Most skaters are right-footed skaters. What does that mean? How do you decide which direction is best for you?
Being a right-footed skater means that the jumps rotate in a counter-clockwise direction and are landed on the right foot.
Most skaters enter a spin on the left foot, turn to the left, and exit out of spins on the right foot.
Some skaters do everything in the opposite direction. They jump and spin to the right, land jumps on the left foot and exit out of spins on the left foot. They are left-footed.
First try everything right-footed. If you notice that your left foot seems stronger when you glide backward, there is a good chance you are left-footed. Note the direction in which spinning seems more natural to you. If your left foot seems more stable and you like spinning to the right, you are probably left-footed.
Some people are right-handed and left-footed. Some skaters are right-handed and right-footed. Some skaters are left-handed and right-footed. In other words, which way you jump and spin does not always correspond to the way you write.
A skater cannot jump one way and spin the other! If you prefer landing on your right foot, you must spin to the left and exit out of spins on the right leg. You have no choice; otherwise, when you get to more advanced moves, nothing will work properly.
For example, a good back spin is necessary to do loop jumps, axels, and double jumps. Also, when you try to put a program together, the choreography will look lopsided and wrong. Even if you are skating just for fun, stick to jumping and spinning in the same direction.
