Some help from the experts

[pavement]

Well i have been back skating now for about 6 months and im doing pretty good. Got my forward momentum going pretty good after my long hiatus, and have been working on my backwards skating. I only have one problem, and that's transitioning from frontwards to backwards. My ankles do not Mohawk so i have to try to figure out some other way of turning around. I have tried to watch other good skaters turn around, but it seems that everyone uses that Mohawk step that i just cant get my feet to do. So im asking for some input on ways to transition from front to back so i don't have to stop every time i want to turn and skate backwards. Maybe just some other ways to go about turning, or even a way to condition my feet to oppose each other nice and straight. :rolleyes:

[Footwork]

Well i have been back skating now for about 6 months and im doing pretty good. Got my forward momentum going pretty good after my long hiatus, and have been working on my backwards skating. I only have one problem, and that's transitioning from frontwards to backwards. My ankles do not tomahawk so i have to try to figure out some other way of turning around. I have tryed to watch other good skaters turn around, but it seems that everyone uses that tomahawk step that i just cant get my feet to do. So im asking for some input on ways to transition from front to back so i don't have to stop every time i want to turn and skate backwards. Maybe just some other ways to go about turning, or even a way to condition my feet to oppose each other nice and straight. :rolleyes:

It's not only thr footwork, it's a total body thing. Your on one foot going forward, you rotate your body and your other foot at the sametime so that when the other foot takes the ground your body is rotated . And you have to unweight the first employed foot, as the other foot takes the ground going backward. I takes some practice, and it does take commitment on you part to say, I'm trning around now.. Three turns are another option, named for the pattern the foot goes thru making the turn, but I would not try three turns until you have mastered the two fotted turn and confidently skaing backwards.. Good luck and wear pads and a helnet, as you may need them...

:biggrin:

[bazzman]

i swing around by pivoting on either my front or back wheels....well you asked!:rolleyes:

[Soled.Out]

I'm with bazzman, I get on the front wheels of both skates and do a 180, i get turned around, and i lose no momentum.

[A-Town Sk8er]

I throw one leg up in the air and then while pivoting my body around i land on that foot backwards and then sit the other one down.........

[Iggy]

I throw one leg up in the air and then while pivoting my body around i land on that foot backwards and then sit the other one down.........


A Waltz Jump? lol :biggrin:

[A-Town Sk8er]

A Waltz Jump? lol :biggrin:


LMAO i guess its kinda hard to explain....:redface:

[jamsk8r91]

i 'tomahawk' grapevine(or ride fronts around). or i just jump 180. thts fun, to c how far yu can jump 180 and not bust ur crap.

[rhetttro]

Because my legs are torn up from a motorcycle wreck, (no ACL, knee replacement) and I'm old, I can't do a mohawk to turn around anymore. At least not very gracefully.
However, I've found that doing a choctaw turn is much easier on the joints.

http://figureskating.about.com/od/glossarylette2/g/choctaw.htm


I've always thought it to be an easier turn