its real shame i missed the bristol open tournament, i went into the session and had just missed it. The rink should've really advertised it more...

thanks for the info. I am getting three turns on the go...

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QUESTION
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Next problem is that the front of my boot is kinda loose, would insoles help to sort the problem out?

Also on forward crossovers when i try to get a good edge it slips beneath me and i lose balance, with the potential to fall bad!

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starting at 28

You might have to get the coach to see what you're doing with your gliding skate. Perhaps you're not riding on that edge properly, or your skates need sharpening, or the direction that your gliding foot is pointing isn't quite right as you're going around the circle.....if the direction of your foot relative to your knee or body isn't right, then that could cause slipping along the ice.

The good thing is that once you work out what you're doing 'wrong', then you can use what you're doing 'wrong' right now to your own advantage....because it could come in handy if you don't know how to do one foot slides yet.

It's impossible to say what in particular you are doing wrong on forward crossovers. They are so technical that you should really get your coach to look at them. It could be any of the things Award said or (as in my case) my underpush sometimes slips out from me if I don't have enough weight on the gliding foot but have transferred it too early to the crossing foot.

howdy all, i had my third lesson yesterday, it was helpful, but also annoying because i am not doing forward crossovers properly so i am told to just start again with the basics.

You have to cross the outside foot near next to the inside foot yeah? But when I was doing them I was crossing my foot well over the inside foot, something which I shouldn't do. Also I catch the toe picks, ARGH!

PS my back crosses are a lot better now, I'm a lot better at skating back crossovers then forward ones now. Craziness. And I improved my speed just by having the correct body rotation, something my instructor highlighted out to me.

And it goes to show lessons are really worth it, you can't see what you are doing wrong a lot of the time.

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BUT!!!!

My real question is on mohawks, I just can't do them

I am learning three turns on my own, except that the circles I actually do are really small, when I am on an edge I am really deep on it and can't go straight afterwards, i just turn tightly to astop, the three turn ends up being some kind of uturn..

HELP!

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starting at 28

3-turns and mohawks are things that you should really do with your coach. They can point out the little things that you tend to do wrong (with me it a million of them) and help you with the right "checking motion" that you need. It sounds like you are not checking correctly, which is why you keep making circle. Checking is something that stops your rotation. These moves involve the whole body and tend to be complicated. They are easy to cheat. But once you learn a cheat it is twice as hard to correct and undo.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Hello!

one question is tickling me right now...

It appears from what I have seen (mostly from the observation of young hockey-bladed teens) that they do forward crossovers differently to what I have seen from the few figure skaters.

As someone said on this forum a while back, when they do it, it looks like walking up the stairs sideways very quickly, but when I see a figure skater do it it looks different.

Are there two different methods?

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starting at 28

Yes, they are looking for the short burst of speed. Figure skaters are looking for sustained edge.

I think that the principles are the same. What we have to remember here is that not all hockey players have been taught to skate efficiently. Not saying that all young hockey skaters skate inefficiently, but a lot of them that move 'quickly' with their feet doesn't necessarily mean that they skate efficiently. Like, if they're doing crossovers really quickly and stepping really fast, it sounds like they're not pushing efficiently. In other words, fast stepping feet doesn't necessarily mean good skating....it could mean poor technique. We'd have to check them out on a video or something to see if they're doing things properly or not....in their cross-overs that is.

Hi all!

Some more questions...

1) I can do t stops and plows on one foot very well, not so on the other.. Do I need to learn well on both sides?

2) Salchow, how does one enter it, I see on videos people kind of turn a few times before actually doing the jump itself?

3) Backward crossrolls, how on earth are these done?


Thanks

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starting at 28

PREACH IT, BROTHER!! I sincerely believe that my experiencing many, many fewer injuries versus my 3 sisters during my Alpine ski-racing career came down to my flexibility. Flexibility will help you so much, so definitely spend time stretching. Best time for me is when the TV is on--when I know that otherwise I'd just be sitting on my rear end.

You should DEFINITELY take all the questions you have to your coach. If you don't have a coach or aren't taking lessons, I strongly second doubletoe's recommendation to do so. You'll only create bad habits that are hard to break--and will have trouble continuing to progress and pick up new moves--by learning everything on your own. Good luck!

I would recommend you get your 3-turns down before attempting a salchow. How is your waltz jump? A good waltz jump is required for a salchow, as are 3-turns (or good mohawks).

Don't put the cart before the horse---don't try to get too far ahead on doing jumps and other things if your basics are shaky. These things will come in due time.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Hola,

1) How many hours do you skate aweek? I am probably doing over 8 hours a week, is this a lot?

You're doing more than me! (shame on me, though. . .) I only do about 4-5 hours a week. Then again, when I was training more competitively, I skated a good 10-15 hours a week.

2) At the start of every session do your feet hurt for the first half hour, as mine always do, and is there a way to prevent this?

Oh yes. In fact, they used to be so painful I'd have to take my boots off and rub my feet. Orthotics helped a bunch, and now I've learned to just warm up slowly for the first 10 minutes. Deep edges hurt my feet and start the cramping. If I give myself 10 minutes, I'm usually good to go.


5) Lastly, I keep falling on the right knee and it never heals, and today I fell on it mighty hard and it hurts to lift it up or lean on it. It doesn't actually hinder my skating very much, only when I am crouching down or leaning on it, should I just carry on, because this right knee i am worried will always be injured if i keep on skating.

Definitely take some time off (or at least ice it). I've had many a stress fracture in my ankles from repeatedly skating when I knew something hurt a lot. Also when I was working on my double flip, I'd consistently fall on my right hip which made landing any jumps incredibly painful (the part that was sore connected in a way that if I raised my left leg into landing position I'd get sharp pains). I took a week off (and fixed my stupid double flip entrance) and things hurt less.

6) Shoo tthe duck one legged, I know i got th ebalance but im just not damn flexible enough, i tried leg exercises but my actual flexibility hasn't increased in a month

Keep working on it. Shoot the ducks and sit spins are great to work on because if you fall, who cares? You're generally so close to the ground already that it doesn't matter. Also, try squatting down into the position on two feet and gliding before sticking a leg out. That'll help with balance.

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