Extreme Skating

cut right from the back,

bring left round,

cut right across front,

skate left away

1. travelling forwards on left leg

raise right foot behind left leg so foot is across back of knee,

cut from behind to right leg forwards with a slight skip rising left toe outwards

2. traveling forward on right leg

turn body trunk to left and bring left foot around and transfer body to left leg (now skating backwards)

3. traveling backwards on left leg

bring right leg over and cut to right foot with cross and a slight skip still backwards

raise left leg

4. traveling backwards on right leg

raise left foot behind right leg so foot is across back of knee,

step left and transfer to left ready for 1. (now skating forwards)

you might find it helpful to think of the foot moves in relation to the trunk of the body and a face of the clock where 12:00 is straight in front of you...

F- left pushing to 11:00

F- right pushing to 1:00

B - left pushing to 5:00

Figure Skating Terms and Moves

·         Arabesque is a position where the free leg is lifted in a straight line behind the body and this position is used in camel spin.

·         Axel Jump is a tough move where the skater has to jump forward and make two and a half revolutions in the air before landing on the other foot.

·         Backflip is a move where the skater does a reverse somersault in the air. This move has been banned from competitions because of its high risk factors.

·         Bracket turn is performed on one foot and the ice skate blade makes a ‘}’ (curly bracket) shape on the ice.

·         Butterfly jump, as the name suggests, is a flying spin where the skater does a two-foot takeoff till the body seems to be parallel to the ice with the leg balancing the body with a scissoring move.

·         Camel spin, also called the parallel spin is similar to the arabesque, where the position of the body is like a straight line.

·         Choctaw turn, is a complex form of the mohawk turn where the skater turns forward or backward and alternately changes the position of the feet.

·         Chasse, is where the skater glides on both the feet and slightly lifts the other leg off the ice. This ice dancing turn has three variations - crossed chasse, simple chasse and slide chasse

·         Charlotte spiral, also called the candlestick spiral, is a spiral position where the skater glides on one leg with his torso bent down towards the skating leg and the free leg is almost held straight in a 180 degree like a vertical split position.

·         Death spiral, is usually performed by pairs, where the man lowers his partner horizontal to the ice floor, while she glides on one foot arched backwards. The man, holding the woman’s hand, rotates her in a complete circle with her head almost touching the floor. This turn has four variations, forward inside, forward outside, backward inside and backward outside.

·         Edge jump, is a jump where the skater takes a jump from the outer edge without bringing both his feet in contact with each other. Flip jump, is a move where the skater slides backward on one foot, revolves his body in the air and lands on the other foot.

·         The Figure Eight is considered as a basic figure skating move. This move is probably the first move a figure skater learns. While performing this move, the skater has one foot on the ice throughout the move. The skater has to trace the number 8 while performing this move.

·         Stroking is when you lift the foot which isn’t gliding and transfer your weight from one foot to the other. If you are not use to balancing on a single skate, try making short and quick movements initially.

·         Axle is a rather tough figure skating move to perform. In this move, the skater jumps in the forward position and lands on the outer blade of the back foot.

·         Crossover is when the skater crosses his outside skates over his inside skates to facilitate easy turning around of the skaters.

·         Lutz is a figure skating move, wherein the skater launches himself from the back outer edge of the blade of one foot, but lands on the same edge of the other foot.

·         Sit Spin is performed by the skater in a sitting down position, with one leg in a bend down position to enable the spin, while the other leg is extended as much as possible.

·         Combination Spin as the name suggests is a combination of various spins performed by the skater, changing his feet throughout and maintaining a constant speed throughout.

·         Death Spiral is one of the figure skating moves performed in pairs. In this move, normally, the male partner is the one who spins around holding the female partner’s hand, who is maintaining a horizontal spin position.

·         Throw Jump is another common figure skating move in pair performances, where the male partner lifts his female partner and throws her in the air where she completes one or more revolutions.

·         Attitude is a move started by the skater, with a one foot glide. He then puts his non-gliding foot behind him, turns slightly on the outside and bends his skating knee.

·         Attitude Spin is performed in the attitude position, where the skater after lifting his free leg starts spinning.

·         Lay Back Spin is performed by the skater by putting his/her arms and shoulders backwards and ending the back to form the curve.

·         Forward Swizzle is a basic figure skating move. To perform this, the skater needs to put his arms away, and keep his feet together. The skater’s back should be straight and knees bent. Then while gliding on the ice, he needs to keep pushing his feet away from each other bringing them back together by straightening the knees.

·         Snowplow is a method to stop skating without crashing. The skater needs to point the toes of his ice skates together, reducing his speed and eventually bringing him to a halt.

·         There are certain moves like the

o   3-turn,

o   two foot spin,

o   double/triple axle,

o   waltz jump,

which are difficult moves in figure skating. A skater learns them at an advanced level and needs impeccable skills to perform them.

Blade Tech - Sharpening

Found an excellent site on sharpening… here  I don’t want to just steal all their info and repost it but I’ve read it and here’s a summary table I made…

And remember, it’s the radius of the circle we’re talking about not the diameter :)

Beginner level-1: [Suggested sharpening: 1/2" radius]  Tricks to be taught :  ,  One Footed Stop  ,  Tuck Stop  ,  Heel Stop  , Hawk Turn ?  Intermediary level-1: [Suggested sharpening: 3/8" radius]  Tricks to be taught :  ,  3-Turn (inside & out)  ,  Double-footed Backwards Turn  ,  Knee slides (basic & advanced)  ,  One-Footed Hops            ,  Reverse Apolo Turn (basic)  ,  T-Turns  ,  Moving Spins  ,  Eagle Turn  ,  Drunken’ Sailor Movement.  ,  T-Stop  ,  Insanity ? 

Intermediary level-2: [Suggested sharpening: 1/4" radius]  Tricks to be taught :  ,  Apolo’s Turn  ,  Whip Turn  ,  Fakie 180º  ,  Double Spray  ,  Swing Dance Kicks  ,  Frontside Stop  ,  Eagle Stop  ,  Rainbow Stop ? 

Intermediary level-3: [Suggested sharpening: 1/4" radius]  Tricks to be taught :  ,  Eagle Toe Stop  ,  Hope Footwork  ,  Step Footwork  ,  Fancy Dance  ,  R-Stop  ,  Kneeslide Footwork  ,  Fakie 360º  ,  Air tuck  ,  X-Stop  ,  Reverse Apolo Turn (advanced) ?