Loops are so very important a part of the equipment of the finished skater that I have divided them into two chapters. They should have large place in the careful, studious skating of all who are ambitious to make good progress in this most graceful of sports.

There are some interesting peculiarities of loops which may be set down as worth remembering. For instance, all loops are skated with the balance foot following the skating foot before the loop and preceding it after the loop. Again, all loops are skated with the balance of the body strongly forward before the loop and strongly backward after the loop. The balance foot should pass the skating foot very close to it in all loops or there will be strong tendency to swing the skater into too small a curve after the loop has been made. Loops should be almost round as to shape.

The outside backward loop is in some respects the easiest of the four loops. But it is not easy to get the right start for this loop. Perhaps more daring is required in the strike off of the outside backward loop than in any other school figure. For this reason, while championship competitions insist that the start of all figures shall be from rest, the beginner may find it encouraging to start the backward outside loops after he has taken a slight backward outside stroke on the opposite foot. This merely for encouragement. After a good start has been learned, lessen the times that the assisting motion from the stroke on the other foot are used and finally discard it altogether and start, as one should, from rest.

Thrust out boldly on the outside backward edge as for the outside backward circle, twisting the shoulders so that they are flat with the centre of the circle of which the loop is to be a part. Turn the head even more than the shoulders, looking almost over the unemployed shoulder toward the spot where the loop is to be placed. At the moment of commencing the loop the face should be almost directly toward the loop and both arms twisted well toward the centre of the circle as in the diagram. The twist of the shoulders and a sharp swing of the balance foot around the skating foot, close to it, will give the right rotation for the loop. After the loop has been made the head and the shoulder over the balance foot should be kept turned well toward the direction of the curve which is being skated. It will be found very difficult to round out this finishing curve of the outside backward loop. The twist of the shoulders and the carriage of the balance foot outside of the print are the secrets of its accomplishment.

The inside backward loops, as has been said of the inside edges in general, are easier to start and harder to get out of than any similar strokes. To make a clean inside edge loop backward and get out of it with a resulting curve of full size and true radius is an indication of real proficiency in figure skating. Many good skaters fail in this difficult figure. Yet it must be learned or other following and combination figures cannot be accomplished.

This loop requires more edge than any of the others. It is about the only loop which the experts of Europe agree upon as to the place on the blade of the skate with which it should be executed. This is the forward part of the blade.

The start is made like the start of the inside edge circle backward except that the head is turned over the employed shoulder instead of over the unemployed shoulder. That is the face is turned away from the centre of the circle of which the loop is to be a part instead of toward the start of the stroke. The position is similar to that for the execution of the three or the backward inside edge but there should be more twist to the shoulders. The balance foot should be carried well in front of the body, not too high, and over the print. The arm of the employed shoulder should be extended well out from the body compensating the weight of the balance leg which is on the other side of the centre of gravity, as shown in the diagram. There should be strong backward leaning of the body, as in all backward loops, up to the middle of the loop when the balance foot swings past making a small circle, almost a flip of the foot, and is carried well out, over the print. The curve is finished like the inside backward circle. There is less use of the shoulders, and more use of the balance foot in the execution of the inside backward loops than in any of the other loops.