Figure Skating: Championship Techniques (Sports Illustrated Winners Circle Books) [Paperback]

John Misha Petkevich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1988 | Series: Sports Illustrated Winners Circle Books

As a sport, an art, a fitness activity, nothing quite beats figure skating for excitement, grace, beauty, or fun. Now former U.S. Champion figure skater John Misha Petkevich shows how you can find your full potential as a figure skater no matter what your age or ability. The lavishly illustrated volume includes: Detailed instructional-photo sequences What to look for in skates, clothing, rinks, and instruction Getting started 6 basic turns that every figure skater should know 15 spins that you can master The keys to preforming 19 clasic figure skating jumps and splits

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Misha Petkevich was the United States and North American Men's Singles Figure Skating Champion in 1971 and the World University Games Champion in 1972. Widely considered one of figure skating's "great," he was a member of the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team in 1968 and 1972, and has served as expert analysis in figure skating for NBC, CBS, and ESPN.

John Misha Petkevich was the United States and North American Men's Singles Figure Skating Champion in 1971 and the World University Games Champion in 1972. Widely considered one of figure skating's "great," he was a member of the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team in 1968 and 1972, and has served as expert analysis in figure skating for NBC, CBS, and ESPN.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sports Illustrated; 1 edition (November 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568000707
• ISBN-13: 978-1568000701
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Winter Sports > Ice Skating & Figure Skating

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A life-long manual freestyle skate, August 3, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Figure Skating: Championship Techniques (Sports Illustrated Winners Circle Books) (Paperback)

This book by Misha gives the very comprehensive description to the basic spins and back spins, jumps from single rotation to multi rotational, and of course the fundamentals of skating, ie edges and stroking. The wonderful thing about this book is that Misha provided the possible faults to the failure of execution of a particular move. So one may treat this book as a 'coach'. I personally liked the illustration of the sketches of the tracing on ice and the precision that is shown by Brian Boitano featured for the jumps and spins. You get to watch a few frames of a quadruple toe loop too A must buy for any freestyle skater in advance technique. Truly a treasure of a life-time.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous technical reference - a "how-to" book, June 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Figure Skating: Championship Techniques (Sports Illustrated Winners Circle Books) (Paperback)

This book is perfect for the beginning, intermediate, or advanced figure skater, and for coaches as well. However, it is not suitable for fans and other people who are only interested in learning something about this sport.

It includes plenty of skating jargon, as well as descriptions of moves in the field, spins, and jumps that can get very technical and even a little confusing at times. The author covers every imaginable aspect of figure skating, from choctaws to spin combinations to axel variations, describing how to execute each move.

I can't wait to get back out on the ice to try out some of the new techniques that I have learned from this book!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Excellent Instruction", June 3, 2002

By 

Sarah Linke (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Figure Skating: Championship Techniques (Sports Illustrated Winners Circle Books) (Paperback)

This book is excellent for both beginners learning basic figure skating techniques and more advanced skaters who want to improve their overall ability on the ice. It includes helpful advice on improving your technical ability and provides possible mistakes that may slow your progress, so you can treat this book as a sort of "coach". It also includes pictoral descriptions for executing many of the moves, which I found very helpful. However, one downside is that this book was written in 1988 so it is a little old fashioned (there's mention of compulsory figures, which have since been eliminated from competition). However, it still contains all you need to know to improve your skating and I would highly recommend this book as one of the best I have read for skating instruction for both beginners and advanced skaters alike.