Figure Skating Stroking and Edge Drills – Part 2 (Pasquale Camerlengo)

In the video below, World and Olympic figure skating coach and choreographer Pasquale Camerlengo continues his class on edge and stroking drills. (Please see the first part of these stroking drills.) At the beginning of Part 2, Pasquale has the class do simple alternating inside edge pushes. To improve the execution he says, “go go go go very deep, very deep, very deep” as nearly everyone flattens out this drill and has trouble pushing as the free foot comes forward. He also says “use your ankle” in an attempt to get the skaters to drop their ankles over a little and create more edge pressure. He then has the class do the same drill backward and the focus is again on deep edges.

Next up, Pasquale demonstrates a sequence of steps starting with an inside rocker, followed by a step and cross in front. Notice the use of the ankle to get clean rocker edges! Pasquale admits that it can be dangerous in a class setting, but he doesn’t want the skaters to turn their heads when doing the rocker. The head should face away from the direction of travel for this drill. He wants the head, shoulders and even hips to be as quiet and still as possible. Before having the class attempt it, Pasquale reminds them the inside rocker finishes on an inside edge prior to the step (most skaters do not do this properly). Watch his ankles as he demonstrates at 2:12 in the video. After doing this slowly, Pasquale then has the class focus more on quickness. He describes the necessary knee action in detail.