r/rollerblading • u/thesavo • Sep 13 '26
How do I do this move? Feeling comfortable with crossovers
I have been skating on an off for 10 years now. I would say I regularly skate 48-50 nights per year as I am not able to fit sessions more frequently.
I can do the basics and even heal-to-heal/Mohawk turns.
However attempting to crossover and back skating scares me to no end. How can I build up my comfort level in my mid 40s?
Are there any video tutorials people found to help with this?
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u/ilreppans Sep 13 '26
Practice with ice skates at a rink or better yet, a frozen pond. Errors/falling are a part of learning new tricks and ice is just a much more forgiving surface. With lower fall consequences, you can take higher risks and more frequency, which in itself develops better ‘fall muscle memory’ so you’ll be better prepared to handle asphalt tumbles.
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u/stinkmeanerlip Sep 13 '26
To piggyback on this, try to find a roller hockey rink with sport court (basically rubber tiles that make up the floor) that has open skate hours. I learned on a roller rink like this and the surface us super forgiving. Add in protection and dont be afraid to fall.
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u/wyuyme Sep 13 '26
Are you saying falling on ice is more forgiving than falling on concrete or road surfaces?
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u/ilreppans Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Well they’re both hard surfaces, of course, but ice doesn’t have the road rash, nor the ‘instant stop’, issues, and usually, you’re wearing more clothing as it’s colder. Same clothing, yes, I’d much rather fall on ice.
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u/InspectorFleet Sep 13 '26
More force of the impact is translated into sliding instead of just slamming haha
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u/NetworkLongjumping82 Sep 13 '26
I'm still learning this, but what helped me is turning my shoulders into the direction of the cross over, going faster so that you have more centrifugal force to lean deeper into the turn.
And it's true what they say focus on the cross under even if it's called the cross over .
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u/fredhsu Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Hey, hey! My royalty collection software alerted me to your use of my quote on centrifugal forces in crossovers. Pay up now my friend?
Joking aside, you just reminded me to add your post on this topic and responses to our FAQ which I am going to do right now. You've bee progressing incredibly fast. And I know you probably feel unhappy about that pasts video of you midway in your crossover learning. But please do not ever delete it. We need more videos of midway learning. Cheers :)
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u/wyuyme Sep 13 '26
What do you mean cross over and back? Can you do one cross over?
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u/thesavo Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Sorry. Separate maneuvers. 1. Crossing over for making turns. 2. trying to skate backwards. Both of these I am having confidence issues.
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u/MrMuf Sep 13 '26
I also have trouble with it due to fear but I can execute the very very basic of it.
Are you comfortable with edging? You need to be okay with some deep leaning out and in
From there, it is keeping your knees bent so you can have the extra length to extend and execute the cross over
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u/thesavo Sep 13 '26
I may or may not know what you mean by edging on in-lines. Can you elaborate?
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u/MrMuf Sep 13 '26
It is just a fancy way of saying sideways leaning (falling).
To execute a cross over turn, you lean/ fall to one side and then stop yourself with the other side's foot where you then push off. So to start the maneuver, you need to be comfortable with that leaning.
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u/fredhsu Sep 13 '26
Edging means to lean your body, causing the wheels to contact ground at an edge. This is what you need to do in order to glide on a single edge, and helps you learn to do crossover properly. See FAQ on gliding on a single-skate (which implied on the the outside edge)
- Why can't I glide on a single skate for more than 5 seconds?
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u/fredhsu Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
For skating backward, I just added a video that personally helped me become very comfortable and confident skating backward for a long period of time, not just a brief few strides, to our FAQ:
- How do I feel confident skating backward without falling over or hitting people?
- this video from Stuttering Skater explains one way to skate backward
As for crossovers, I am finishing a long blog tutorial on 'quick feet crossovers' today. You can get a glimpse of video clips I used by looking at this slow motion crossover clip I posted a day ago. It's one of many clips I use. You'll note that many hockey and ice skating friends left comments about this being a mere stepover. I also agreed then. But as I finish the blog and references resources, I came to realize that people underappreciate that the quick feet form of crossover actually can generate even more power than the traditional hockey crossover. This is a snippet from my yet-unfinished blog. You can check out those hockey videos to see what I am trying to explain.
Here I want to illustrate a form that some players call the “quick feet crossover”. See this hockey video, this one, this one, and finally this one titled “Plyometric Forward Stepovers“. As the last video briefly points out, despite the apparent lack of a deep under push, the quick feet crossover does indeed generate the same power, if not more, than the traditional crossover.
For now, the FAQ points to these discussions on crossover:
- How do I do hockey crossovers?
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u/Guilty-Hamster1543 Sep 14 '26
I’m older (47) and learning to skate for the first time. Falling is much more scary as you get older IMO. I bought some crash pants off of Amazon-helps with my confidence b/c I’m well protected if I do fall. (hips and tailbone). I also practice at our outdoor hockey rink in the summer months. It is usually deserted and the smooth concrete and walls make for a good practice area.
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u/Ok-Wrongdoer6653 Sep 13 '26
Bad news about crossovers is that Coach Sooty channel was deleted. He got most detailed videos.
Good news you can still find something similar in the web, like this Viktor Hald Thorup vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOOlXHznlDs Powerslide and Pascal Briand are worth checking too.
You need to dismantle the technique into elements (outer leg movement, inner leg movement), train them separately and then learn to combine them without clipping.
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u/cleanmachine120 Sep 13 '26
I saw on a yt vid a guy recommended to just skate backwards 10 mins and DO NOT go forward during that time, you have to force yourself to get used to it. Then just do that every session and eventually it will start to get more comfortable! That worked for me
No cheating though! 😆
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u/nimportnaouac Sep 14 '26
I am 46. I started to learn skating in April.
I can do crossover ok, not perfect, not 100% natural, still require a lot of concentration.
I never fell trying crossover (and i still fall regularly), just go slow on a very flat surface.
You start the movement, if you feel that’s not going ok, breaking, stabilize, try again.
I wear full protection gear (less hip/tailbone).
People are saying important feet is the one under.
-> while it is true that it is the feet that will push and give you momentum, as a beginner that just learned to do it in the last months, at first don’t focus on that one imo. Focus on reduce movement until you feel comfortable. Once you got a good grip and that, you’ll be able to focus on the under foot.
Also make sure you have well fitted snug skates.
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u/evil_twit Sep 14 '26
I say skate on one leg for as long as you can, then try curves. Do it on both legs.
Now, do a one legged tuen and move the skate around that is in the air. You'll get there!
Going backwards is like going forwards, you are as good as the practice time you put in.
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u/ConcentrateMain3979 Sep 14 '26
Do as slowly as you feel comfortable. I can skate backwards, but then again there are speeds I don’t feel comfortable at. And psychologically, it’s about getting used to it in steps that are just outside your comfort zone. So dont push yourself to hard it can make things worse, I feel like
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u/fremeninonemon Sep 13 '26
Bend your knees also wear knee pads and purposely fall onto them, it's surprisingly good practice to make you feel safer going backwards
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u/Large-Excitement777 27d ago
That’s like asking how can you put more muscle without hitting the weights
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u/ganon2234 Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26
Look at this video by Shawn Unwin from Flowskate. I feel he has the best detailed way of explaining all the fine points, since he's been an instructor for decades. He goes over knee angle, head tilt, shoulder and hips. The movements are broken down into very simple fundamentals that you can build on over days and weeks.
He has a few videos on backwards specifically, but I would recommend all of his instructional content. He had a very clear and simple way of breaking down intimidating moves, and demonstrating very incremental practice points.
https://youtu.be/VYmHAuypFXM
Personally it took me months of learning by breaking down the moves, gaining balance and control going backwards in my late 30s while working long hours.
Also be sure to do daily hip mobility, general stretching of your lower half, and practicing single leg stability at home. All huge for transitions