Promo for Two-foot Glide

As we start to get comfortable with using the skeleton effectively during figure skating, the first stop is with an exercise called “Turn Your Bicycle.” This simple exercise uses movements we are already familiar with and introduces them into how we skate. Practice this simple exercise on the ice. This is the start of learning how to place weight through your skeleton whenever you are on a circle.

It starts with finding the movement in your movement habits, in this case remembering how to be on a bicycle and turning. Just like on a bike, we know that we must move the weight to the inside of the curve when turning.

If we move the weight too far inside the circle, we will skid and fall. If we don’t move the weight far enough inside the circle, we either fail to turn sharp enough, or fall to the outside.

When doing the “turn your bicycle” exercise, focus on a smooth but fast weight shift to the inside leg, creating a line between your hip joint, ankle, and where the blade contacts the ice. Does your weight shift before or after the turn is initiated? The longer your delay the turn, do you notice your body instinctively beginning the turn with a slight movement in the opposite direction? This small counter-steer keeps the weight of the upper body within the radius of the turn, rather than being pitched outward.

Note: start by traveling slowly – you do not need to be going fast in order to practice changing direction rapidly. See how suddenly you can “turn the bicycle” without losing a defined edge or experiencing any skidding of the blade.

Additional Resources