Backwards Crossovers.

[KoDLaN]

Can anyone help me with the correct technique and the easy way of doing it correctly ?

[TimDavidSkate]

This exercise might help you

Try your crossovers from a standstill:

Place your left foot over your right, from there, bend both knees and just using the back of your blades (1/2 - from the middle of blade to the heel) push out, this will accelerate your first stroke, then progress from there. This will help you get off your toe picks.

After you have done 5 sets of those exercises, do your other side.

The pattern of this exercise is just like the Novice Moves test.

[Mrs Redboots]

There isn't an easy way, alas.... it's just practice, practice, and more practice! For some guidance on how they are done, go here (http://home.pacbell.net/anamga/basicSkating.html#2.7).

[Figureskates]

Beware the "Click of Death" on this move. That's when you click both your blades together and trip yourself.

It takes practice, practice, practice. There is no magic pill for this one, dammit.

[KoDLaN]

hi there...

Thanks ALOT for this link. It is helping alot....
Maybe I can master to turn around when skating forward first now!

Any tips on that ?

[Melzorina]

I quite like backwards crossovers, once you get the hang of it, it's an efficient, fast way to travel without much thought, and it looks impressive!

[Skate@Delaware]

Lots of practice
bend down, almost like you are sitting in a chair
don't bob up and down (took me a while to get over this) :oops:
"hug" the circle as you face into it
Don't forget to look where you are going!!!!! Look over your shoulder (unless you have eyes in the back of your head....)

[KoDLaN]

I will give the crossovers a try tonight....
But I still need an easier way to turn around because I just struggle to do it and basically have to come to complete standstill... :lol:

[Mrs Redboots]

I still struggle with turns after ten years - there is no easy answer, other than practice. Try to skate at the same speed into and out of the turn, even if this is a snail's pace. It's mostly confidence, and being comfortable with skating backwards - I can do it perfectly normally with a partner, but still struggle solo.

[dooobedooo]

I will give the crossovers a try tonight....
But I still need an easier way to turn around because I just struggle to do it and basically have to come to complete standstill... :lol:

Have a go at another exercise to get a feel for them ....

Remember - going backwards, weight on ball of foot. (Going forwards, weight on heel of foot).

Do a few backwards swizzles/lemons (gliding on two feet, heels together, toes together, heels apart, feet glide apart, then bring heels back together, repeat; make a sort of lemon shape, repeating). Try to feel your inside and outside edges of your skate blade, as you go wide, then narrow, if you can.

Then try a few swizzles where you keep the flow going on two feet, but instead of bringing the feet in together, you bring in one in front of the other, alternating left and right. Get some speed up doing this exercise.

Then find a hockey circle. Start with anti-clockwise. Stand on two feet along the line of the circle, with heels pointing backwards in direction of travel, and centre of circle to your right. Rotate at the waist by about 45 degrees, to turn your chest obliquely to the centre of the circle (right), so that your right shoulder leads in the direction of travel (backwards). Helps if you extend your arms, hands at waist level. Look along your right shoulder (in direction of travel, backwards, slightly to centre of circle). Now do a few swizzles of the second type, bringing your left foot in front of your right at every inward pull. You should travel backwards in a circle, anti-clockwise. When you've got the hang of this, lift up your right foot in order to do the outward pull, instead of keeping it on the ice - you only put it on the ice prior to the next inward pull. Hey presto - back crossovers!!!

The action is similar to walking up stairs sideways.

[skippyjoy_207]

hi there...

Thanks ALOT for this link. It is helping alot....
Maybe I can master to turn around when skating forward first now!

Any tips on that ?

Definitely practice your edges.

[Isk8NYC]

Backward Crossovers: Someone mentioned "not bobbing" -- they're quite right -- a major tip is to keep your knees bent. Also, make sure your upper body is rotated toward the inside of the circle. Look down your back arm to watch where you're going: this also helps with correct body position.


Turns:
Practice two-foot three turns. Skate forward on a circle with both knees/feet together in a glide. Your "outside" arm should be forward on the circle, the "inside" arm should be behind you. Think about keeping both hands inside the circle. This rotates your upper body in the direction of the turn.

Next, you need some rhythm. Beat1: bend both knees and look down your "inside" arm. Beat2: "swish" your hips/feet from forward to backward in the direction of your head (did you remember to look first?) and bring the hips/feet around to match your shoulders. You'll need to come up on your knees just a notch. Beat3: bend both knees again and glide backwards.

May I suggest you also start doing some searches in this forum since most of the questions you're asking have been discussed before. You'll probably find some more tips to help you out.

[cutiesk8r43]

well I would say keeping your posture up and really beding and shifting the weight from one leg to the other
~cutie ;)

[froggy]

practice practice, keep a good posture by keeping your knees bent and torso facing the circle, also look back (think of looking at your fingertips), also when you crossover really let yourself skate on the inside edge..I used to rush through the crossover part, keep the rythm "push, crossover, glide, uncross". I love backward crossovers now and they are great for improving your stamina and are great exercises for your thighs!

[KoDLaN]

Ok, i've tried all the thing you guys told me to and its not working as yet, I dont have balance or control when I go backwards....But I will keep on practicing and maybe i'll get more confident with time!

Thanks for all the wonderfull help though! :D

[samba]

Lets face it, you would look pretty strange walking/running backwards in the street unless it was a special event of course, so it's just not a natural action.

I dont think there is anything I can add to what everyone else has said apart from keep trying because in the end you will more than likely find that you move a lot faster going backwards then you do going forwards, something to impress the girlies with!!

Cheers
Grace

[Casey]

Don't even worry about backwards crossovers yet. It's going to take a while and it doesn't sound like you have the required basics first.

Everything in skating is based on edges, focus on getting comfortable holding all 4 (left & right inside & outside) forward and all 4 backward edges. Form isn't as important as just learning to trust those edges and "getting a feel" for them.

You don't need crossovers to skate backwards around the rink - get to the point where you can skate backwards well enough to build/maintain speed first before thinking about crossovers.

Also work on mohawks, glide forward on one edge, let's say a right forward inside edge, and step onto a backward edge, in this case a left back inside edge. This is my favorite way to change from forwards to backwards or vice versa.

3-turns are something else to work on. You can sometimes manage to change from forward to backward using both feet on the ice, but it's sloppy and improper. You need to get to the point where you can do a forward edge, 3-turn, and hold the resulting backward edge all on one foot.

All these exercises help build the balance and core elements required to do back crossovers properly.

There are at least 3 different variations of backward crossovers:

Just like forward crossovers, pick one foot off the ice, then set it on the other side, then pick the other foot off the ice, and set it on the other side, one after the other. These are what my coach wanted me to learn first.
The usual ones you see, where you pick up the foot crossing over, but keep the other foot on the ice as you bring it back to the original side. My old coach referred to these as "advanced crossovers".
Don't lift either foot off the ice, do the same movements as in the others, but do not let etiher blade leave the ice, move your feet around each other instead. These are the most challenging, and I don't think they're any sort of official move, but they're a great exercise in my opinion.

[flippet]

Ok, i've tried all the thing you guys told me to and its not working as yet, I dont have balance or control when I go backwards....


Don't even worry about backwards crossovers yet. It's going to take a while and it doesn't sound like you have the required basics first.


Casey's quite right. Of course it's not 'working' yet, and you don't have balance or control yet. You've been working on it for what, 3, 4 days? And how long have you been skating, period, and how long taking lessons?

There is no 'magic bullet' for skating, unfortunately. It takes practice, and a LOT of it, to get any move down, and even once you have it down, you can't ever stop practicing it if you want it to remain in good working order. Even the elite skaters have to practice their crossovers and turns--the most basic of moves--on a consistent basis to keep the kinks and bad habits smoothed out.

You sound to me like you want to just shoot through the moves, and advance really rapidly. That's not a bad thing, on the whole, but you have to understand that these things take time, and they take practice, and the 'bigger' things build on the 'smaller' things. There's a reason that skating elements are taught in a certain order. You'll learn back crossovers and everything else when you're ready to do it, and not before. For instance, it's pointless for me to work on an axel if I don't even have a waltz jump yet--the waltz jump is one of the foundations for the axel. Edges, good edges, are part of the foundation for good crossovers. You'll get there, but don't try to rush things.

That said--in addition to many of the tips above, some things to keep in mind are: 1) Sit, sit, sit into your back crossovers. When you think you've 'sat' enough, sit some more. 2) DO NOT bend at the waist! Bend at the knees, the hips, and the ankles, but NOT at the waist! 3) If you're finding yourself scraping your toepicks like crazy, think about lifting your toes up in your boots. It helps you shift your weight to the proper place on the blade. 4) 'Hug' your circle. Keep your upper body turned towards the circle you're skating around.

Good luck....and take your time. Listen to your coach, who can give you specific help tailored to YOU, and practice, practice, practice.

[skatingmozzie]

When your starting your turn, say a two foot turn clockwise, try leaning to your right on your outside edge. Its the same the other way(except oppisite)
Also its the same thing for 1 foot turns only you need to lean on your edge more depending on which edge your using.

Skatingmozzie

[KoDLaN]

This seems to be totally impossible at the moment, but ive practised last night and im getting close to it. Im sure i'll get there with time. :bow: