Crossover figure eight

Also called Power circles, Figure eight crossovers

Crossovers round one circle, a change of foot at the centre, and crossovers the other way round the second.

On a figure eight

Not checked yet. The drill details on this page are a first draft by a non-expert, and no coach has seen them yet. Read them as a starting point and check them with a coach. Corrections are very welcome.

The run Forward crossovers anticlockwise · change foot at the centre · forward crossovers clockwise; then the same backwards

The pattern on the ice, one line for the blade on the ice, coloured by edge.

Not drawn in the body frame yet: the change of foot at the centre, where one circle hands over to the other.

Two circles side by side, about the size of a hockey circle each. You crossover round the first, change foot where the circles meet, and crossover the other way round the second. The backward version uses back crossovers and asks the same of the other direction.

Speed has to come from the pushes, not from leaning harder. Each push finishes with the leg long and the knee straight, and the knee of the skating leg bends and rises in a steady rhythm. A circle that drifts outward shows the lean is not over the blade.

The change at the centre is where most skaters lose speed and shape: the new circle starts on the other edge of the other foot, and the body has to turn to face it.

Tests differ on the change at the centre: a swing roll, an open mohawk or a plain step onto the new circle.

This drill trains

Left forward outside crossoverLFO to RFI: the free foot crosses in front of the skating foot onto the same lobe, still travelling forwards.
Right forward outside crossoverRFO to LFI: the free foot crosses in front of the skating foot onto the same lobe, still travelling forwards.
Left backward outside crossoverLBO to RBI: the free foot crosses in front of the skating foot onto the same lobe, still travelling backwards.
Right backward outside crossoverRBO to LBI: the free foot crosses in front of the skating foot onto the same lobe, still travelling backwards.

Built from

Swing rollA roll held for several beats while the free leg swings past the skating foot and back, on a new lobe.

Found in 7 independent sources: coaches' public teaching and published skating-skills tests, taken as base guidance and written for the guide.