Crossovers finally "clicked"!

[sk8great]

Finally passes my Alpha test! After repeating it a 2nd time! My forward crossovers finally "clicked" Hard work does pay off!

[Isk8NYC]

Congrats!

[jjane45]

Yeah, isn't it great? Onto beta!

[sampaguita]

Congrats!!!   Good luck on your next tests!

[sk8great]

Yeah, isn't it great? Onto beta!

Talking about beta, do you have any tips for backward crossovers? When my coach wanted me to try it I would sometimes lean on my toepick to much and my foot starts to hurt. I would go around a hockey circle once and I would need to stop to relieve the pain. Any idea why this is happening?

[platyhiker]

Talking about beta, do you have any tips for backward crossovers? When my coach wanted me to try it I would sometimes lean on my toepick to much and my foot starts to hurt. I would go around a hockey circle once and I would need to stop to relieve the pain. Any idea why this is happening?

Scratching on the toe-picks is a common problem when learning back crossovers.  It's almost always caused by leaning too far forward.  You want to avoid bending forward at either the waist or the hips, but you do want to have a good knee bend.  It's good to practice both (inside and outside) your backward edges on the circle paying attention to having good body position, good arm position (well rotated) and head position (looking where you are going, over the the inside shoulder).  Then practice doing half swizzles with all the good positions.  Then add the crossing over part, and try to keep the good positioning.

It's very easy for a beginner to get out of position, which throws everything out of balance.  If you've got a friend at a bit higher level who can hold one or both of your hands in the right position, that can be a big help to get the feel of where everything should be.  (One hand is safer than two, as they can be farther from your body - I recommend holding the front hand.  I'm sure your coach would be good at holding your hands, if you want to ask him/her to do so.)

Congratulations on learning front crossovers!   

[sk8great]

Thanks everyone!

What was easier and faster fo you to learn? Backward or forward crossovers?

[sampaguita]

Thanks everyone!

What was easier and faster fo you to learn? Backward or forward crossovers?

I dunno, both are hard, lol! At first, I found the backward crossovers easier because you have two feet on the ice most of the time, but later realized that my form was all wrong.

[Skittl1321]

Congrats on your pass!

For me, I prefer back crossovers. The risk of tripping and falling is smaller for me.  That may not be true for everyone though.

Even now, I still have very weak 'bad side' forward crossovers, but my back crossovers are about equal.  They are the one move I feel I can go really fast on.