Week 4 - Advanced Skating

by Striking Dervish
In Week 4, we start to do some really fancy skating techniques!  These may prove difficult, but you will actually progress more quickly if you challenge yourself!

Mohawks

We begin with a review of the mohawks that we worked on last week.  In this case, we focus specifically on moving in a straight line, because we will build on this in the coming skills.
Remember:When attempting a mohawk while skating, you will need to balance on one foot, pick up the opposing foot, turn it fully backwards, and place it down at the heel of the forwards foot, ensuring that all wheels are still rolling along the same line.  You must open your hips to do this, and you will need to turn your shoulders towards the open side.  This position will not be easy at first and is why we practice stretching against the wall as we did last week.  You have been practicing t-stops, and your foot very well may want to set down in the T.  You may need to think about overturning your foot in order to get the placement.  If the foot is not fully turned backwards, you will likely turn in a circle.  You may want to work on the foot motion while standing still on the rink or even on short carpet to get comfortable with it.

Backwards Skating

Don’t panic about this skill!  Testing for backwards skating is about how comfortable you are moving backwards, not about speed skating or doing perfect crossovers backwards!

Getting Rolling

Skating backwards for the first time can be a little intimidating, and it may be difficult to get started.  We start by facing backwards and getting rolling by shifting our weight back and forth on our heels.  Remember that when we skate forwards, more of our weight is in the balls of our feet.  Similarly, while skating backwards, more of our weight is in the heels.  You may even want to pick up your feet slightly to push your heels into the floor.  As long as you are not leaning forward, your skates should naturally roll backwards when focusing your weight there.  Stay in derby stance, and look around you to ensure you are not running into anything or anyone.  

Watermelons

Once you are comfortable rolling backwards, you can begin to propel yourself more by using backwards watermelons.  It is the same motion that we have practiced forwards, but remember where the weight distribution in our feet should be.  

C-Cuts

Similar to watermelons, we can separate our feet into half-watermelons, paddling our feet in succession to keep us moving backwards.

Transitions

Once you are comfortable rolling backwards and mohawking, you are ready to change directions on the rink.  In order to transition from forwards to backwards or backwards to forwards, we use a stepping motion with a mohawk in between.  This is the most efficient and safest method of transitioning.  We do not recommend making a circling motion with your feet.  Doing the latter is not feasible at fast pack speeds.  

1. While skating forwards, shift your weight onto one foot.  
2. Pick up the opposing foot and set it backwards to briefly hit the mohawk position.
3. Shift your weight onto the backwards foot.
4. Pick up the forwards foot, turn it, and set it down next to the first turned foot.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Turn your head towards the direction you are going
• Think about the motion as, “Open the door, close the door.”
• Really focus on the stepping motion (almost exaggerated) until it becomes fluid.
• Stay in derby stance, keeping your head at one level the whole time (don’t bob up and down)

If you are struggling with the foot motion you can practice it while standing still on the rink or even on short carpet.

Reverse Toe Stops

Reverse toe stops or “tomahawk” stops, are a way of quickly stopping by using our toe stops (not the same as dragging our toe stops!).  It begins exactly like a transition, but adds in setting our toe stops down.  Things to keep in mind:

• Make sure that your legs are staggered.  
• You may want to start by just putting the back toe stop down.  
• Keep your knees bent.
• Don’t attempt to put your toe stop(s) down until you are already rolling backwards.
• The weight in your toes should be gradual, similar to our other stops.

Crossover breakdown

A fully efficient crossover involves pulling across the floor with both feet.  In order to practice this motion, we return to our circles to isolate each foot.  Remembering our edge work, you will still need to be in good derby stance and lean over the edge of your base leg while you practice this maneuver.

Outside Foot

Facing a counter-clockwise direction, start with both feet next to each other.  Leave your left foot on the floor, and practice pulling your right foot outwards across the floor, leaving all four wheels of your right foot on the floor as long as possible.  Once your foot reaches the point where it must come off the floor, replace it next to your left foot and repeat.  This is similar to our stride practice while on a turn.  Once this feels comfortable, set your right foot in front of the left to start the pull.  

Inside Foot

The inside foot is typically more difficult to practice, but it is essential for a truly efficient crossover.  Facing the counter-clockwise direction, start with both feet next to each other.  Leave your right foot on the floor, and practice pulling your left foot behind the right foot in a similar motion to the figure eight.  Ideally, your foot should pull outwards away from the center of the circle, and once you reach the end of the pull, the positioning looks similar to a bowler’s stance.

Clockwise Motion

We also practice doing crossovers in the clockwise direction, using the same idea.

Putting it Together

Now that you have the breakdown, you can put it together.  If you’ve been doing crossovers already, you still may not have been using the underpush fully.  Over-exaggerate each pull to feel it out.  

Endurance / Five-stride

The key to endurance is constantly keeping your feet moving.  We practice efficient crossovers to maximize speed and minimize the work involved.  To shorten the distrance travelled, we work on the concept of five-stride which encompasses a few key points:

1. Skating the Diamond: we minimize the distance skated by skating a diamond as opposed to the full track.  Gravity will automatically take you outwards just after the apex, but you should turn inwards in order to hit the inside line at the next apex.  The pattern will begin to look a bit like a circle so that you can actually do crossovers all the way around the track.
2. Five steps: your crossovers/strides should be efficient enough that your right foot only touches five or fewer times between apexes.  
3. Should you need to stop crossovers because you are moving too fast to remain in control, pick the crossover up again at the center of the apex.

Jumping

For testing purposes, you will be tested on jumping over an object.  This is our first opportunity to practice this.  Remember to bring your knees up when going for height.  Note also that jumping forward is not necessary.  Your momentum skating towards the object will naturally move you past the object.  You only need to lift your feet over it.  A successful jump over a 3″, 9″, or 18″ object indicates a passing score for Class 3, 2, and 1, respectively.