Compulsory Figures – Backward Outside 8 (Page Lipe)

Page Lipe continues her discussion of compulsory figures (also called school figures). In the previous videos in this series, Page laid out a set of circles without using a scribe , discussed the forward outside 8, and briefly demonstrated the forward inside 8. In this video, Page explains the push for the backward outside 8, as well as other details of the figure pattern.

The initial push into this figure is typically challenging for most skaters to learn, and Page demonstrates it and discusses it in detail. The concepts of standing “sideways” to the pattern, putting the toes together, and using shoulder wind-up all help make the push possible, powerful, and controlled. If you watch carefully, there’s an element of “falling” into the push and step, much like the concept discussed by Nick Perna in his “C cuts” video.

Page notes, “I think that the reason that figures teach some of these things better than moves [in the field] is because you actually have something you can look at and be precise about.” She continues, “With the new kids learning figures at our rink, they’re particularly intrigued by looking at the tracings they’ve made, because you can self-correct by that.”

Page also discusses the subsequent moving pushes as the skater returns to center. She shows and discusses proper alignment as well as proper arm position and movement. She notes that figures do a really good job of building a skater’s control and strength associated with opening and closing their hips. In particular, skaters today have few opportunities to work on internal hip rotation except in specific drills, often as part of learning multi-rotation jumps.

At the end of the video, Page grabs a demonstrator and shows how she teaches the figure and how she helps the skater skate it. Although this skater is quite advanced, you can still see how Page works with her to help the learning process.