Right forward outside edge

RFO: the right foot travelling forwards on an outside edge, tracing a clockwise lobe.

Not checked yet. The mechanics 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.

Everything else is built on this one. You glide forwards with the skate rolling towards the little-toe side of the foot and the whole body leaning into the circle it is tracing. The lean is the edge: there is no separate act of steering. You commit over the blade and the ice does the rest.

The usual fault is leaning from the shoulders alone. Drop a shoulder while the hip stays outside the circle and the blade flattens, the lobe opens out, and what should be a curve becomes a long shallow drift. A good forward outside edge can hold its curve indefinitely and bring you back to where you started, which is a more demanding test than it sounds.

Derived

Build on

• Forward strokingAn edge is a stroke held on one foot round a curve. Ice Skating Australia already asks for each stroke to be held for the skater's height.
• One-foot glideThe one-foot glide runs on a flat. New Zealand teaches it straight and then on a curve, which is the blade on an edge.

Leads to

13 elements in the guide are built on this one, and the 8 nearest are listed here.

• Right forward outside change of edgeRFO to RFI: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling forwards, and the lobe reverses.
• Right forward outside chasséRFO to LFI: the free foot comes down beside the skating foot, nothing crossing, still travelling forwards on the same lobe.
• Right forward outside cross rollRFO to LFO: a step onto the other foot, still travelling forwards, and the lobe reverses.
• Right forward outside crossed step behindRFO to LFO: a step behind, with the legs crossed below the knee, still travelling forwards, and the lobe reverses.
• Right forward outside crossoverRFO to LFI: the free foot crosses in front of the skating foot onto the same lobe, still travelling forwards.
• Right forward outside loopRFO to RFO: a small circle traced on the same edge, still travelling forwards, and the lobe continues.
• Right forward outside slip chasséRFO to LFI: a step in which the free foot slides away along the ice, still travelling forwards, and the lobe continues.
• Right forward outside mohawkRFO to LBO: a step onto the other foot, holding the edge and staying on the same lobe. No cusp.

From RFO

• Right forward outside chasséexits LFI · changes foot, the edge changes, the direction holds, the lobe continues
• Right forward outside crossoverexits LFI · changes foot, the edge changes, the direction holds, the lobe continues
• Right forward outside change of edgeexits RFI · same foot, the edge changes, the direction holds, the lobe reverses
• Right forward outside cross rollexits LFO · changes foot, the edge holds, the direction holds, the lobe reverses
• Right forward outside three turnexits RBI · same foot, the edge changes, the direction reverses, the lobe continues
• Right forward outside mohawkexits LBO · changes foot, the edge holds, the direction reverses, the lobe continues
• Right forward outside rockerexits RBO · same foot, the edge holds, the direction reverses, the lobe reverses
• Right forward outside slip chasséexits LFI · changes foot, the edge changes, the direction holds, the lobe continues
• Right forward outside bracketexits RBI · same foot, the edge changes, the direction reverses, the lobe continues
• Right forward outside choctawexits LBI · changes foot, the edge changes, the direction reverses, the lobe reverses
• Right forward outside counterexits RBO · same foot, the edge holds, the direction reverses, the lobe reverses
• Right forward outside crossed step behindexits LFO · changes foot, the edge holds, the direction holds, the lobe reverses
• Right forward outside loopexits RFO · same foot, the edge holds, the direction holds, the lobe continues

Clusters from RFO

• Right forward outside double threeRFO → RBI → RFO
• Right forward outside triple threeRFO → RBI → RFO → RBI
• Right forward outside rocker-counterRFO → RBO → RFO
• Right forward outside choctaw-three-rockerRFO → LBI → LFO → LBO
• Right forward outside 3-turn-change of edge-double twizzleRFO → RBI → RBO → RBO
• Right forward outside bracket-counterRFO → RBI → RFI
• Right forward outside counter-mohawkRFO → RBO → LFO
• Right forward outside counter-threeRFO → RBO → RFI
• Right forward outside counter-2½ twizzleRFO → RBO → RFI
• Right forward outside rocker-choctawRFO → RBO → LFI
• Right forward outside rocker-mohawkRFO → RBO → LFO
• Right forward outside three-mohawkRFO → RBI → LFI
• Right forward outside double three-mohawkRFO → RBI → RFO → LBO
• Right forward outside rocker-counter-double twizzleRFO → RBO → RFO → RFO

Appears in

• BIS Skills 1BIS · level 1
• BIS Skills 2BIS · level 2
• BIS Skills 3BIS · level 3
• BIS Skills 7BIS · level 7

Where it sits in one country's grades is on that country's copy of this page: UK, USA, Australia or New Zealand.

• BIS Skills 1, exercise 1: Forward edgesThe four forward edges, joined by chassés on one side and crossovers on the other.
• BIS Skills 1, exercise 3: Forward & backward crossoversCrossovers in both directions and both rotations, joined by an optional turn to backwards and a step back to forwards.
• BIS Skills 2, exercise 5: Skating exerciseA full circuit of the rink built from an open mohawk into backward edges, a step wide and a crossover, on both sides.
• BIS Skills 3, exercise 5: Forward spiralsA serpentine of closed mohawks and crossovers into a forward outside spiral on each foot, held for three seconds.
• BIS Skills 7, exercise 1: Forward inside choctaws & backward outside countersClosed choctaws from a forward inside edge, and backward outside counters run into 3-turns, down both lengths of the rink.