Free-style skating is the very epitome of the art of skating in that it demands the stamina of the speed skater, the edge control of the figure skater, and the rhythm of the dancer. It also offers a full opportunity for the individual interpretation of the music. It has three separate branches: singles, done alone; pairs, done with a partner; and fours, done with two male and two female partners in one group. These three branches are basically related in that their programs contain the same elements (namely, jumps, spins, and footwork) intertwined with music to tell a story.

There are two types of free-style skating: show or carnival type, with the emphasis on the spectacular; and competition or classic free style, which hews to the line of the pure art form.

JUMPS

A jump is a leap into the air from any edge and a landing on any edge. The degree of skill exhibited in a jump may be measured by applying the yardstick of H-D-F.

Height:How high up off the surface

Distance:How far in the air from take-off to landing.

Form:How graceful the body position on take-off, in the air, and on landing.

Good height in a jump is acquired by jumping upward, not forward. In practicing jumping, try to "hit the top of your head on the ceiling," or imagine you are doing the jump over a small picket fence, and you will undoubtedly get better height.

Distance is directly related to your take-off speed: the faster the take-off speed, the more distance you will cover between take-off and landing.

Form embodies graceful position throughout the entire jump. Here you should call on the form and body control you acquired in figures.

Oddly enough, the first thing to learn about jumping is how to landbecause this is the most difficult part of a jump. Since all jumps begin on an edge or curve, it follows that rotation must be balanced or checked if control is to be maintained. You learned in figure skating that rotation is initiated and stopped primarily by the arms and shoulders; therefore a good rule of thumb to follow in learning the landing checking pressure for any jump is to press the shoulders in a direction opposite to the rotation direc­tion of the jump itself. The most common error is over rotation, usually evidenced when the skater touches his free foot to the floor or quickly skids into a three-turn on landing.

A few tips to help avoid this error follow.

1. Do not let the free foot cross behind the heel of the landing foot.

2. Do  not deliberately  plan  a  three-turn  immediately  following  a  jump landing, as this could be misconstrued as a loss of balance.

3. Put extra backward pressure on the shoulder over the landing edge. This will counterbalance the  free-leg action  and  aid in  mastering its control. This applies to both forward and backward landings.

Some jumps require the use of a toe point or toe stop to assist either the take-off and the landing, or both. Briefly, the toe point involves a move­ment by the free leg, during which the leg is extended fully and then the skating knee is bent. This lowers the free foot so that the toe stop touches the floor (and is pushed onto it with much the same action as a pole vaulter's thrust). The skater then springs into the air to execute a jump.

Once you have learned to steady your rotary force, next comes mainte­nance of an upright position in the air—so that you land on your skate.Try to make square jumps—spring upward, not forward—so that your skating speed carries you forward parallel to the surface and gravity pulls you back to the floor at the same body angle as you take off, which is upright. Of course this square idea is an oversimplification, since gravity will actually make your path through the air an arc. Let gravitydo it, not you, or you will not land on your skate. Remember, the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection—or, "What goes straight up comes down straight." Think about this and apply it.

The coordination of a jump should be mastered without skates first. Then try a jump at about one-third speed and spring on skates. As con­fidence improves your control, gradually increase your speed and spring, but do not break your form. When you reach a stage where you are con­sistent in your jumps, then try them in the opposite direction.

Name of Take-off Toe-Point Rotation Turn Landing Toe-Point

Jump Edge on  Take-off Direction in Air Edge on Landing

Waltz LOF none Edgewise ½ROB none

Salchow LIF none  Edgewise ¾ROB none

Flip LIB RTP Edgewise ¾ROB none

Loop ROB none Edgewise 1 ROB none

Mapes  ROB LTP Edgewise 1 ROB none

Lutz LOB RTP Counter- 1 ROB none

edgewise

Axel LOF none Edgewise 1½ ROB none

Boeckel RIF none  Edgewise 1½ROB none

SPINS

Spinning on skates evolved directly from the pirouette in ballet. It is a triumph of balance control and an exhilarating experience. In spinning, as in jumps, you will have a natural inclination to rotate to the left or the right. For the majority of skaters, it is to the left. As soon as you achieve success in one direction, however, apply yourself to mastering spins in the opposite direction, to add variety to your free-skating programs.

A spin should be at least three full revolutions in duration. Mechani­cally, the spinning movement on any of the four edges is the same. In short, once you learn to spin on one edge, you can learn to spin on any other edge, making the physical adjustment of centering the majority of the weight over the proper wheel. The best method of learning an LIB spin is explained here.

Before you begin to follow the instructions, keep these facts in mind: (1) A good spin must be centered and should not travel in ringlets (see Diag. 31). (2) If you carry your head upright at eye level, initial dizziness will be easier to overcome, and it will be easier to center your spin. The instructions given here are for spinning to the left; to spin to the right, transpose the directions.

LIB Spin

Step No. 1:Place the feet in a slightly pigeon-toed position and about ten inches apart. Press the left front axle and the rear axle down hard, soften the knees about one inch for flexibility. Wind up your shoulders to the right and start spinning by smartly unwinding them to the left, rotating on an RIF and an LIB edge. Imagine you are carving a round hole in the floor with your skates. Continue this practice until you can do at least three full revolutions.

DIAG. 31. Spin.  Left: Centered Spin.  Right: Traveling Spin.

Step No. 2:Now add a one-foot pickup to your spin by first whirling to the left on two feet for one full revolution and then moving all the weight onto the left front axle as you continue rotating on an LIB edge. Next, lift the right foot upward about six inches. Continue this drill until you can do three full revolutions with the right foot in the air.

Step No. 3:Roll through a distance of eight or ten feet to a given spot, flex your knees, wind up your shoulders to the right, and whirl them to the left, spinning around your spot for one revolution; then pick up the right foot as in Step No. 2and do at least three revolutions. Now, add an exit edge by placing the right foot on the floor alongside the spinning left foot and pushing the weight onto it. Simultaneously check out of the spin by pressing the right shoulder and left leg backward as you glide onto a right outside backward edge.

Step No. 4:Add a formful entrance to the spin by first rolling backward on two feet on a LOB and RIB edge. Now slide the right foot across the front of the left foot on a sharp inside backward edge, simultaneously "closing" the shoulders by rotating them to your right so that the left arm is across the body in the front and the right arm is across the back in the rear. If this is done with a squeezing motion of the legs, the speed of the inside backward edge will be smart. Now open the shoulders by rotating them to the left, or counter edgewise, as far as they will go, in preparation for the next move, which is to step forward onto a LOF edge. Next bring the right foot to a RIF edge, with about ten inches between the feet. Now add the movements learned in Step No. 3exactly.

Step No.5: Refine the spin entry further by eliminating the two-foot rolling approach to the spin. Do this by repeating the Step No. 4formful entry, stepping onto a short LOF as in Step No. 4,leaning all your weight on this foot. Do not allow the right foot to come forward on an inside edge but rather swing this right foot forward and around the left leg, to pull the LOF onto LIB for the spin itself. Further refine the balance point by pressing the majority of the weight over the left inside front wheel.

Other Spins

After you achieve a measure of success on the inside backward spin, the next spin to learn is the outside forward. This is accomplished by using the same entry as for the IB spin, with these differences: You step forward onto the left foot, with the majority of the weight over the left out­side heel wheel. The free leg is notswung forward but carried to the side and slightly behind the left heel. Put a slight backward pressure on both the left shoulder and the right free leg, to acquire a unitized balance over the left outside heel wheel.

The most difficult spinning edge to master on roller skates is the outside backward edge. Do not attempt this until you have a good contol of the inside backward and outside forward spin. The weight center for the out­side backward spin is over the outside front roller, and the simplest entry is from a tight RIF3-turn.

The least popular of the spinning edges is the inside forward edge. Its weight center is over the inside back roller, and although spinning balance is relatively difficult to maintain on this edge, it should be practiced to en­large the prospects for variety in your free-skating programs.

After you acquire the ability to maintain a spinning balance, you should experiment with hand, arm, head, and free-leg positions, to produce various effects—from the classic ballet poses to the "off-center" novelty positions.

At this point the term "free skating" becomes meaningful, as the skater is not bound by any specific requirements and may give full reign to inter­pretation of the mood of the music. However, you cannot claim "expert" spinning status until you are able to maintain a true center to a spin done slowly, medium fast, and very fast, and until you can vary the speed of the spin while in the spin itself.

FOOTWORK

This branch of free skating is really the "trunk of the tree." Much the same as the cake in a fruit cake links or holds together the raisins, nuts, and fruit, the footwork ties together, in one neat package, the jumps, spins, and novelty movements in a program.

Basic footwork begins with a simple backward grindin which you skate backward, reaching your right foot to your right about 20 inches. Now, simultaneously with a squeezing action, pull your body weight over to an outside backward edge on the right foot as the left foot slides across the right foot on an inside backward edge. During the entire movement the right shoulder should be pressed backward and downward while the left shoulder is pressed forward and down. The head should be carried over the right shoulder with eyes sighting into the direction of travel. Repeating this movement will generate great speed, but be careful not to bob up and down. Smoothness, not jerkiness, is to be aimed for here. When you gain confidence when going to your right, try the movement to your left, and merely transpose the instructions.

The next movement to learn is a back mixed grind.In this grind, the left foot does not continually cross in front of the right foot but, on alter­nate strokes, crosses behindthe right foot, as follows:

1. Right foot to side

2. Left foot crosses in rear

3. Right foot to side

4. Left foot crosses in front

This entire movement should be done in an even rhythmic motion.

The forward grindconsists of a right inside forward edge crossed over a left outside forward edge. Press the left shoulder back and downward and the right shoulder forward and avoid excessive up-and-down motion of the body.

While grinds form a foundation for basic footwork, it is never wise to plan more than three similar grinds in succession. For instance, do three forward LOF-RIFxf grinds, and on the fourth LOF, do a three-turn and follow it with three back grinds. A good movement for going counter­clockwise around a corner is to run a series of three LOF-RIFxf grinds into a corner, and on the fourth RIFxf, execute a bracket turn to an ROB edge followed by a series of two back mixed grinds.

Since you are indulging in a sport that, by definition, primarily consists of gliding along a surface on a skate, you should lend your efforts to exploring the countless combinations of gliding turns and movements that can be most thrilling to perform and observe. This, added to jumps and spins in their proper proportion, can result in memorable programs.

The skater who falls into the trap of preparing programs with an over­abundance of jumps and spins is missing the true essence of the sport of skating. There are the sports of acrobatics, diving, and trampoline work for those interested in the controlled gyrations of the body in the air. When a skater with a lopsided program, consisting mainly of jumps, wins a championship, the sport of skating is done a disservice. It is difficult not to lean to a program of spectacular leaps, but it would not be so if up-and-coming skaters lent their concerted efforts to skatinga program and using jumps and spins to spice it up—much as a good chef mixes his ingredients so that the blend hints of all the flavors, yet none predominates.

PROGRAMMING

Begin by making three separate lists of items you can perform—one of jumps, one of spins, and one of set pieces of footwork. Arrange them according to their degree of difficulty, and mark them for the consistency of your performance of them. Next, select a piece of music that first of all appeals to you, and secondly has enough change of pace and melodic content to be interesting. Play it through until you are quite familiar with its char­acter. Now, take a stop watch and note the spacing of the high spots, or major crescendos, accurately. Go over it again, and this time mark the exact time of the lesser crescendos. Finally, pick out and mark any tricky melodic run or rhythmic patterns.

To pattern your program, and to be sure its general outline is not boringly repetitious, get a pad of blank paper, about 8 X 10 inches and draw a rectangle of 7 X 9 inches on each of five or six sheets.

Use the rectangles to lay out your intended paths of travel. Be sure to make use of diagonals in both directions, circles in both directions at each end of the rink, the sides, and right-angle change at center. The combinations and their variations are almost endless, and with a little imagination you can lay out a program that will enhance your pleasure and please the onlookers as well. Balance the distribution of your items along your path of travel, so that, for example, certain time segments are not overloaded with spins. Study the distance between items, and work out a specific piece of footwork to fill the space. Watch your major crescendo time and highlight each one with an appropriate item from your list. Diagram 32 will give you an idea of the numerous paths of travel which you can utilize in a well-balanced program.

An important element in your free-skating program is your costume. If your program is to be presented at a club show, or carnival, wear as elaborate a costume as you wish or can afford, using bright colors, sequins, and spangles. Just be sure your costume is roomy around the shoulders and firmly stitched so that it will stay together during a rigorous per­formance.

If your program is to be presented in competition, uphold the dignity of the sport by wearing proper and sedate attire. Leave the clown suits, the lavish use of sequins, boot cover, and billowy sleeves for the carnival or skating show. Skating competition is not a fashion show. The judge evaluates your ability, and it is actually poor sportsmanship to try to throw him off with circus-style outfits.

DIAG. 32. Paths of Travel.

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