Crossovers in 3 Minutes | Tutorial

Crossovers are an incredibly powerful skating technique. They feel great, they are fun and you can gain extreme speeds in them. Have you ever noticed that speed skaters work way harder in their turns than on the straights? In this video I will tell you how it's done, right after the intro. Step number one. Crossover basics. To do crossovers you need to be able to lean into a turn at least a little bit by bending your inside knee. Practice that first. If you can't do it, then try to skate around the turn on one foot. During crossovers you need to be able to change your feet, so your confidence in standing on one foot is important, especially at the beginning when you're not that fast. Start with the easier outside foot and then try the same with the inside foot. If this works, try to change your feet in the turn and also try to adjust the position a little bit during the change. And also don't forget to subscribe to my channel, because the most of you guys watching my tutorials aren't subscribed yet. Step number two. Crossover steps. This works on both sides, but I will explain a turn to the left side first. Basically it's just like walking sideways. The right foot goes in front over the left foot and then the left foot goes back behind the right foot and then repeat it. Practice this while standing, probably with the support of the wall. If you understand the motion, try to do the same while skating slowly forwards. Don't try to force yourself in the turn. Let the steps do the work for you. If you bend your left knee a bit and lean into the turn, then you should get it within a few tries. For a very good execution this is something you have to develop a feeling for and get your legs into a rhythm. And if you push yourself forwards, especially with your right foot, every time you change your feet you will gain lots of speed and feel the power of the crossovers as mentioned before. Step number three. The weak side. At my hometown ice rink everybody was just skating in a circle counterclockwise. So just doing turns to the left side. And so I did. As I learned to do crossovers it worked good to the left side and it was very hard for me to do it to the right side. So for a long time I did it just to the left side and till the present day my right side is weaker than the left side in crossovers. What I want to tell you, if you learn crossovers then learn and practice both sides. Always. Your future you will be very thankful for that. The technique is the same. Just do it to the opposite side. The left foot goes in front of the right foot and then the right foot goes back behind the left foot. The rest is developing a feeling and getting confidence. I hope this video was helpful for you. More helpful tutorials are the tutorial playlist in this end card as well as a hockey stop tutorial which is also very important for ice skaters. Don't forget to subscribe and give the video a thumbs up for the algorithm. Feel free to follow me on Instagram and to buy my merch, link below. That's it for today guys. See ya!