How does one learn to hydroblade? I have a student who would love to be able to do some really low, deep glides. His edges aren't *that* strong and he has upper body control issues, so I thought this would be a good learning experience all around.

Any training and/or educational tips?

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For an outside hydroblade, the Charlie Butler Physics on Ice video (the first volume - I haven't, alas, seen the others) teaches them from a backwards teapot (shoot the duck). You do one of those, then lean right over, making a W shape with your arms, skating knee and free leg.

For inside ones, it's basically a matter of leaning down as far as possible, again, trying for the W shape. Mine, when you look at them on video, just look as though I'm actually bending my knee for once.... sigh!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I've never tried the outside ones, but the inside ones aren't too difficult.....you just do a back crossover, stay in the crossed over position and go DOWN! Reach for the ice w/ your inside hand & keep the crossed under leg straight & it will stretch mainly to the side. It helps to have good speed going into it. And it's like a sit spin---it's easier going down than coming back up!

Like this?

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/..._the_moon.html

I've shown one of the pictures in a previous post, but this is the sequence of steps this young skater used at our competition about a year ago.

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Bill Schneider

OOPS, Phoenix!

I see that you mentioned a BACK crossover entrance in your post. The sequence on the page I've linked shows an entrance from a FORWARD crossover and will be a different animal.

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Bill Schneider

The body position is the same......if you're strong enough to get that low!! Wow! I've never seen it done going forward.

I can't not from lack of trying and trying and trying
One thing that supposedly helps is holding on to something you can slide across the ice - If you can find the old cast iron hand irons those are supposed to be great.
I couldn't find any of those so I went to the hardware store and bought a nice foam backed grouter tool that has a nice handle to hold and slides well. http://images.lowes.com/product/010306/010306026628.jpg Only problem is that I'd need the handles to be another 12 inches long for me to get down low enough to touch the ice good luck
Lyle

I recognized this! I watched a hydroblading workshop last summer at my rink. They use the handle you mentioned and some little cones (not the regular size) as well. You may want to try it.

Luna

One skater at our rink - adult, fairly much a beginner still, and we're trying to get her out to the Mountain Cup this year - anyway, her "signature move" is a back outside hydroblade and she comes up straight into a back spiral with nothing in between. How strong does she have to be to be able to do that!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Hockey pucks also work well and are usually easily available at most rinks.. check the stands and the area near the boards or the hockey boxes.

All I need now is a hockey puck that is 12 inches thick
Lyle

I've been working on a combo - it goes like this:
- "Normal" back spiral - where your foot and torso form a line, the foot leading, torso facing out.
- Shift into "Dance" back spiral - I call them that just cause I learned them from copying dance practice They're where your torso is mostly upright though leaning a little back, and your free leg is out to the front and side perpendicular to the direction of travel.
- Lower into back outside hydroblade - this is the hard part because you have to keep the inner shoulder pressed back, lean forward, and rotate the leg as you lower to be more directly in front of you, all at once. Plus at this point your skating leg is getting a bit fatigued from the spirals so that doesn't help either. Once you are down and stable, just make it as deep as possible, then
- Step into a scratch spin (I tend to get the best spin momentum from hydroblade entries).
- If you're really daring, change feet into a backspin. I can't do those very well.

Another one is doing a loop (landed with the free leg somewhat forward as for a loop-loop) into a hydroblade, but those are tougher and I can only do a couple before I'm just too tired to do it successfully anymore.

Hydroblades are great fun. Start without the leaning - just do shoot-the-ducks. They're easier backwards than forwards. Both back and forwards, get to where you can let go of the free leg. Ideally, you will not have to ever grab the free leg at all and can support it on it's own. Then just increase the lean - keep the weight towards the toe/ball of the blade - if the blade starts to skip on a deep edge in a hydroblade it means your weight is too far back. Simply press on the toe and it'll make it much better.

Good luck!

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve