June/July 2003

Basic Skating Skills Part II
Getting the Edge on Your Skating Skills

As mentioned in my previous article, good intermediate and advanced skating starts with basic skating skills.    Many new skaters are impressed with the many different types and approaches to turns they see in freeskating.

In skating, a Turn is simply a change of position from forward to backward or backward to forward.  Before we can learn to perform some of these turns, we must be in the correct position before, during and after the turn.  That is where edges come in.

Getting the Edge on Your Skating Skills

Step back and take a good look at your skates.  When you sort it all out, skates are nothing more than a pair of boots mounted on mini skateboards.  If you have ever seen a skateboarder in action, you see him lean in one direction and the board will curve in that direction.  That curve, in skating terminology (as mentioned above), is called an edge.

When you look more closely at a skate, you find that it has two edges, an outside edge and an inside edge (corresponding with the outside or inside of the foot, of course).  Being able to skate on an edge is the most basic fundamental of roller skating.  Most new skaters learn by skating on what are called “flats,” that is the absence of an edge, or skating in a straight line.  They often find it difficult to perform more advanced movements because they fail to employ the “edge” necessary to smoothly perform the maneuver.

A closer look at your skates reveals two cushion-loaded-trucks, one front and one rear.  As you stand on a single skate and lean toward the inside or outside you will notice the trucks gently rotating in that direction like double steering axles.  Two basic types of edges are inside edges and outside edges.  There are also two basic applications of the edge, backward and forward.  When you factor in that most of us have two feet, we end up with eight variables:

• Right Inside forward
• Right Inside Backward
• Right Outside Forward
• Right Outside Backward
• Left Inside Forward
• Left Inside Backward
• Left Outside Forward
• Left Outside Backward

Being able to stand balanced and erect on your skates while holding an edge is an extremely important skill.  Many rinks have what are called “school figures” painted on the skating surface.  These figure eights and serpentine circles are designed for basic edge control and advanced control exercises and are good basic exercises for developing your outside forward edges.  They can also be applied to any edge control.  More advanced skaters should employ inside edges, forward and backward, as well as turns on the same circles.

Right Outside Forward Edge

The largest circle is a good place to start.  Don’t worry about staying on the line throughout the entire circle yet.  Just focus on what I call “memorizing the feeling of the body position.”  Once you know what it feels like, you can duplicate it until you have mastered the whole circle.

Getting Started

Start by standing erect at the junction point between two circles, head up, back straight, shoulders square, hips aligned with shoulder and knees slightly bent.  You should be facing slightly toward the inside of the circle with arms  naturally extended over the circle in front and in back of you.  Your feet should be in a “T” position, left foot back and right foot forward, with the heel of your right foot touching the inside arch of your left foot.

Check Your Balance

While in the “T” position, stand with 70 percent of your weight on your back skate, shift your weight slightly to your right (shift shoulders hips  and knee),  causing you to lean slightly inside the circle without losing your erect posture.  Relax and feel balanced as you look approximately one-third the distance along the circle in front of you and concentrate on feeling your standing leg perfectly aligned under your head, shoulders and hip.  Memorize that feeling.  It is the same throughout the exercise.

Pushing Off Onto The Edge

Push off, rolling forward onto your right skate (right knee bent slightly into the right), allowing the left leg to take a natural trailing position behind the right skate, (not parallel, but behind in the Close Back Position).  By looking one third the distance along the circle, (don’t look at your feet, it will only cause you to wobble), and relaxing your standing knee, you should begin curving to the right (Right outside forward edge), while feeling balanced.

Relax, and let your skate roll off the circle.  Pause and take inventory.    What did it feel like?  Try it again.  Get a feel for it.  Take your time, there is no rush.  You can try the set up position in stocking feet, then try to duplicate it on skates.  Don’t be discouraged.  It has been my experience that it takes approximately three weeks to get the feel of a new skating skill, so take your time, give it a little practice as part of your warm up at every session and you will see results shortly.  Try it again on the left side to practice the Left outside forward edge by reversing the directions above.

Resist the urge to favor one edge over another.  Alternate between both sides.  The left edge will generally feel better than the right because that is the direction of the normal flow of traffic at most rinks, but you will be able to master both sides with practice.

Basic edges are extremely important because they are the positions from which all freeskate maneuvers are performed, and are the ones you wind up in after the maneuver.  If you are uncomfortable on any edge, you will not be able to smoothly complete the move.    Further, as you begin to deviate from the “classic posture” given above, to your individual skating style, you will still maintain the basic controlled edge.

Next time we will look at basic stops.  
 

Until then, have fun and help someone you see struggling on the skate floor this week.

Geo