Forward changes of edge

Forward changes of edge held for half a circle, entered from an open chassé on one side and from a crossover on the other.

BIS Skills 3exercise 1In the syllabus both before and after 01/10/2026

Not checked yet. The requirements 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.

Skills 1 and 2 asked for changes of edge in a rhythm, one after another down the rink. This asks for one, and then for half a circle of doing nothing with it. That is a harder demand than it sounds and a completely different one: a slalom hides an imperfect change inside the next change, and a held edge has nowhere to put it.

The chassé is what makes the entry honest. Bringing the free foot down beside the skating foot and taking it up again gives the skater no push to steer with, so the edge that follows is whatever the lean and the knee actually produced. Open means the free foot returns behind; closed brings it in front. This guide keeps the two as one element, because the difference is in the free leg and the tracing is the same.

Where the edge comes from changes on the second side. It now arrives after a crossover, where the first side had a chassé, with the feet already crossed and the body rotated. Same element, less time to organise it, and it is the side that shows whether the first one was being helped along.

Elements

Left forward outside chasséLFO to RFI: the free foot comes down beside the skating foot, nothing crossing, still travelling forwards on the same lobe.
Right forward outside chasséRFO to LFI: the free foot comes down beside the skating foot, nothing crossing, still travelling forwards on the same lobe.
Left forward outside change of edgeLFO to LFI: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling forwards, and the lobe reverses.
Right forward outside change of edgeRFO to RFI: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling forwards, and the lobe reverses.
Left forward inside change of edgeLFI to LFO: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling forwards, and the lobe reverses.
Right forward inside change of edgeRFI to RFO: the blade rolls across without turning, still travelling forwards, and the lobe reverses.
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.

This page lists which elements the exercise calls for and what it is working on. It does not reproduce British Ice Skating's sequence, pattern or wording. For the exercise as published, go to their own document.