i've been skating for 10 years so l can basically do it all, its just this damn spread eagle! l can do it, but l just cant get my butt fowards or get my body in a straight line, like l cant lean into it if you know what l mean. any tips/ stretches? thanks

l know what u mean. At nationals last year, l was on a synchronized skating team & we had a spread eagle & l could not do it!! l could not ever get it all season. My coach says l am worrying too much about stretching the tendons in my ankles, to make my feet turn out. He says that the turn out comes from how u open ur hips. When u open ur hips, to turn out ur feet, push ur butt forwards at the same time.

To open ur hips, try doing lots of plie is in second position (with ur feet far apart) & have ur toes faced outwards.

Also make sure ur shoulders r not blocking ur movement. Always have ur shoulders exactly above, or slightly more turned in the direction you're going.

But like l said, l can not do them. l just kind of know what may help.

The Spread Eagle is a gliding move in which the skater spreads his legs in an ''upside-down V'' shape, with toes pointing ''out'' (heels pointing at each other, but spread apart), then glides ''sideways''. The skater faces perpendicular to the direction of travel, but the 2 feet r in a single line relative to that travel (they make a single tracing on the ice). Hard to describe, but beautiful to watch. If u can not imagine what this looks like, think about almost any program you've seen Brian Boitano perform, & u will probably get the picture.

The Spread Eagle can be done on an outside edge (skater leaning ''backwards'') or an inside edge (skater leaning ''forwards'').

In a well-executed Spread Eagle, the skater is body is in a straight line. Many skaters who have not quite mastered the Spread Eagle bend at the waist, which gives a ''butt sticking out'' appearance which is not attractive.

You need to do ballet pliea?stretches, open ur hips but keep ur knees locked. You need to get ur feet to feel like u r not straining to be in that position so practice, practice, practice off ice for various reasons but mainly u can hold it in place unlike on ice ur blades slip out of place. First off cause once u get the position off ice then u need to lean into it for inside spread eagles & leaning outside on the outside edge for outside spread eagles.

When on ice hold the rink wall & spread ur feet into position & push yourself down the ice so u can feel the resitance.

The only thing l can say maybe take some ballet classes, there is more to be utilized from taking ballet as off ice training in figureskating.

You need to get ur hips open, takes a lot of flexibility. Try doing the ''frog'' strecth. That is what l used to do for Ballet & l had a really good spread eagle in skating, as well as an Ina Bauer.

http://cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/docs/rec/stretching/stretching_7.html

groin & inner-thigh stretch

seated leg stretches: (next section)
lying buttock stretch: (previous section)
Working Toward the Splits: (beginning of chapter)
This mainly stretches ur groin & upper inner-thigh area, but also makes some demands on ur lower back. It is often called the butterfly stretch or frog stretch because of the shape that ur legs make when u perform it.

Sit down with ur back straight up (do not slouch, u may want to put ur back against a wall) & bend ur legs, putting the soles of ur feet together. Try to get ur heels as close to ur groin as is comfortably possible. Now that u r in the proper position, u r ready to stretch. For the passive stretch, push ur knees to the floor as far as u can (you may use ur hands to assist but do not resist with the knees) & then hold them there. This can be hard on the knees so please be careful. Once u have attained this position, keep ur knees where they are, & then exhale as u bend over, trying to get ur chest as close to the floor as possible. Hold this stretch for about 20 seconds.

The isometric stretch is almost identical to the passive stretch, but before u bend over, place ur hands on ur ankles & ur elbows in the crooks of ur knees. As u bend over, use ur elbows to ''force'' ur knees closer to the floor while at the same time pushing ''up'' (away from the floor) with ur thighs to resist against ur arms. Once again, please be careful since this can place considerable strain on the knees.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://gvctemp17.virtualclassroom.org/sports/dance/dance%2520pics/stretch5.jpg&imgrefurl=http://gvctemp17.virtualclassroom.org/sports/dance/stretching.html&h=145&w=235&sz=10&hl=en&start=1&um=1&usg=__hmSN8Y2qDIFELN73jTv7koiFUQQ=&tbnid=RVJ-qH8soyPm9M:&tbnh=67&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfrog%2Bstretch%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN

it is the bottom one

do it at home!
grab a chair and stretch them out. the more you stretch it, the faster you will get the spread eagle.
hold the chair and lean back. tuck your butt in too.

also, l find if l have my feet wide enough apart, the body goes into place.

People have given you a lot of great help already! Another great stretch is to lay on your stomach, and put your feet together, so your knees are out, bottoms of your feet touching - like a frog. Make sure your hips stay on the ground, and work on being able to have your legs/feet completely flat against the ground. If you do not have very open hips, this is hard to do at first!

if you go up against the boards and put your feet like a spread eagle position, you need to ''teach'' your body how to stretch in that position. You have to keep trying and practicing!!