SKATE TIP OF THE WEEK
Inline secrets from the world's top skaters and coaches

This week's tip:

Learn to Do Perfect Crossover Turns, Part 1
An indoor technique that will help you outdoors

By Francisco Ramirez
May 1, 2009

Ever wonder why indoor skaters generally do well in outdoor races?

One of their secrets is that they know how to turn.

Training on small indoor tracks, they barely get two regular strides in before they hit the next corner. As a result, they become expert at the techique that gets you around the corners the quickest: crossovers.

You might not expect cross-overs to be much of a factor in long outdoor races, like inline marathons, most of which are mostly straight. But often, you will find 90-degree turns right before the finish line on those long road courses — and that's where indoor skaters often grab the advantage.

Want to improve the odds?

Here's two options: join and indoor team or devote some of your training to the perfection of your crossover technique.

Here's how:

Find your outside edges

To find them, supinate. Turn your ankles outward. This puts your weight on the outside of your feet and balances you (when you're skating) on the outside edges of your wheels.

Recognize your inside edges

Yeah, this is where you'll find yourself all too often, if your technique is lax. You are on your inside wheel edges when your ankles are turned in and the weight is on the inside of your feet. (This is where new skaters often find themselves.)

Learn to move from your inside to your outside edges while skating

Do this, by pushing both your skates out to the side on your inside edges and bringing them back together on your outside edges (swizzling). Don't lift your wheels from the ground. Soon you will be more comfortable with your edges.

Correct body position

Stand with your left shoulder about 10 inches from a wall. Then drop your body into the wall, hips first. Your left foot should be on its outside edge; your right foot, on your inside edge. This is the correct body position for cornering.

Pushing with your right leg (Right leg push only)

Find a small circle to skate around. Assume the skating position: knees bent; nose over your left knee. Push out with your right foot. Then bring your right foot back without lifting it from the ground. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Crossing over cones

Line up 10 cones about 2 to 4 feet apart, depending on your stride. Stand with your left skate next to the first cone, knees bent. Step over the cone with your right foot. Cross directly over the laces of your left skate. Check your position. Stay in the crossover position for one second. Then push with your right leg to bring your left foot to a position next to the second cone. Repeat.

Cross while rolling

Put one cone in the middle of a turn. Rolling, crossover with your right foot and land on the inside of the cone. As you become more comfortable with the drill, add another cone.

Part 2 of crossover technique.

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Francisco Ramirez is a speed skater and coach based in Hackettstown, NJ. He started on quads in his native Colombia and won a junior national championship, on inlines, in 1995. A week later, he immigrated to the United States, where he opened his first of several small businesses. He has been a member of the High Gear, Unity and Canariam speed teams. Currently, he manages K2-Empire Speed and coaches Excel Speed, which is based at Excel Skating Center, the rink he owns in Hackettstown, NJ.

• Excel Roller Skating Center
• New York 100K

Related reading:

• Skate Tip of the Week Archive
• Beginners Guide to Outdoor Racing
• Beginners Guide to Inline Skating