Backward Crossovers?!

[Ceres]

Also, can anyone give me some good tips on bakward crossovers?? As in how to make them faster and not so...unstable, I guess..?

Pleeeeeeeze! I'd be so pleased if anyone gives me advice!

:o Thanks!

[jazzpants]

Knees bend
Back straight (not bend forward)and the most important one...

Turn your torso so you're LOOKING BEHIND YOU! :lol: (Or look where you're going...)

The rest? I suggest you get your coach to take a look at you to make sure that you're doing it correctly. It took me quite a while to get it right and I still have trouble at times. (But I DO practice it when I'm on ice.)

[Ceres]

Thanks so much for the advice!!!

But I don't have a coach or take any kind of classes....

[dbny]

If you feel unstable, spend some time working on B half swizzle pumps on a circle. On each half swizzle, freeze and hold with the pushing leg fully extended forward (at the end of the push), and again as it comes even with the other foot. As you develop skill and confidence in this move, you can begin to lift one foot and hold the edge (BO or BI, depending on the foot). When you freeze with the pushing leg extended, keep the other knee deeply bent so that all your weight it on that foot. If you are leaning properly into the circle, you should be able to lift the extended foot. When you feel comfortable with this, begin BXO's. After the crossover, hold the under foot in position and just off the ice, maintaining the BI edge on the other foot as long as you can. Being stable and comfortable in both of those positions is important for gaining speed and for many later moves.

There are two pushes in every BXO. The obvious one is the under push from the outside edge of the foot that does the BO edge as it gets crossed over. The other push is not so obvious and is missing in pretty much all beginner BXO's. After crossing over, when you are on that BI edge, you have to push from it to the inside of the circle onto your other foot. You can practice this off ice. Start with one foot held crossed behind the other as if you have just done a crossover, then "leap" out onto that foot as you extend it to the side. Be sure to twist your torso so you can hug your circle while you practice off ice. Getting both pushes smoothly with no toe scrapes will increase your speed very quickly.

[slusher]

Thanks so much for the advice!!!

But I don't have a coach or take any kind of classes....

I've noticed that you've posted a lot on the basics and said in a different post that you're only just 12 years old.

I suggest that you take lessons. We could talk about body position and underpushes, nasty toe pushing and shoulders, and the difference between slid and lifted crossovers, or indeed the semantics between crossovers, crosscuts and progressives, but fifteen minutes with a pro can save you a thousand internet postings. Go ask your parents for some lessons.

[gt20001]

Not to mention time with a coach or group lessons can save you from having to unlearn bad habits down the road which i have heard people having to do from being taught wrong or being self taught and it is harder to unlearn something than to learn it right the first time. group lessons usually arent as expensive as privates.

[icedancer2]

Go ask your parents for some lessons.

Or at least a group class!:)

[Casey]

If you hear toepicks, fix it - don't let them touch the ice.

When you push off with the foot that comes off the ice, cross that foot more under and push against the way you're going rather than to the outside of the circle, using the whole blade (NO TOEPICK!!) to do so. You'll get lots of speed from that eventually.

Arms, head, and shoulders steady. They don't move as you step.

Torso shouldn't be bobbing up and down or rocking back and forth, either.

GO FASTER!! Everything seems to get easier once you push it faster and faster...at least for me.

Good luck!

[VegasGirl]

GO FASTER!! Everything seems to get easier once you push it faster and faster...at least for me.


Hm, I find that it's more a matter of proper technique than to just push faster... with that said I think the biggest mistake that is made when learning back crossovers is that often times people just use one foot effectively to propel instead of both.

[luna_skater]

1. Think about body alignment. You want to be right over your skating hip, leaning into the circle.

2. Keep your shoulders squarely facing the inside of the circle.

3. Head up!

4. Use both blades to push, not just one.

5. Bend your knees, and your ANKLES.

[AndreaUK]

Im struggling with backwards crossovers too. Basically I dont have a lot of confidence lifting a foot up and across off the ice when going backwards. I know basically what I should be doing but it feels very alien to me.

Im going to practice very hard with the backward crossover tomorrow so hopefully by the time I have my lesson on Thursday I am getting somewhere near.

Andrea xx

[Casey]

Hm, I find that it's more a matter of proper technique than to just push faster... with that said I think the biggest mistake that is made when learning back crossovers is that often times people just use one foot effectively to propel instead of both.
Have to think about both. For me, going faster builds confidence in the edges and parts of the move. So I do that for a while, pushing to go a little faster each time. Then later, or at the next session even, I'll go really slow, just fast enough to do them, and think about each little part and try to improve them and notice any little thing that's going wrong (hah, I'm not always successful at this until somebody points something out...but nevermind that). Anyways the going faster part makes me more secure on the individual edges and positions when I do slow down. :)

[cassarilda]

Once I got back crossovers, I was going a reasonable speed.. then I got told, simultaneously by my two coaches (my group coach and then my husband), to slow down and not to rush it...

The toe pick scraping sound from your back foot pushing is usually if you arent rolling your ankle under enough... it takes practise to do that as well as push (as you roll, the blade edge gets more contact on the ice and you push from there)...

But then again, I shouldnt be giving advice considering back crossovers is one of the things that injured me the most :roll: :frus: :lol:

but bending is the big things.. bend your knees and ankles.. the more bend, the more stable you will be and less likely of catching blade to blade (like I did a few times ;) )

[Ceres]

Wow, thanks so much for all the advice!!! And actually I am almost 12.
I think I will be taking classes in August. My friend who is a skater saw me skate and said I'm probably on Basic 6 or 7. :lol:

Oh and just little bulettein- I did like a 1000 clean arabesques (or camel spirals or whatever they're called) today! Yay! :P

[VegasGirl]

Ofcourse, that's just judging by your own accord... who knows what a coach might say about those arabesques... or any of your other moves.

[flippet]

Im struggling with backwards crossovers too. Basically I dont have a lot of confidence lifting a foot up and across off the ice when going backwards. I know basically what I should be doing but it feels very alien to me.

You may do better when you come to the 'advanced' back crossovers...the ones I like to call 'pull-unders'. When you do these, you basically reach into the circle with your back foot, and 'pull' the ice underneath you, 'shoving' it outside the circle underneath you. The front foot barely leaves the ice at all--it's just a temporary weight shift, rather than a wobbly, choppy 'step'.

[xofivebyfive]

I like cutbacks a lot more than regular back crossovers. I hate picking up my feet on XOs and it feels very akward.

[Ceres]

Ofcourse, that's just judging by your own accord... who knows what a coach might say about those arabesques... or any of your other moves.

Well I have a friend who really "skates" and she is the one who judges me! :D

[CFP]

flippet,,are you talking about 'progressives'? my teacher who is an ice dancer showed me these several years ago,, then again just recently.
i cannot skate FORWARD to save my life!!!! i taught myself to skate when i was 8-9, but could only do it backward. as an adult now,, i'm mortified that i struggle with forward skating,,,,,but backward i can crank and feel very comfortable. i think i bend alot further down.
does anyone else have problems with forward crossovers? i always feel as though i'm about to do a 'wheelie' when i step over :frus: :lol:

[xofivebyfive]

flippet,,are you talking about 'progressives'? my teacher who is an ice dancer showed me these several years ago,, then again just recently.
i cannot skate FORWARD to save my life!!!! i taught myself to skate when i was 8-9, but could only do it backward. as an adult now,, i'm mortified that i struggle with forward skating,,,,,but backward i can crank and feel very comfortable. i think i bend alot further down.
does anyone else have problems with forward crossovers? i always feel as though i'm about to do a 'wheelie' when i step over :frus: :lol:
I hate hate hate foward crossovers. They're so akward.. I think my problem is bending as well. But that also applies to my back crossovers. :frus:

[vendetta]

When I do forward crossovers, they are more like progessives than real "lifting your foot up and plopping it over" steps. Honestly, I just do progressives with a bit of a longer hold, and I find them to be the same as my crossovers.

[dbny]

FXO's and F progressives look much the same, but BXO's and B progressives are very different, with no crossing at all in the progressives. The "pull under" that flippet is talking about in BXO's is one of the two pushes, and the easier one to get. You do not have to pick up the crossing foot at all in BXO's, but ISI rules require that BXO's be done that way at the beginning. I've found that some people learn better without picking up the crossing foot, while others learn better not picking it up and focussing on sliding it across. Both methods are correct.

[kidskater101]

1. start to go backwards, pick up a slow and steady speed
2. lean towards your right and BEND YOUR KNEES!!!!! (you are going to counterclockwise) Keep your arms @ sholder hight.
3. pick up your left foot and place it slightly infrount and twards the right of your right foot

TaDa its that simple try it it will help!

DON'T BE AFFRAID TO FALL

p.s. wear heavy cloths/waterproof

[CanAmSk8ter]

Wow, thanks so much for all the advice!!! And actually I am almost 12.
I think I will be taking classes in August. My friend who is a skater saw me skate and said I'm probably on Basic 6 or 7. :lol:

Oh and just little bulettein- I did like a 1000 clean arabesques (or camel spirals or whatever they're called) today! Yay! :P

Actually, unless you're doing technically correct, clean back crossovers (and back edges, FO three turns, and several other things) you'd be in Basic 5. My guess is that you'll start lessons in Basic 3 or 4. Remember, it's not enough to just do something you've taught yourself, it needs to be done with correct technique, some degree of speed, and confidence. For example, if you're using your toepick to push on your forward crossovers, you're doing them incorrectly and most coaches won't pass them, even if you are *technically* crossing one foot over the other and moving forward.

I would suggest spending your ice time getting comfortable on the ice and working on things like sculling, snowplow stops, and pumping on the circle. This will probably get you through Basic 3 pretty quickly. The more time you spend doing things like crossovers that you haven't been taught by a coach, the longer you're going to be in each level because it's going to take longer to correct them. I started skating at 11 too, and I had taught myself all kinds of stuff that my coaches had to correct. Don't trust your friend to analyze what you're doing unless she's much older than you and has experience coaching. I've been coaching for six years now, but I had only been coaching a few weeks when I realized that there's a big difference between being able to do something yourself and a) understanding how that move works, b) figuring out what someone else is doing wrong, and c) being able to communicate to someone else what they're doing wrong and how to fix it.

[Ceres]

Actually, unless you're doing technically correct, clean back crossovers (and back edges, FO three turns, and several other things) you'd be in Basic 5. My guess is that you'll start lessons in Basic 3 or 4. Remember, it's not enough to just do something you've taught yourself, it needs to be done with correct technique, some degree of speed, and confidence. For example, if you're using your toepick to push on your forward crossovers, you're doing them incorrectly and most coaches won't pass them, even if you are *technically* crossing one foot over the other and moving forward.

I would suggest spending your ice time getting comfortable on the ice and working on things like sculling, snowplow stops, and pumping on the circle. This will probably get you through Basic 3 pretty quickly. The more time you spend doing things like crossovers that you haven't been taught by a coach, the longer you're going to be in each level because it's going to take longer to correct them. I started skating at 11 too, and I had taught myself all kinds of stuff that my coaches had to correct. Don't trust your friend to analyze what you're doing unless she's much older than you and has experience coaching. I've been coaching for six years now, but I had only been coaching a few weeks when I realized that there's a big difference between being able to do something yourself and a) understanding how that move works, b) figuring out what someone else is doing wrong, and c) being able to communicate to someone else what they're doing wrong and how to fix it.

Wow thanks so much for all the advice!! What level do they "learn" crossovers in, though?

By the way, my friend is 17 and on Juvenile (or Intermediate..I'm not sure which one..I think it's Intermediate though!) level...:P

[xofivebyfive]

They learn foward crossovers in Basic 4(or alpha if you're in ISI, which I don't think you are but I felt like adding..) and backward crossovers in Basic 5.

[Casey]

Wow thanks so much for all the advice!! What level do they "learn" crossovers in, though?
You'll never stop learning crossovers. They can always get better.

[Skate@Delaware]

You'll never stop learning crossovers. They can always get better.
tell me about it...