Forward rockers

Forward outside and forward inside rockers alternating with crossovers, finishing on a held back outside edge.

BIS Skills 5exercise 2In 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 4 asked for inside rockers on their own; this asks for both, alternating, with crossovers between them and the whole thing measured on ice coverage. Deep edges is the first learning objective, and it is the honest one: a rocker skated on a shallow curve is barely a turn, because the lobe change that defines it has nowhere to happen.

The outside rocker is the one that catches skaters who have got comfortable with the inside version. Rotating in the direction the curve is already going feels like being pulled round, and on an outside edge there is more speed to be pulled by. The turn arrives early, the exit lobe is too tight, and the next crossover has to be squeezed in.

It ends on a held back outside edge, which is a deliberate way to finish. Everything before it has been a turn or a step, and the last thing the exercise asks is whether the skater can stop doing things and hold what all that turning produced.

Elements

Left forward outside rockerLFO to LBO: half a turn into the circle, holding the edge and leaving on a new one.
Right forward outside rockerRFO to RBO: half a turn into the circle, holding the edge and leaving on a new one.
Right forward inside rockerRFI to RBI: half a turn into the circle, holding the edge and leaving on a new one.
Left forward inside rockerLFI to LBI: half a turn into the circle, holding the edge and leaving on a new one.
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.
Extended edgeA plain edge held for a third of a circle, long enough to be a position in its own right.

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.