins on your left foot also going clockwise like in ballet. In ballet you are taught both sides, even though you have a preference. In skating, seldom does anyone do both sides. Other than that, I think just being taught which way to go plays a big role. Sometimes coaches make you do right handed moves even though you may be left handed, just because it’s the norm. For jumps in figure skating, you also do counter clockwise and always have the same foot positioning, left foot over right so that you always land in the left. This is the opposite for left handed people in skating.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

A lot to think about here. Thanks!

@ameliatang5428 2 жыл бұрын

This is such an intresting video. Loved it. I just wanted to give my thought on why us ballet dancers might turn right. My first thought was that maybe it was because the right side was usually the more flexible on and has more control (coming from my own class experience). I feel like we usually favor our right side when it comes to flexibility, which in turn leads us to use the right side for adagio (raising your leg to a degree usually higher than 90 and controlling it). That leaves our supporting leg to be the left leg. Maybe that's why we prefer to turn clockwise, because our most use supporting leg is our left one? Another though that came to mind is that we usually also start any combos and exercises on our right side and then the reverse on our left.

@jakobmax3299 6 ай бұрын

1:16 figure skating fan here. As far as i know calling clockwise jumpers "leftie" comes from the fact that they land on the left foot instead of the right foot. This is because they need to swing out the right leg to stop the rotation. The left handed thing is quite common, mainly because you ideally want to land on the stronger side of your body which for many lefthanded people is their left side, though ofcourse there are notable exceptions like Italian skater Carolina Kostner who was a "leftie" despite being righthanded. One small perosnal experience on the side: when i dabbled with jumping in my inline skates i as a righthanded person far prefered jumping counterclockwise. This is because when jumping in the other direction i mostly fall as my left leg isn't strong enough. I suspect it is similar with most figure skaters. Another anecdote comes from american figure skater Sonja Hilmer. She is able to spin in both directions, and frequently does so in competition (however not on jumps). She recently posted videos of her attempting clockwise jumps, and while they were rotated she has yet to land it, which i suspect is due to her not having the same strength in her left leg.

@KentGBecker 6 ай бұрын

Thanks for your thoughts on your figure skating experience! Interesting commentary on Hilmer. Will check her video out.

@Blosmbubbs 2 жыл бұрын

Dancers turn both ways. We learn both so the left and right are balanced. In skating you pick which side is better/stronger for you. I’ve done both dance and skating.

@captaincrunch784 Жыл бұрын

I'm right handed but as a ballet dancer I turned right like most dancers. Going into Figure skating it was a nightmare to find a "clockie" coach!!!

@perrydeplatypus115 2 жыл бұрын

I did ballet for 13+ years and then went into figure skating and found that I turned clockwise on my right foot when spinning on the ice. What’s weird is in ballet I turned on my right foot going counterclockwise and I felt more comfortable spinning that way. For me it’s not the way I’m spinning but the leg I’m spinning on. So that could be a major factor also.

@bubblegumsquish707 2 жыл бұрын

Yes I think you’re right! Same for me, but the other leg. I always had better balance on my left so I think that’s why

@cbpd89 2 жыл бұрын

Only soloists have the luxury of choosing a side, but if you are doing a really long combination of turns it is probably best you do the direction you like best. A great idea for a video and lots of great research, thanks for sharing!

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@adrianaclark8498 Жыл бұрын

I am ambidextrous by learning. I started with left handed writing. This was so discouraged in my era, that, in a Catholic school, the teacher, a nun, was hell bent that I should not write with my left hand. She struck me so often on the left hand that in a week my hand was bruised and painful. At six years old I went home crying everyday. Finally, my father went to the school and demanded that the nun stop it immediately, which she did. When playing at spinning turns, (to get dizzy) I always turned to the left (ccw). In the third grade we began to learn cursive writing. In those days actual ink pens were used. Writing with the left hand I always left a smear on the paper and arm due to direction. I began practicing cursive by copying the beautiful right slant to the alphabet on the wall. Within weeks I was writing with my right hand and had beautiful writing! (go figure THAT out!) When I started ballet my turns were left (ccw) and I couldn't change it no matter how much I practiced. In this type of turn the left dominant leg is used for the extension and propelling force to make the turn. Hence, the left leg permits a smooth turn. However, turning right, cw, one is trying to use a non-dominant leg to extend and propel the turns. Hence, the instability. Strangely, in regular dance, (rock and roll) I turned to the right! Finally, when I was in nursing school, a neurologist noticed that when I was taking notes, I changed hands (right hand tired, switched to the left). He said he wanted to guess which was dominant and I said okay. He then said I was right hand dominant. Wrong! He then explained this selective change and told me two things. One, I would choose left for sports and right for writing only. He was right. However, he also told me I would have a TERRIBLE time with mathematics. He was completely on target. I always and to this day, have a terrible time with mathematics! Apparently, in the brain there was a glitch where math is processed. Other athletes turning to the left are actually using the dominant side to propel and control the turn. I have no idea whether anything I know about dominance is valid, but, for me, there it is.

@KentGBecker Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the discussion on your experience! Complicated topic to sort out.

@phinomenal1 2 жыл бұрын

For figure skaters it’s VERY hard to spin on both directions. The only ones that do it well on top of my head are Michelle Kwan and Satoko Miyahara

@bellab2234 5 ай бұрын

I've never taken ballet, and I did not take ice skating lessons until I was a young adult, but on a regular floor my personal preference is to spin CCW while standing on my right leg. I have much better balance and stability. Back in 1989 Paula Abdul's Cold Hearted video came out, and that was when I first learned that dancers spin differently. I tried to copy her (the long spin at 3 minutes in, right after the knee slide) but she and all the other dancers spun clockwise while balanced on their left leg! Insane...😲

@gaylesmith7849 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. I’m a figure skater and beginner in ballet. In skating, rotational direction also depended on which side was stronger as you land on one side and therefore need to absorb the impact of multiple jump landings. In addition, skaters need to learn all turns, forward and backward, inside and outside edges (similar to en dedans and en dehors in relation to ballet) on both feet in both directions and demonstrate this. Particularly in ice dance, the twizzles really illustrate the difference as you have the combination of both directions in each set.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your skating perspective! Doing steps backward in skating looks difficult.

@elizabethsaltmarsh8306 2 жыл бұрын

As a few other ballet dancers have said, the "important" leg in turns is less the one you're standing on and more the one you're using - the working leg. It makes more intuitive sense for me to use my right leg as the working leg in all the positions except arabesque. So maybe it's something about which leg is forward? After all, the working leg is in front of your knee for en dehors pirouettes.

@RaymondHng 2 жыл бұрын

The blade of a figure skate is not thin as a razor. It is actually a quarter-inch thick. The bottom of the blade is not flat, but slightly concave, so the blade has two edges. When the skater is standing straight up on the ice, the blade is perpendicular to the ice and both edges are touching the ice. When the skater is leaning to the left or right, only one of the edges touch the ice. Skating across the ice while standing perpendicular is easy because the skater's center of gravity is right above the foot. Skating while leaning to the left or right is more difficult because the skater's center of gravity is no longer above the foot and avoiding the skater from falling requires fast skating speed and the ability for the edge of the blade to grip the ice. When skating on an edge, the skater's body is leaning to one side and it starts to rotate. This is similar when riding a bicycle and making a turn, the bike leans over. When you make a right turn in the forward direction, you are starting a clockwise rotation and the bike leans to the right. When you make a left turn in the forward direction, you are starting a counter clockwise rotation and the bike leans to the left. This principle is the same in figure skating when jumping and rotating in the air. The two edges of the blade are inside edge and outside edge. The inside edge is on the side of the foot where the arch or the big toe are located. The outside edge is on the side of the foot where the little toe is located. When the skater is skating on an edge, they are skating in a circle or an arc of a circle. The foot, skating direction, and edge of the blade determine the start of the rotation of the skater's body. Right forward outside edge - clockwise Right backward outside edge - counter clockwise Right forward inside edge - counter clockwise Right backward inside edge - clockwise Left forward outside edge - counter clockwise Left backward outside edge - clockwise Left forward inside edge - clockwise Left backward inside edge - counter clockwise There are six different jumps in figure skating. They are differentiated by which foot, direction, and edge of the take-off when the foot leaves the ice. These are the jumps for skaters with a right dominant leg for landing in order of difficulty: Toe Loop Jump - Right backward outside edge with left toe pick assist Salchow Jump - Left backward inside edge Loop Jump - Right backward outside edge Flip Jump - Left backward inside edge with right toe pick assist Lutz Jump - Left backward outside edge with right toe pick assist Axel Jump - Left forward outside edge All rotations in the air are counter clockwise. All jumps are landed with the right, backward, outside edge. For skaters with a left dominant leg for landing in order of difficulty: Toe Loop Jump - Left backward outside edge with right toe pick assist Salchow Jump - Right backward inside edge Loop Jump - Left backward outside edge Flip Jump - Right backward inside edge with left toe pick assist Lutz Jump - Right backward outside edge with left toe pick assist Axel Jump - Right forward outside edge All rotations in the air are clockwise. All jumps are landed with the left, backward, outside edge. The Toe Loop, Salchow, Loop, and Flip jumps all start their rotation in one direction and continue rotating in that same direction while the skater is in the air. The Lutz jump is ranked more difficult than these jumps because the skater starts their rotation in one direction, but must reverse the direction of the rotation after the toe pick digs into the ice. The Axel jump starts and continues the rotation in the same direction, but it is the only jump that starts forward and lands backward, so there is an extra half rotation in the air.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

A lot of info! Thanks for your detailed thoughts!

@HelleLaanes 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome video! I'm a little sad you skipped rhythmic gymnastics. But as it has many of it's basics in ballet, the difference shouldn't be too big. Tho, many tend to keep the more flexible leg free for flexible stuff and simply turn on the other leg.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Maybe rhythmic gymnastics in Part 2!

@anukasmunakas 2 жыл бұрын

Figure skater Satoko Miyahara is a natural lefty who was forced to jump the opposite way. This might be why her jumps are quite small, but she can now do spins in both directions and its really cool

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! If true, it is unfortunate she was forced to jump in a non preferred direction.

@kristyj4267 2 жыл бұрын

I started gymnastics classes at a young age, and ballet classes a little bit later. I also learned to skate as an adult, and played in a women's baseball league- I guess I cover a lot of the bases looked at here! I am right handed, though I can write with my left hand. I definitely prefer throwing with my right hand vs. left. It has always felt natural for me to turn to the right, though. I tumble with my right hand first, and I prefer to turn clockwise. I actually enjoyed leaps and jumps with my left leg forward, but needed to switch to my right to be more consistent in gymnastics as they enforced handedness in compulsory routines. When I learned to skate, I was taught the counter-clockwise spins and jumps first, but quickly realized I preferred clockwise. Interestingly, this means I can do the basics in both directions. In baseball, I began as a right-handed batter, but ended up as a switch-hitter with a preference for batting left-handed. I've wondered if perhaps I am left-eye dominant, or if I prefer to steady myself with my right arm, but drive momentum with my left. Finally, I play both violin and guitar in the traditional positions, though I find that my left hand has just as much work to do as my right when it comes to musical instruments.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your perspective!

@piros44 2 жыл бұрын

Fascinating and thorough study. One comment though. I’m a left handed classical violinist and because of this have a definite advantage since the fine motor skills are in my dominant left hand, which does the fingering where even a slight roll of a finger takes you off key, while my non-dominant hand has much fewer things it has to do. My teachers over the years have commented that their lefty students learn pieces faster than right handers. Because of this, I’ve always wondered why Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, and Prince played right hand fingered guitars.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your perspective! What do you mean "right hand fingered guitars"? Hendrix played a right handed guitar that was flipped. Prince played a right handed guitar.

@piros44 2 жыл бұрын

@@KentGBecker I was wrong about Prince, he wasn’t left handed. Both Hendrix and McCartney’s guitars finger with the right hand and strum with the left. The strings are flipped too so it’s a complete mirror image of normal guitars. Right hand fingered violins don’t exist except maybe from very modern builders and I’ve certainly never seen one. Most of us start training very young and it’s all we know to play is a left hand fingered instrument, it just turns out that it’s an advantage for us lefties. It raises the question why violins were built like that in the first place when 90% of the population is right handed. Why did they build something where the less dominant hand has the tougher skill to master? It’s an I interesting question that I’ve never thought about or seen any info on.

@YannisGoedermans 2 жыл бұрын

I'm a left handed person and I have a natural tendency to turn clockwise. I used to do all round gymnastics and every turning aspect, I did clockwise. Then later I became a figure skater and I just continued turning clockwise in jumps and spins because that's what I was used to. In figure skating, all steps and turns have to be learned both clockwise (L) and counter clockwise (R), forward and backward. And I was one of the few that jumps/spins clockwise.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

I am a Lefty and also turn clockwise. Never did skating.

@trcolavi 2 жыл бұрын

Ashley Wagner is a well known American figure skater that is left handed and jumps clockwise.

@krystine49 2 жыл бұрын

figure skaters know that if you spin clockwise you land your jumps on left leg. For me I am right handed but was self taught to spin in skating and more natural to spin on my right leg. However when I started lessons yrs later I was shocked to find I now needed to land on my left leg. You just adapt. Problem is most skaters or public sessions skater go around anticlockwise and always have difficulty finding room!

@kenflict9931 2 жыл бұрын

Figure skater here, I think we all spin left since on ice rinks you typically skate counter clockwise at public skates and such (which would be left)

@EM-rm2xh 2 жыл бұрын

Figure skater Satoko Miyahara started figure skating in the US (where her dad worked) and initially learned to jump/spin in her "natural" direction which was clockwise. When she moved back to Japan, she was forced to jump/spin counter-clockwise. I think this forced changed stunted her ability to ever be a strong "jumper." Still, if you are familiar with figure skating edges and ice coverage, something that stands out about Satoko is her ability to change directions and diversity in step sequences. She is also one of the few skaters who can do spins in both directions.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the background on Satoko!

@marce0830 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting! In my opinion as a dance teacher, en dedans or en dehor makes all the difference in reference to turning counter clockwise

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@jurottluff2364 Жыл бұрын

I find this so interesting as someone who started ballet and figure skating at the same time. I prefer clockwise turns (which is a pain in skating practice because you're always going towards the other people). I think it's influenced by my left eye being the one I've always been short sighted on, so it might have felt safer to turn to the right to see what's there

@maddymorrow4687 2 жыл бұрын

I am a dancer and I my experience it is more natural to turn clockwise. But if your good leg is right for kicks and thing’s like that your left leg is our supporting leg is stronger therefore making it feel more stable.

@InaraDance 2 жыл бұрын

I am a bellydancer and bellydance teacher and used to be a ballerina too. When I learned to turn in both directions and my teachers always made us practice both equally. I have found as a teacher that most of my students prefer to turn counterclockwise in most cases. So when I create choreographies that require a lot of turning, I try to incorporate both directions equally, but go counterclockwise for multiple turns or especially difficult techniques. Personally, I feel comfortable turning both ways, even on multiple turns. I often don’t plan ahead which direction I will spin. I improvise a lot on stage. But I do find turning to the left or counterclockwise a bit easier. So when doing many many difficult turns, I try to do them in this direction just because it feels a bit better. I also took some dervish turning classes and my teacher told us to try both directions and choose the one we felt more comfortable with because this is how it is done in her tradition. But there are other traditions that have a set direction. I also turned counterclockwise in dervish whirling.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your unique perspective!

@lilguy3 2 жыл бұрын

as a ballet dancer, I must say, it is less of the dancers preference to turn one way or the other, more rather, the choreography, And although I've only done ballet, I have spinned either way. this is quite informative, and I'm actually ambidextrous so, i guess it makes sense why I spin both ways? idk u don't rlly have a choice! it's the choreography, not ur own choice. but yeah, this is a really good vid!💛

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your dance perspective!

@ally_tyson 2 жыл бұрын

I argued with coworkers about base legs and never realized that ballet has made me an outlier

@abelloy 2 жыл бұрын

Кстати, я раньше никогда этого не замечала. Я крутила фуэте вправо и мне это было очень удобно, а потом когда учила прыжки чисто интуитивно прыгала влево и никакого диссонанса и трудностей не испытывала

@autisticdancer 2 жыл бұрын

As a ballerina, my turns are definitely not my greatest strength so I don’t really think I have a preference for what side I want to turn on. Well, when I’m on flat that is. When I’m on pointe I do have a preference of counter clockwise turns. However for me that is because my right foot (the foot I am turning on) is stronger on pointe overall because 1) my right foot is slightly bigger than my left foot meaning it fits a bit better in my pointe shoes. And 2) I had a previous ankle sprain on my left foot so it’s weaker overall.

@RobinDoesEverything17 4 ай бұрын

It definitely is discipline-dependent. As a former competitive collegiate ballroom dancer and current adult ballet enthusiast (i.e. I'm one of those 30something weirdos in your ballet class), in travelling ballroom dances the turn is flexible to accommodate floorcraft. I can and will lead the same turn in different directions depending on floor crowding, figure we're coming out of, figure we're going into, and... general vibe. In ballet and other forms of solo dance, I'm much more comfortable turning on my left foot in... either direction? Like CCW or CW but both on the left foot? Anyone else? (I'm a right-handed male.)

@Elizabeth-yp4fd 2 жыл бұрын

I figure skate as a clockwise skater as does my daughter. I think a lot skaters are encouraged to spin counter since it’s easier for the coaches to demonstrate and help also traffic flow. I fortunately have a coach who also was a lefty skater so it’s easier. My other coaches just have to say flip what I do to your direction. Very few skaters learn to jump the opposite way but a small number can spin both ways. The dominance for left vs right also really shows in turns and edges for skaters especially twizzles which have to be performed both directions. Look at Trusova 99% of the time her turns are all the same direction.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Elizabeth, thanks for your skating perspective? What is a twizzle?

@victorialarsen715 2 жыл бұрын

@@KentGBecker a twizzle is a travelling/gilding pirouette, basically :)

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

@@victorialarsen715 thanks!

@Laura-gg9tp 2 жыл бұрын

Skater here. You can spin either direction. It has to do with which your dominant side is and what's easier for you when learning the basics. To most skaters spinning counterclockwise is easier but it's not a mandatory thing or anything like that. My coach was a clockwise skater but she was very good at doing all the basic spins and jumps counterclockwise too because that was easier for most of her students and she would show everything in whatever side was better for you. I prefer spinning and jumping counterclockwise but I can do the basic spins clockwise too. We did that for fun mostly. Note: if the terminology sounds weird is because I had to translate and some stuff I didn't know how to properly phrase them in English 😅

@edwardviolahands 2 жыл бұрын

I teach bowed stringed instruments. The big reason that playing on the opposite side is discouraged is because the violin has to be taken apart to move the bass bar to the new bass side for the instrument. It’s pretty expensive and then harder to sell the violin. Since children go through many sizes of violin it’s more economical to teach them to play it on the conventional side unless it is physically impossible because of a physical abnormality. I’ve taught a lot of both left handed and right handed students, and I haven’t seen either group struggle more or less than the others overall because you need a lot of coordination in both hands to play well.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting. Many great points! When my daughter was taking violin lessons, I asked someone at a violin shop if they sold left handed violins. They thought it was a bizarre question. Why would anybody play left-handed? Your response is helpful.

@robertmcnamara5407 2 жыл бұрын

As a dancer and teacher I have always turned to the right naturally. The technique for the turns remains the same but the right side is my dominant, it is not a taught thing. Having said that there are many dancers who turn to the left naturally. I don't believe it is a training thing per se although the Russians do tend to make their dancers turn left for some reason. At least they used to do that not sure anymore.

@windelynmaja6905 2 жыл бұрын

When i used to play in taekwondo i usually prefer it to kick using the left foot and also performing much powerful kicks amd turnings than my right foot... this video is very interesting

@emilyh89 2 жыл бұрын

I started doing ballet before I began figure skating. It now makes sense why I am a "leftie" in figure skating!

@joaoducci 2 жыл бұрын

As a dancer I think a big part of it is, we do almost everything to the right FIRST. In ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz the combinations and exercises are almost always taught to the right, reviewed to the right, performed to the right first and then to the left. Which means we often feel more comfortable with exercises and movements that favor the right side. So I guess in a way it becomes innate to embody what's being taught on the right side of the body, and after doing it, it's almost automatically translated to the left. I also think because we learn things on the right so often, as we're marking it (practicing the exercise or combination but not full out), we're still slowing strengthening the left side as the supporting/standing side - so when it comes time to turn, balance, etc. the left side is somewhat stronger.

@KentGBecker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your ballet perspective!