Is there a trick to doing outside edges on skates?

Question

I'm taking lessons and I find that I can go into an outside edge but when I lift my other foot up I roll back to the flat of the blade. I can't seem to lean enough, I'm really afraid to fall over. Is there a trick to doing them? I'm taking lessons so already having my upper body turned properly is helping but I'm still not getting it right. One instructor told me to "believe the magic, you can do it", but I'm hoping for a more concrete idea.

Answer 1

1) lean in toward the circle or the inside of your lobe

2) pull your arms in the correct position

3) make sure your free legs passes through and directs

4) turn your whole body to where you are heading to

Answer 2

I won't go into details about how to do continuous forward outside edges, where you bring the free leg through from back to front, as I get the idea that you are just trying to get the feeling of simply skating on an outside edge?

It can feel scary at first - unlike an inside edge, where if you fell, then you would have a leg to stop you, on an outside edge there is nothing between the skating side and the ice!  However, a very little adjustment can get you used to skating on an outside edge.  

The most useful thing I was ever told for outside edges when I started them was to simply push down over your little toe (other skaters who have asked advice have found this very useful as well).  That should provide just enough lean (as you only need a very little bit at the moment) to get you on the edge, rather than skating on the flat of the blade as you are finding you are doing.  

Use your arms to help your weight distribution - opposite arm in front to your skating leg, and the other arm pointing towards the inside of the circle that you are trying to glide on.   Keep your skating leg nice and bent (soft knee).

I hope this helps.  You'll soon get used to it!

Answer 3

Well, I may not have "magic" or a complicated idea, this worked for one of my skaters.  If you're trying to stay on an outside edge, think of pushing down on the bottom of your skate (on the inside obviously) with your pinky toe.  We were working on outside edges on a circle and my skater was having a hard time staying on an outside.  I told her to press her pinky toe down and she said it worked!  Hooray!  It's not a fancy explaination, but it worked for her.  :)

Answer 4

If u push hard enough and use ur arms u will get better . Also look up it will be better looking for the judges. My coach told me this and now i am awesome!

Answer 5

Hehe it seems like there is an aspect of magic in skating :)

Its very important to get your arm positions right when doing edges as they can have a big effect on the quality.

For outside edges your arms should be up somewhere near shoulder height, with the same arm as the foot your are skating on infront. e.g. if you do a left forwards outside edge, your left arm will be in front, and your right will be pushed back.

The opposite goes for inside edges, e.g. if skating on your left foot, your right arm would be infront and left behind, but thats another matte....

Lets say you're going to skate forwards outside edges in semicircles.

Start in a T-push position, left foot leading and left arm infront. push off around the curve, leaning in slightly, skating leg knee bent.

At half way point on the semicircle, bring your free leg from behind to infront of you, keeping your skating leg knee bent. At the same time switch your arm positions by bringing your right arm forwards and left arm back.

Once the semicircle is complete you are now ready to push off onto the other skate and complete another semicircle on the right foot.

when doing edges remember to bend your knee to get the edge, and keep your head up, looking forwards. dont swing your arms when changing positions as this can make you lose your balance. do it in a controlled way to make sure you get the right movements. also its ok to be scared of falling, as long as you dont let it stop you from achieving.

i hope that helped a little. im no expert so if you have trouble with something its always good to talk to your coach. edges are very important so spend time practicing them when ever you can.

Happy skating :)

xX Anna

Answer 6

Suppose you are trying to skating on your right outside (RO) edge.  

There should be a straight line running from your R shoulder, through your R hip to the RO edge of your skate.  The line should be straight but not straight up & down.  It should be on an angle to ice.  The angle doesn't need to be very acute -- 85 degrees will do -- but the more acute the angle the deeper the edge.

I also suspect that you may not be moving fast enough.  In skating, the faster you're moving, the safer you are.  That's the magic bit...

Good luck!

Answer 7

You are frightened of falling.

Lean into the outside edge.

Answer 8

well, ugh i can't remember OUTSIDE edges. .  . . .are they forward or backward??

sorry but i can't tell you unless i know if they are forward or backward - - and YES it does matter!

Answer 9

Having trouble getting into outside edges is a very common problem with beginner skaters. When you become more experienced, you will discover by yourself the awful truth that getting into the outside edge is actually easier than the inside.

To get into an OE, do a few crossovers and just lift your free leg and have your arms lifted sideways like you were a bird flying. It's not *exactly* right because you're placing your arms in a neutral position instead of having one arm guide the other in front of you, but as you become an experienced skater your body will automatically position your arms into the correct position and you won't even notice it.

As for falling, I'm sorry but falling is an essential part of skating and you will just have to learn to make your body react in such a mechanical way so that even if you do fall, you won't get injured. My right hand actually has some scars from the billions of times it has saved me from serious falls on my knees.

However, a fall from standing straight on a forward outside edge going real slow isn't a dangerous fall. The most probable thing that will happen is that your left or right hand will automatically reach out and get 80% of the impact. It will hurt for a minute or two, but it won't be serious and after 15 minutes you will probably forget you fell in the first place.

Now a Waxel or a fall from a Layback, those are the nastiest falls ever.

If you are still very scared of falling, ask your coach to give you a special lesson on how to fall safely. If you do this and start to teach your body to position itself automatically, when you do fall (and believe me, it WILL happen someday), you won't get hurt (it will hurt your pride more than your body though jijiji) and you won't be so shy when you skate.

Maybe being shy isn't going to be much of a problem today, but what will happen when you are ready to learn the single Lutz? Half of the trick to that jump is to do it skating as fast as humanely possible, it's virtualy a leap of faith.

Hope it turns out swell! ;)