Part one and part two broke down the most common struggles for anyone dreading their crossover:
- getting low enough
- Frankenstein feet
- weight transference
- pushing equally with both feet
- leaning into the turns
And provided you with some tips and off-skates training advice to help you get your reps in so that you can master each area.
But crossovers are not for off-skates.
They are most definitely an on-skates thing.
So what drills can you do with skates on your feet that will help you build your stride and increase your confidence as you race around the track?
Building strength, mobility, and stability matter. But so does getting more comfortable on your skates. At the end of the day, it is a skating skill after all.
GETTING LOW ENOUGH
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: every skater has a different center of gravity and bio-mechanically advantageous stance. What that means in practical terms is that your “low” might look different than someone else’s.
However, there are a few truths about “getting low”:
- A lower stance is more stable than a fully upright one.
- The lower you are the less distance you have to fall.
- As you get more experience on your skates, you’ll naturally get lower.
Some of this is from muscle strength and endurance. Some of it is from comfort level. Some of it is from increasing mobility. Some of it is from learning your personal bio-mechanical advantage.
It’s complicated is what I’m saying.
Appropriate drills for getting your stance lower work on one or more of those areas: muscle strength/endurance, skating comfort, mobility, and knowledge of your body.
As this is the most basic skill of derby skating, the drills are equally basic. But that’s a good thing! It really allows you to FOCUS on your stance.
Single Leg Glides
Single Leg Glides aren’t just their very own MSR, they also provide practice for finding your perfect stance. As you glide around the track, focus on staying low and centered over your balance box. Tap your opposite skate down as necessary and play around with how much your knees and hips are bent.
This is for messing around and finding your balance NOT trying to see how long you can glide on one foot. Get lower, stand up straighter, lean forward, lean back — do that until you find a position that clicks and try to replicate that each time.
**If you want to see someone that’s better than just okay at skating, you can see a similar demo in this edging video from Sandrine Rangeon.
Push Carts
While this is clearly a video from a fan race, the idea is the same if you’re on skates. Get behind a friend, place your right hand on their lower back just above their tailbone, and start pushing.
The beauty of a push cart is that the skater you’re pushing provides stability so that you can focus on getting (and staying) lower as you go around the track. This drill is actually great for isolating and focusing on any of the basic skills of the crossover, so get good at it!
FRANKENSTEIN FEET
Overcoming the Frankenstein Feet struggle comes down to practicing drills where you have to manage the large steps that are required of each foot. Remember that the goal to going from Frankenstein Feet to Twinkle Toes is a focus on PICKING YOUR FEET UP and PUTTING THEM DOWN with control.
Exaggerated Step Overs
It’s a crossover. PLUS. Pick up your right leg as high as you can and take a big step over toward the center of the track.
Don’t freak out, but you’re trying to overthrow your balance here. You will probably feel like you’re going to fall on your face. That’s okay!
The main goal is to step far enough over that you make a distinct change to the direction that you are skating. It’s about building control on each leg individually for the specific demands of crossing over.
This is another drill that you can come back and revisit to solidify multiple skills (eg. turning towards the track) as your crossovers get better and better.
Ladder Crossover Steps
Practice the 1–2 punch of stepping with both feet by doing it while you’re standing still. As you get better at the actual movement, you can add in speed and try to spring your feet off the ground as quickly as possible.
I call these ladder steps because it can help to set-up cones that you can aim for as you take your steps. Make sure to set-up the cones slightly diagonally so that you’re moving forward a bit as well as laterally.
It’s important to step long AND strong. So if you start to lose power through your push, shorten up your stride.
WEIGHT TRANSFERENCE
Like I said in part two, weight transference is inextricably linked to your Frankenstein feet. The drills that you do there will help you with managing your weight transference, too.
Any exercises where you work on managing your edges will help with weight transference as well.
Wacky Inflatable Arm Flailing
Wildly flailing myself around while I stand on one foot is my favorite way to get more comfortable on my skates. It looks pretty weird (especially if you’re doing it alone in a random park somewhere), but the more you can push yourself to weave and flail outside your comfort zone the more quickly you can improve on your skates.
Other weight transference drills:
PUSHING EQUALLY WITH BOTH FEET
It’s pretty common for skaters that have been practicing crossovers for awhile to feel like they should be able to go faster, but not quite knowing how to get there.
Strengthening your legs can help. So does learning how to use both legs to power your crossovers.
Single Leg Pushes & Pulls
Stick one foot to the ground and work the other.
If you want to work your step over, keep the wheels of your left skate on the ground and only work on the step over and pull across motion of the crossover.
If you want to work on your cross under, keep the wheels of your right skate on the ground and only work on the big step out and pull under. This leg will be more of challenge. It’s okay.
Sticky Skate Crossovers
Increase the force with which you push through your feet in both directions. Easy, peasy.
After working each of these drills, go back to standard laps. Hopefully you’ll feel the difference.
And a little extra tip from Alyssa Pray via #derbytwitter (seriously, are you there yet?):
Count how many strides you get in a normal lap, then try to subtract one step the next time. Stick with that number until it feels doable and comfortable, then do it again.
LEANING INTO THE TURNS
This is the last thing to focus on when building your crossovers (even years and years and years down the line). Remember that skating hard and turning left isn’t exactly a normal human movement and it’s something our body has to LEARN how to do.
Hug & Point
Literally hugging the turns was the first step. This is something you can incorporate right now during medium paced skating.
BONUS VIDEOS FOR LEARNING CROSSOVERS
- The Neutrino video that I voraciously watched when I was learning.
- A speed skating video recommended by #derbytwitter several times.
I’d also love to make this a living document where I can add more videos of drills that athletes and teams use to build their crossovers. If you’ve got a drill video that you love, send it to me at hi@ironoctopusfitness.com.
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