How To Use a Figure Skating Scribe
A scribe is an ice skating training aid that is a large compass that was and is still sometimes used for learning and practicing compulsory figures.
Ever since figures were eliminated from international figure skating competitions in the early 1990s, the use of scribes for figure skating has almost been eliminated, but some figure skaters are still interested in learning compulsory figures, so knowing how to use a scribe might be necessary or useful.
Related Articles:
- Remembering Terms From the Days of Compulsory Figures
- What Was a Patch Practice Session Like When Ice Skaters Practiced Figures?
Difficulty: Moderate
Time Required: The time required for mastering this task can take anywhere from twenty minutes to several days. With practice, using a scribe will become quite easy for a skater, but at first, using the tool may seem a bit awkward.
A Bit About Scribes:
- Scribes look like gigantic compasses. Some are made of metal or aluminum and others are made of wood. Each has something sharp that can be stuck into the ice to center the gigantic compass and a handle to hold onto.
- Most scribes have short "kick stands" attached to the center so the scribe does not fall over.
- The top end of each scribe also has something sharp on it that will draw a perfect circle onto the ice. (It is where a pencil is on a compass.)
- The scribe, when folded up, is small enough to fit in a car's trunk when it is transported in and out of an ice arena, but is capable of being extended to various sizes that can draw large and small circles on the ice.
Here's How to Use a Scribe:
1. First open up the scribe. It is best to open up the scribe on the ice next to the rail where you will be practicing your figures since it may be hazardous to skate across the rink with an open scribe.
2. Every scribe can adapted to a skater's height. Shorter skaters will have smaller circles than taller skaters.
3. Determine where the center of the figure will be placed on the ice.
4. Mark the figure's center with the heel of the blade and then place the top end of the scribe with the pointy side down at that center.
5. The other end of the scribe should be placed on the long axis in what will be the center point of the circle that will be drawn on the ice.
6. Carefully scribe, that is draw, the first of the two (or three) circles of a figure on the ice. Push down on the the scribe's handle as you draw the circle on the ice. Be careful to keep the sharp pointed top end of the scribe pointing down as you draw the circle. (It is common for it to sometimes become loose and turn which can be somewhat annoying.)
7. As you draw the circle you will make a complete 360 degree turn in place while you hold on to the scribe's handle.
8. It may be necessary to make the 360 degree turn in place and draw the circle more than one time around in order to make the scribe's tracing dark enough to see on the ice.
9. Return the top pointy and sharp end of the scribe to the center and then lift the other end of the scribe that has the handle up off the ice and skate carefully with the top pointy end of the scribe still in the center to the other side of the long axis where the second circle of the figure will be placed.
10. Draw the second circle.
11. If three circles are needed in order to do serpentines, repeat the steps above to draw an additional circle.
12. Darken all the scribes circles with the heel of your blade by following the tracing left on the ice from the scribed circles.
13. Place the still opened scribe alongside the rail during your practice session with the pointed parts horizontally standing on the ice. Take advantage of the "kickstand" if the scribe has one.
14. If you lay out any of the figures you practice, use the scribe during your practice to check if your circles are the right size and perfect shape.
15. At the end of your practice session, close up your scribe and remove it from the ice. (Once in awhile skaters forget to do that which is not a smart move since the Zamboni or other ice resurfacing machine will run into it when it cleans the ice which will cause the scribe to be destroyed!)
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