My instructor moved me up to basics 4 but i can't get my backwards 1-foot glide?

Question

My instructor moved me up to basics 4 but i can't get my backwards 1-foot glide?

My backwards one-foot glide suck. There were like 3 other kids in class and they have a lot of trouble with skating so she's always helping them. Whenever she sees me skate i'm always a lot better and i do really good. She hasn't seen me do a backwards 1-foot glide yet. Is it ok that i can't do it? Last class my new instructor taught me 3-turn from a stand still position and i could do it just find. Do you think it's ok that i can't do it yet? Like i here people on here say they didn't get their snowplow stop until like basics 6 (which i have no problem doing). It's just the backwards one-foot glide, when ever i try and do it, it doesn't really curve but i goes diagnal. I know it's not a problem with my blades because my forward are just fine. I don't wanna go back to my other class either because i wasn't really learning anything because me teacher wasn't such a GREAT teacher.

Also, is this how you do backwards stroking?
(there's supposed to be a link here i'll add details for it)
This session is only 4 weeks long. Last week was my first week, i was still in basics 3, this week my second week, i was 10min late so i only got 20min of class, i got moved up to basics 4, next week is my last chance to pass basics 4 because they test you without you knowing, and the last week they just give you your results and you learn moves from the next level. I wanna get some practice with backwards stroking before then because when i get taught something i always have to practice it on my own before i can get it right, except my 3-turns were pretty good. I think they went over backwards stroking while i wasn't there. I know forward crossovers before i was in basics 4, i didn't get go over that with the class. I know everything else. The fwd inside edge is just gliding on your inside edge on a circle (1-foot) and fwd outside edge the same but on the outside edge, that's what it is(?), because i can do that.

So my questions:
Is it ok that i can't do backwards one-foot glides? (Any tips are welcome)
Is this how you do backwards stroking to pass basics 4? (Plus all the other moves)

Answer 1

Ok first of all, I would just like to say that any coach that has passed some skater up to Basic 6 without having passed off a snowplow stop is a horrible horrible coach. Snowplow stops are Basic 1 for anybody out there that hasn't learned one by the time they're in basic 6.

Now, backward one foot glides just take a bit of practice. So skate backwards and get your speed going and then do a backward 2 foot glide with your feet close together and your weight evenly distributed over both feet. Then when you are ready to do the 1 foot glide, SLIGHTLY shift your weight over the foot that you will be standing on, and pick up your free foot. Make sure that your hips and shoulders are facing straight forwards. And make sure that they are even (one hip or shoulder should not be higher than the other). If they are uneven, or if they aren't facing straight forwards, you will veer off toward the side. I would recommend learning backward one foot glides before attempting 3 turns because 3 turns do require a backward one foot glide, and you might just get frustrated if you learn things out of order and can't do them. Know what I mean?

Backwards stroking is something we are supposed to coach... but really I'll be honest I never coach my students how to stroke backwards because you will never ever use it. That link does demonstrate it correctly though. Just do a backward swizzle to get your speed up, and then keep your knees bent and lift your free leg off the ice with your toe pointing out. Good luck on your test!

Answer 2

The backwards glide is no different than the forward one, except it makes any mistakes in your body alignment 10x more visible! It's about balance and strength a little bit, and it's about shoulder and hip position, most of all. Your shoulders and hips need to form a perfect rectangle, meaning you can't drop or raise a shoulder or hip and you can't twist the shoulders versus the hips (as in, rotate them). They need to be perfectly on top of each other. When you don't, your balance is off to 1 side, you lean in your skate to 1 side, you go off the "flat" onto an edge (usually the inside one, sometimes the outside one) on that side, and you end up going sideways. You'll be able to see yourself do this wrong if you look at your reflection in the boardings (on the forward glide) or if someone tapes this on video for you at the rink. Also, if you just stand on 1 foot in front of the mirror in the glide position, you'll likely see yourself sag through a hip or drop a shoulder already too, it's just what people do when they stand on 1 foot, they sag through the hip, but you can't do that on ice... Work on fixing that and I promise you, you'll see your 1 foot glide improve in no time.

Answer 3

Backward glides work the exact same way forward ones do, only the effect not keeping your shoulders and hips perfectly squared are much more visible. So basically, you do some backward swizzles, glide on 2 feet straight backwards and then keep your shoulders and hips aligned in a perfect rectangle (no dropping hips or shoulders, no rotating at the waist, you'll want to look at your reflection in a boarding/hockey glass to see how you're doing with this) and you do it. Just make sure you're not gonna run into anyone.



You're not supposed to be late for class, that's probably why you say you were never "taught" this.



And yeah the video is good. :)

Answer 4

i guess its ok but you should practice it a lot. the video is sorta right . that's just not the only way to do a back glide. its easier with more speed. its not weird that you have a harder thing before something else. like i had my axel before i had my lutz.

ok for in the side edges...it doesn't mean it has to be on one foot it is just naming the area your gliding on. look at your skates. the inside part of your blade is the inside edge and the outside is your outside edge. so whenever you glide on the inside part it is and inside edge no matter if your on 1 foot or 2. same for outside. you switch edges by tilting your foot a little bit . (when you turn your using one of the edges...or when you do swizzles. in the Video the guy pushed off from his outside edge) hope this helps