Coach and choreographer Kate Charbonneau begins a presentation on the USFS Preliminary Skating Skills (Moves in the Field) Test. She takes a moment to name all the patterns in the test, and she notes that the demonstrating skaters are well above this level. For the first pattern, the forward and backward crossovers on a figure eight, Kate typically uses the two hockey circles at the end of the rink. However, she has her demonstrators initially show how the pattern could look near the center of the rink for skaters with more power. She then has some demonstrators show the pattern in it’s usual placement on the hockey circles.
The pattern has a few intro step, then forward crossovers in both directions, a mohawk with a stretch to backward followed by backward crossovers in both directions and finishing by stepping forward into a T-stop.. Kate says, “Most skaters will do between 4 and 6” crossovers on each circle. She wants her skaters to work on power to be able to skate outside the hockey circles. She explains the mohawk and collecting the feet for a smooth and powerful transition to the backward crossovers. Kate typically has her skaters start up against the wall to allow enough intro steps to help create enough initial speed to show proper power for this skill. She also explains the need to create a powerful push on both pushes of each crossover. Skaters may initially struggle with too many crossovers on each circle, but will settle on the 4-6 recommended with practice.
In terms of crossover technique, Kate wants some shoulder turn with the arms on the circle, although skaters at this level may not have much shoulder/core twist initially so she focuses primarily on the arms. She also wants the back arm slightly higher than the front arm.
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