Back and back and forth and forth#

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:07:27 +0000

The other week:

anticlockwise f-b: start by setting the right foot down pointing leftwards so that it crosses the direction of forward motion. Not sure why this helps, but it does.

I've been doing Mike's Turns & Stops course recently, which has been a mix of some stuff I can do no problem, some stuff I can do on one side only, and some stuff I can't do or can't do cleanly. For example, finishing off a lunge stop with my feet in the right places. And some stuff I more or less already found through experimentation but didn't know the names of. For example, the lunge stop.

Anyway, while I've been in a skate technique frame of mind I've been playing with the transitions again - and can answer the question I raised above: it's not about which way the foot is pointing per se, it's about weight distribution. Steering the right foot under the body is not actually required, it's just one way to get my weight properly on the right foot when I pivot the left foot, therefore the left foot doesn't drag in a messy and aurally displeasing fashion.

Lunge turns at near-ground level are fun.