Amy Brolsma explains and demonstrates how she teaches forward cross strokes. Cross strokes appear repeatedly in the US Figure Skating Moves in the Field tests and are an excellent tool for choreographers to use with a skater to generate speed and power while changing lobes or circles.
Related Video: Figure Skating Forward Cross Strokes (Karen Olson)
In this video, Amy starts with a technical explanation of what’s happening. She says, “The cross stroke is a crossover push but you’re not going to change edges. You’re always going to stay on the same edge.” She notes that the free foot comes down on an inside edge prior to the weight transfer, even though technically the skater is stepping from one outside edge to the other. This transition is tricky for many skaters which makes this a challenging element to teach.
Amy explains the knee rhythm that is so common with cross strokes and she covers the actual push in detail. She explains what part of the blade to use and where the free leg goes after the push. She offers a drill where the skater holds the initial free leg position after the push to develop a better feeling and awareness of where it needs to be. She also explains how to isolate the shoulders from the hips to help the skater minimize excessive body movement and be able to focus on power generation from the lower body.
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