Product Description

The finest figure skaters in the world make their sport look so graceful and simple. Those who have tried to learn and coach figure skating know that it is not easy. In The Complete Book of Figure Skating, author Carole Shulman combines her vast experience as a former competitive skater, a Master PSA instructor, a professional figure skating judge, and the current Director of the Professional Skaters Association to cover every aspect of the sport with clarity and expertise.

Shulman describes the proper techniques for more than 100 skills, from stops, stroking skills, and freestyle moves to turns and footwork—including ice-dancing techniques, spins, jumps, and pairs skating techniques. Also included are advice and guidelines on choosing equipment, conditioning your body, and creating competition programs that will score high marks with the judges.

This book is an essential guide to participating and excelling in the sport. Whether you’re a skater looking to develop your technique or an instructor seeking for innovative coaching methods, you’ll find it in The Complete Book of Figure Skating.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #241260 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review

”Providing detailed explanations and helpful hints, The Complete Book of Figure Skating is the only book of its kind available and a valuable asset to any skater's library.”
Robin Cousins
1980 Olympic gold medalist

”This book is a true outlook on our wonderful sport of figure skating. It's an instructor's guide to every detail and an even better guide for those wanting to understand the technique behind the difficult moves of our sport. A thumbs-up to this great book!”
Elizabeth Manley
1988 Olympic and world silver medalist
U.S. Open Professional champion
Three-time Canadian champion

”Carole Shulman's knowledge is all-inclusive. As the PSA executive director, she has supervised all the aspects of coaching figure skating. I cannot think of a finer or more qualified person to write this book.”
Frank Carroll
Coach of 4-time world champion Michelle Kwan
United States Olympic Committee 1997 National Coach of the Year

”Carole Shulman has filled a void with a very comprehensive book on all aspects of figure skating. Now we have a textbook for the 21st century”
Ron E. Ludington
Director of Ice Skating Science Development Center
World and Olympic figure skating coach

From the Publisher
”Providing detailed explanations and helpful hints, The Complete Book of Figure Skating is the only book of its kind available and a valuable asset to any skater’s library.”

Robin Cousins, 1980 Olympic gold medalist

”This book is a true outlook on our wonderful sport of figure skating. It’s an instructor’s guide to every detail and an even better guide for those wanting to understand the technique behind the difficult moves of our sport. A thumbs-up to this great book!”

Elizabeth Manley, 1988 Olympic and world silver medalist, U.S. Open Professional champion, Three-time Canadian champion

”Carole Shulman’s knowledge is all-inclusive. As the PSA executive director, she has supervised all the aspects of coaching figure skating. I cannot think of a finer or more qualified person to write this book.”

Frank Carroll, Coached Michelle Kwan to 4 World Championships, United States Olympic Committee 1997 National Coach of the Year

”Carole Shulman has filled a void with a very comprehensive book on all aspects of figure skating. Now we have a textbook for the 21st century”

Ron E. Ludington, Director of Ice Skating Science Development Center, World and Olympic figure skating coach

About the Author
A former amateur skater and a Master PSA instructor, Carole Shulman is presently the executive director of the Professional Skaters Association (PSA) and the editor of The Professional Skater magazine. She has also served as a professional figure skating judge.

As an amateur skater Shulman won gold medals in figures, freestyle, and pairs from the U.S. Figure Skating Association. She holds a master rating in figure skating, freestyle, pairs, and group skating, as well as in program administration and choreography. She is now a master examiner for PSA accreditation exams.

Shulman lives in Rochester, Minnesota, with her husband David. Her favorite leisure activities are downhill skiing, boating, and ballroom dancing.

Customer Reviews

You Need this Book!
This is one of the best books about figure skating available. It is an excellent guide for figure skaters who want to improve their skills and a good coaching reference. Many photos and step-by-step instructions provide information for learning turns and footwork, spins, jumps, freestyle moves, basic moves, and pairs. Also included in this book are information on choosing skates, warming up, types of figure skating, fitness and strength, and more. Plus, there is helpful information on choosing music and costumes for programs. This book is a wonderful, helpful reference for all figure skaters and coaches.

Great Book for Skaters
This is a great book for any figure skater! It gives you tips on moves and tells you step by step how to do them. It gives instruction on the basics, freestyle moves, spins, jumps, footwork, and pairs skating. It also gives you tips for just starting out. It highlights popular figure skaters for their specific moves (example: Lucinda Rue for her spins, Scott Hamilton for his footwork, ect.). It is a great book for any skater of any level or age.

Not enough detail, some crucial typos
This is a much more visual book than Petkevich's, which has detailed verbal explanations that take a bit of effort to visualize. Unfortunately, some of the pictures in Shulman's book leave large gaps between frames, and it's hard to tell how to get from one position to the next.

There are some editorial or proofing mistakes that really hurt the book. Figure skating spins and jumps are done in one direction (counterclockwise for most, clockwise for some) that the skater chooses early-on in their training. Shulman explains this, and the fact that her directions are for counterclockwise spinners and need to be reversed by clockwise spinners. Unfortunately the picture and directions for the one-footed spin are backwards, and describe a *clockwise* entry and spin when all the other spins are written for counter-clockwise skaters. This will be very confusing for a begining skater who has no coach of their own!

In one or two other places a picture is reversed (mirror image), which again can be very confusing if you're trying to learn on your own and don't know that there's a mistake in the book.

There is a good section on modern off-ice strength training, including periodization.

Overall I'd recommend this book *in conjunction* with Petkevich's book: both have gaps that the other complements. And of course there's no substitute for a real coach!