help with mohawk

[Nikki Lee]

What have new adult skaters done to help them learn a mohawk? So far it is the most challenging thing yet. I had my first figure skating a year and a half ago; never skated before. I will be 52 this fall. I love it and it is the most difficult thing I have ever done.

[db]

Hi Nikki, and welcome! I'm 55 and have been skating for two years. You will find quite a few other over 40 skaters here.

There is already some good Mohawk advice on the thread about "Help needed - Turnout", so take a look there. A few things that have helped me are to bend knees, remember to lean into the circle, and don't look down.

[garyc254]

Hi Nikki,

I'm 48 and have only been skating for 9 months.

My mohawks aren't the best, but I seem to do them better when I don't think about them. If I try to turn them into some elaborate maneuver, I foul them up.

Remember, all you're doing is turning around.

These thought seem to help me.

Welcome to our clan,
Gary

[Elsy2]

At the very beginning of learning mohawks, I did them all the way around the rink hanging onto the wall. I could then watch what my feet were doing without fear of falling. The problem with that is that during your initial glide forward your not on much of an edge due to the wall. But it allowed me to slow everything down and do them without fear. Then my coach made me do a mohawk sequence endlessly. Right forward inside mohawk, cross the freeleg over in front, step into left forward inside mohawk, etc. This forced me to practice mohawks equally, right and left. I did this back and forth, back and forth, and eventually they felt better.

I guess the whole secret is constant repitition and practice. I still have to work on mohawks to correct them when they get a little whonky. They aren't really that easy to do well, so don't be so discouraged. If you practice enough, they will come!

[db]

Gary reminded me that I found a shiny ad placed in the corner of the boards at my rink that worked like a mirror and was perfect for practicing Mohawks. Because it was curved right in the corner, I was able to do my turns on real inside edges and still see my feet in the "mirror." Take a look around your rink, maybe you will find a mirror also.

Elsy2: I love your exercise. Will try it tomorrow. I've been doing them as part of the pre-juv 5 step Mohawk pattern on a hockey circle, but you have to do all one way and then the other when you get dizzy :roll:

[wannask8]

Okay, I am sooo not the person to give advice on this, as I can’t even get a decent backward glide yet, but I remember TashaKat giving advice on mohawks on FSW recently and suggesting slowing everything down and breaking it into individual moves and holding your position between each move, then shortening up the hold period as you get more comfortable. (This made an impression on me because breaking things down works for me, too and I’ve been able to apply that general advice elsewhere.)

-- wannask8

[TashaKat]

Okay, I am sooo not the person to give advice on this, as I can't even get a decent backward glide yet, but I remember TashaKat giving advice on mohawks on FSW recently and suggesting slowing everything down and breaking it into individual moves and holding your position between each move, then shortening up the hold period as you get more comfortable. (This made an impression on me because breaking things down works for me, too and I've been able to apply that general advice elsewhere.)

-- wannask8

Hi, yes, that's how I finally 'cracked' the mohawk! I now find them MUCH easier than 3-turns. Please let me just say here that I'm NOT a coach but have very good coaches who have taught me lots of tips like this and have worked extremely hard on my basics!

I was taught to break each move down and do it slowly and with control. Thinking of a RFI open mohawk:

1 Push onto a RFI edge, left arm in front, right arm to side, left leg stretched behind ..... HOLD
2 Bring the left foot in so that the heel of the left boot is at the instep of the right boot .... HOLD
3 Rotate the upper body CCW so that the right arm is forwards and left to the side .... HOLD
4 Put the left foot down onto a LBI edge and pick the right foot up so that the instep of the right foot is at the heel of the left .... HOLD
5 Bring the feet together so that the right foot is slightly back from the left and slightly pigeon-toed (so that you're ready to push onto a RBO edge) .... HOLD
6 Bend your knees and push onto a RBO edge (I do it with the left leg stretched out in front but some people extend the left leg back, I, personally, feel that extending it back can twist you so that you lose control) ..... HOLD
7 Bring your left foot in so that the heel is at the instep of the right boot ... HOLD
8 Rotate your upper body CCW, bend your knees and push onto the LFO edge so that you are ready to do another mohawk if you so wish :)

Some people don't like breaking things down like that, I find it helpful because a) it MAKES you control the movement and b) you become aware of what you are SUPPOSED to be doing rather than just skipping from one foot to the other with little thought to the technical aspects of it! Many people see the mohawk as just going from one foot to the other PERIOD ..... as you can there are a LOT more 'elements' involved in it :)

Good luck and don't lose hope, these basic moves AREN'T easy, they take time and I don't know ANYONE who has actually 'perfected' them ..... even our Senior Solo Dance Champion still gets corrections on 3-turns, mohawks, crossovers etc!!

L xxx

[Mrs Redboots]

[quote:e789a2f1a4="TashaKat"]
1 Push onto a RFI edge, left arm in front, right arm to side, left leg stretched behind ..... HOLD
2 Bring the left foot in so that the heel of the left boot is at the instep of the right boot .... HOLD

[/quote:e789a2f1a4]

The trouble is, if I do them like that - and I'm trying to, to get them [i:e789a2f1a4]right[/i:e789a2f1a4], not sort of, I get stuck at that bit, and my upper body won't rotate......

[Nikki Lee]

Thanks for all the help. I can feel an improvement, although I have a long way to go. It certainly feels different to doing them on the ground! The idea that one is just turning helps my attitude. Putting my weight more on the back of my forward blade at the start also helps. Learning to skate feels like building a beach a grain of sand at a time.

[FSWer]

Welcome to chat Nikki Lee. I'm not a skater. But try getting Figure Skating for Dummie's by Kristi Yamaguchi? It may have some info. you can use in it.

[hoptoad]

TashaKat--that's a great breakdown! I find that I remember what edge I should be on, but forget where the rest of my body should be. Arms and free leg, shoulders and hips and head...I need a checklist for each move.

[TashaKat]

Originally posted by hoptoad
TashaKat--that's a great breakdown! I find that I remember what edge I should be on, but forget where the rest of my body should be. Arms and free leg, shoulders and hips and head...I need a checklist for each move.

Thankyou :) Yes, that's why the breakdown helped me! It's easy to do a mohawk by flipping from one foot to the other (which you see FAR too many skaters do :roll: ) but to do a 'proper' mohawk you really do need to understand every little movement. If you go to Yahoo Rinksiders (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rinksiders/) (which was set up to get contact details of 'Rinksiders' (when we were at F$W) and archives of discussions), go to 'Files', 'Basic Moves' and 'Turns' there is a short explanation of mohawks by Jimmy Young (has taught many of the UK National Dance Champions). I'm afraid that you have to join (we wanted to keep the undesirables out ;) ) but it's really just there for info etc so there's no pressure ;)

L x

[momsk8s2]

A hint that helped me on mohawks and other change of skating foot moves was to step onto your new skating foot directly underneath your pelvis. It sound so simple but many people try to step away from their center of gravity, which throws your balance off and makes it look wobbly. Also, since you are changing feet, commit to shifting your weight to the new skating foot.