Five-step mohawk

Also called Mohawk sequence

Forward strokes into an inside mohawk, a step down, a cross behind and a step forward, on alternating half circles.

Down the long axis

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 strokes · RFI mohawk to LBI · step down to RBO · cross behind to LBI · step forward to RFI

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 onto a new lobe, which the body frame is gaining next.

On one half circle: strokes forward onto the inside edge, an open mohawk to go backwards, a step down onto the other foot, a cross behind and a step forward onto the inside edge to start again. The next half circle curves the other way on the other feet.

It joins going backwards and coming forwards into one run, which is the footwork in front of several jump entries. Coaches look for the mohawk’s heel to come in to the instep, for the hips to open evenly, and for each step to land on the curve rather than across it.

At learn-to-skate level it is often the first time a skater strings turns and steps together without stopping.

Sources differ on whether the cross is behind or in front, and on how many crossovers come before the step forward.

This drill trains

Right forward inside mohawkRFI to LBI: a step onto the other foot, holding the edge and staying on the same lobe. No cusp.
Left forward inside mohawkLFI to RBI: a step onto the other foot, holding the edge and staying on the same lobe. No cusp.

Built from

Right backward outside crossed step behindRBO to LBO: a step behind, with the legs crossed below the knee, still travelling backwards, and the lobe reverses.

Found in 3 independent sources: coaches' public teaching and published skating-skills tests, taken as base guidance and written for the guide.