One Foot Pivots for Beginners #rollerskating

You can start by keeping your other foot that's in the air very close to the ground, even like a kickstand, a little bit bracing you. So just keeping maybe even just a heel here to brace you. Definitely use your hips. If you know the downtown, there was a combo I learned early on that included pivots that really helped me because I find that if I put two moves together, then I focus less on the task at hand and I can actually get things quicker. So it's a downtown, one and two, and then you're picking this up and going one, two, three. A downtown, so and one and two, this foot, and two, three. Also, if it helps you to do little kicks, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, kick, because that'll also help tell your hips where to go. Like if I'm just going like this, I have to really make sure, but if I'm kicking. Step, cross, forward, step. This one comes up. One, two, three. Now, step, cross, forward, step. Now you're on the feet of the weight. One, two, three. Step, cross, forward, step. Weight is on this one, in the middle. Hips, hips, hips. Step, cross, forward, step. Weight is on the middle leg. One, two, three. And as you get more bold, you can take out the downtown. So just do a one, two, three pivot. One, two, three. So whichever leg the weight is on, make sure to try to keep changing how you start that pivot. So if you start it with the toe going in, or if you start it with the heel coming in. It can also help if you want the toe to come in first. Tilt it a tiny bit out to give you a place to go. So if I start here, and I'm going to bring the toe in first. If I want to start with the heel coming in first, so it's going to come this way, maybe I tilt it a teeny bit out so that I have somewhere to go, especially when I'm learning. Toe comes in first, so you're on the heel. Heel comes in first. The next thing you can do to start leading yourself into one foot pivots is to just do them in place, quarter turns. So kind of the way I was showing the one foot spin. Now there are two directions of pivots. One is sort of like your foot is hooking behind, and you're going outside of your body. The one that's going inside your body is actually harder to do in place, I find. So with both of these pivots, you're just constantly changing whether you're on the heel wheels or the toe wheels. I'm on my toes, but I'm moving the heels. Now I'm moving the toes. Moving the toes. Now I'm moving the heels. Now I'm moving the toes. Now the heel. And really important is that your body is going to go kind of before anything else. So your head and your body are going in the direction you want to go. So it makes it easier for your body to turn because you have momentum. And you can move so tiny. You could move an inch and get all the way around in ten movements. But it totally adds up to being a pivot. And then you can do four to get around. And then you can do two. And then you can start moving. Maybe I'll do a different tutorial about moving pivots, which are a forever practice for me. They take a very long time. Don't get discouraged because pivots I've been doing for almost the entire time I've been skating, so two years. And only now am I starting to get somewhat comfortable doing repetitive turns on one foot. So it takes a lot of practice. But these definitely helped me from the beginning. Just getting really used to doing these types of things. And then doing in place. Also another note that helped me at certain points was to think of my weight going right in between my wheels. Because sometimes I was too much on the front or I was too much on the back. You kind of have to figure out your own adjustments. But sometimes it helped me to think of a weight being held right in the middle of my skate in between my wheels. So that I would stay grounded enough. You really don't have to lift either one very much. Depending on your wheels, if they slide or not. But it really is all about muscle memory and just really getting the feel for you. Like for me for example, when I'm in a moving pivot, there are certain pivots I have to think of putting a lot of weight in my heels no matter what. And other people won't feel that way because they're not maybe so light in their heels or something. So let me know if you have any questions. Next time maybe I'll do a moving pivot. I just don't feel like I'm solid enough to really give great advice. But I have been tinkering for a long time. So thanks for watching. Bye!