Professional choreographer Douglas Webster works with a class on power generation from edges. He notes that almost everything in figure skating relates to these kinds of edge pushes. He says,
“You’re always in a push, unless you’re in a spiral or a one foot glide or a hydroblade or something.” He begins with alternating forward power pulls. He emphasizes the bend and then the push, focusing on proper timing and awareness of where the push occurs on the edge.
Next Doug has the class do forward inside 3-turns with a pull on the turn exit. This is a foreign concept to most skaters who have been taught primarily to balance and check the rotation after the turn. The final exercise has the skaters doing a forward progressive (or forward crossover) into a rise up and leg swing (swing roll). Unfortunately, many of the skaters in the video use the swinging free leg to feel the acceleration of the edge, but that is a start and can help a skater feel the right timing for learning to push on the edge properly.
Sorry, this content is for members only.Click here to get access.
Already a member? Login below… |
Add to “My Favorites” (Beta testing)
Leave a Reply