Two-foot change of edge

Both blades rolled from one set of edges to the other, in one movement, without a step.

Also called two foot change of edge or two-foot power change of edge. Other names.

basic

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.

The mark this leaves on the ice, both blades. A straight line is a claim as much as a curve is: it says the blade is flat, and a blade that is not flat is an edge and a different element.

shoulder to hip —on the —

both blades rolling from one pair of edges through a flat onto the other, the curve reversing. Negative twist means the shoulders are held back against the hips, which stores rotation before a takeoff and checks it on a landing.

Feet down, about hip width apart, you roll both blades from one pair of edges onto the other, so that the curve reverses. No foot leaves the ice. British Ice Skating’s definition of a change of edge is one foot’s tracing leaving one curve and edge for another; this is that, made by both feet at once. Its Skills 1 slalom is built from it, repeated as a two-foot power change of edge, with correct edges, rhythmic knee action and speed as the learning objectives.

Each foot’s edges are named for that foot, so at the change the foot that was on an outside edge moves to an inside one and the other foot does the reverse, and the two tracings draw one long shallow S side by side. Ice Skating Australia’s slalom says how the push is made, with outside-edge pressure and the knees rising at each change.

Build on

Two-foot glideBoth feet stay on the ice as they do here, and the change rolls them together onto the other pair of edges.

Leads to

10 elements in the guide are built on this one.

Power change of edge pullsThe same change of curve, made on one foot and driven for speed down the length of the rink.
SlalomBritish Ice Skating's Skills 1 slalom is this change, repeated as a two-foot power change of edge.
Left backward inside change of edge, Left backward outside change of edge, Left forward inside change of edge, Left forward outside change of edge, Right backward inside change of edge, Right backward outside change of edge, Right forward inside change of edge, Right forward outside change of edgeBritish Ice Skating defines a change of edge as one foot's tracing leaving one curve and edge for another. Here both feet do it together.

Appears in

In the UK's grades

None of the British level lists in this guide name it outside the Skills tests below.

BIS Skills 1BIS · level 1

BIS Skills 1, exercise 4: SlalomPower changes of edge down the length of the rink, forwards on two feet and one, and backwards on two.