How I Learned Backward Crossovers on Inline Skates - Part 4.

Hi everybody, right I had no intention of filming anything today but I've just had a bolt of inspiration, I'm trying something new, first time trying it so I've got my camera in my bag so I'm going to hit the record button and see what clips I get. Now what I'm trying to improve on is some backwards crossovers, okay I've just seen a video showing me the technique what to do and I'm just giving it a bash for the first time now. I've been trying backwards for a few weeks now and I've been slightly improving but I just want to feel what the crossover feels like so I'm going to give it a bash, let's go, I'll put you down and see what I look like for my first time doing backwards crossovers, come on then. All right first of all take a look at this clip, this is what I'm trying to do. Pause and cross, bend your knee in, pause and cross, knee in, pause and cross. So that's the move but she mentions two main points to focus on with this technique, listen. Right look at this skate, this is a big problem, in the moment that you cross over you must have your knee in and you have your skate on a centre edge. Right so first thing, keep that leg nice and straight, knee above toes and what's the second thing then after the cross? After the cross we want to step out into a wide sort of shoulder width scissor position. So after the cross, plant that leg about shoulder width apart, not too narrow, okay then. Off I go then, first strides figuring out this new move, so that leg's going to go out the back, making way for this one to come over, remember what she said, straight leg, knee above toes, nice and straight, I don't want to end up like that, I don't want to end up like that, get back straight, that's better and then shoulder width apart with that one. So I start pushing backwards very slowly, trying to get a feel for this new move, trying to do those two things properly, I'm feeling very wobbly at first and it's not long until my wheels are getting away from me and I'm down, pop back up, keep going. Another angle here, I'm just pushing back in straight lines for now as I slowly work on these steps, feeling very clunky and again my wheels are soon getting away from me every time but I keep going straight back into it, rinse and repeat those two steps for the next few minutes. Well that's going quite well so far, about 10-15 minutes of practicing that little move and it's coming on, it's coming on good, I can feel where it's going, I felt it click there, now then this is exactly the same spot funnily enough where I practiced my first crossovers, my normal crossovers, look I'll show you on my first video, this is it here. So I'm going to use this exact same spot to practice my backwards crossovers and I'm going to start going in a circle now and try and feel a bit of a turning sensation with it, so let's go for that and see how I get on, all right. Yeah so let's take this up a notch and try turning with these things now, first attempt, not so good, no, go again, I'm trying to find a nice rhythm to get into a circular motion now but I'm so unsteady I'm struggling to keep balance, very messy, losing control all the time, look at that, nearly went, I can't go for more than a few seconds before I'm hitting the deck, for a couple of seconds I'm feeling good but I'm soon falling on my arse, let's have another look, now this is a bit more like it, I'm finding my circle here, feeling the turn, keeping it steady, keeping it slow, stringing a few together now, close up on the feet, how's this looking, still a bit clunky but miles better than a few minutes ago, it's a new sensation this and my brain is figuring it out with every step, oh nearly, nearly went, oh I feel like Bambi when she's first being born, yeah it's like going back to square one this, I thought I was pretty good and I'm falling all over the place, oh it'll come, come on, come on, right let me just tell you something what I'm feeling straight away with this, my crossover leg isn't so much even stepping anymore, it's not so much of a lift off and step and my wheels are keeping on the ground I'm keeping, it's more of a, it's more of like a really slick little manoeuvre now, my wheels are staying on the tarmac so that's pretty cool I think, yeah I feel like my crossover leg isn't so much lifting up and crossing like a big step, it's staying on the ground and as that one makes room for it, these are staying on the floor and just coming through like this, yeah see what I mean here, look at the front skate, let me replay that slowly, see how the front wheels remain on the ground now, the back foot makes room and the front glides through and finds its path, so that's just how I've naturally progressed in these few minutes, that's how I'm feeling it now, let's take a closer look, notice my front wheels staying on the ground, look feels a lot more fluid now, fluid motion compared to stepping over like before but I still can't keep it going for long without losing control, but when you do fall over you just gotta pop back up, keep going, get straight back into it, well then that's about half an hour's practice on my backwards crossovers so far, I've never done them before and so far so good, I'm really happy with how I'm feeling there, there's something clicking but very messy around the edges, but there's definitely something happened there today so I'm really really happy about that bit of bit of progress, I'll come back another day and I'll really nail this and we'll be able to see the difference, so that's why I wanted to film this little bit of practice here because I'll see the difference when I really crack it in a few days or weeks time. So over the next few sessions I kept practicing even trying to go around this bend here but I just never seemed to be in control for long and spending too long staring down at my feet would send me into a dizzy spin, I got in a dizzy spin then, but eventually I think I cracked it, let me show you, all right then it's another day and it's another session and I've been working really hard on these things now and I think my brain must have been doing some wiring up or something overnight because I'm feeling a damn sight better on them now, I think something's clicked, so that being said let me show you my best efforts so far what I've got after all this practice, hey just a funny thing I've just watched the new Michael Jackson film the other day and I've realized there's a little bit of a moonwalk element to this crossover thing, see if you agree with me, there's a little bit of MJ going on with these crossovers, what do you think? Right off I go then, let's see how I'm looking now, this is my good side, balancing on my right foot, crossing with the left, the main difference I'm feeling here is how I'm squatting down in the position more, notice how my ass is bobbing down in every cross motion, a bit like sitting in a chair, that seemed to help a lot, I'm just letting the footage roll here so you can see I can keep going now, I've got a nice controlled circle going on there, feeling the rhythm, arms out for balance, trying to keep down low, I'm in control of my wheels now, they're not running away from me, I've got this, feeling the right moment to shift my weight, playing with it now, doing the moonwalk, I was happy with this camera shot, I enjoyed watching it back, it's a good one, and when I want to stop, I'll stop on my terms with a power slide, well that was my good side, let's see what my bad side looks like compared to that, other way around now, come on, yeah you've got to practice both sides, so how am I looking on my bad side then? It's pretty good, but I think I could get down a bit lower in the position, I look a little bit too upright there I think, not bad, pretty good, it was going well here, but I'm just about to take a massive fall here and I'm going to show you, you ready? Here we are look, I was too concerned about hitting the camera, it put me off, ready? Oh that's not a good look is it? Oh let's see that one again, I felt that one, I thought I was going to whack you then, you put me off, I thought I was going to smash into that camera, yeah that was a bad one, you proper put me off then man, that was your fault, but the show must go on, here's some nice close-ups of the feet again, looking nice, you know it's a really fun motion to do when you start to get fluid with it, start to feel that cross, it's good, I think I've practiced, okay then let's use these crossovers to get around this bend here, let's go for it, ready? One, two, three, three crossovers, got me around that bend there nicely, that's cool, right let's spin around and we'll do it the other way, come on, I am editing this out, let's go, let's keep going, backwards, ready? Go for it, one, two, three, yeah man, we're crossovering around a bend, fantastic, look at that, I couldn't do that a few days ago, really good work, that's brilliant, really chuffed with that, power slide, nice, and here's a wide shot of me getting around the bend without holding the camera, yeah just about did it, thumbs up, coming back the other way, here we go, one, two, three, and four that time, yeah thumbs up, thumbs up, arms raised, that's been a great session, it's been a hard one, but another technique in my arsenal, good progress, well there we go then, that's my best efforts at backwards crossovers so far, what do you think? I think you'll agree, it's a world of difference from just a few minutes ago, don't you? I feel like I've really got something there, and let me tell you what, that's one of the hardest things I've done so far, probably the hardest on skates, I've never been on the floor so much and so unbalanced, but one tip I would say, which has really helped me, is just sitting low, getting lower, getting lower, kind of imagine yourself sitting in a chair, so yeah, get your ass down, and it seems to really pull you in and make you feel a bit more stable, so that's really helped me, getting low in the crossovers, anyway that's a wrap on this skating progress for today, I'm really happy with what I've got there, I feel like I've leveled up today, now then I don't know who's wrote this down here overnight, but I think it's pretty cool, if anybody thinks this stuff looks interesting, you want to give it a try and get out there and improve yourself, there's only one word for you, go start, get yourself a pair of skates and go start, I've had loads of comments, people saying that they've started and they're loving it, I'm glad I did it, all right thanks for watching, take care of yourselves and I'll see you down the road, all right.