Skating Basics

I've witnessed some online arguments lately about the "basics" of skating. Firstly, I do not mean to sound derogatory by calling them basics, or imply that they're easy or beneath me because I can already do them.

The basics are the stepping stones to everything you'll ever do on the ice. And for as long as you skate, you'll keep working on them. They include:

• forward and backward stroking
• stopping
• forward and backward crossovers
• three turns
• mohawks

But each of these has steps leading up to it. For example, you learn to skate forwards, to use your inside and outside edges, and forward chasses before you learn forward crossovers.

You can always improve your basics. To take forward crossovers as an example again: At skate uk level 5, you pretty much just need to be crossing your feet and moving forward on a circle. At level 10 you need to be using your edges, be able to get up some speed. Level 1 field moves you can't toe push, you have to have good posture and not stomp. Level 3 elements requires more speed and control again.

What if you can't get past that first step? The crossing your feet and moving forward on a circle bit? To be honest, all you can really do it practice practice practice. Have private lessons and get your coach to drill you on it. Spend twice as long on your bad side as your good side. Work out what you're doing differently on the bad side. But the skills I listed above aren't things you can skip. Not if you wanna move onto the next thing and the one after that.

Then, once you have them, you can learn whole new steps and twists on them. Like once you can do mohawks, you can learn barrell rolls. If you can do forward three turns, why not try backward three turns?

But you can always always improve on them. You know how your coach or that high level skater can do a three turn like its effortless? And how they don't look like they're concentrating on every inch of the curve, terrified of the turn, and putting their foot down as soon as they're backwards? They didn't just settle for being able to do something, they pushed it and worked it until it was effortless.