Tips · 9 tips

Wizard Skating moves: basics, lions, presses and S move

Nine short tips: open and closed position, gazelle, front lions, heel press, fakie toe press, S move and a combo.

1. 

   Tip 1 · Beginner

   Master your basics: from trees and gazelles to lions

   Key points

   • —To progress in Wizard Skating, master your basics; the base moves are in the teachings section of the official Wizard Skating page.
   • —You're going to learn to draw arcs and three-turn transitions.
   • —With two legs: trees and gazelles, open and closed, forward and backward.
   • —Then you take it to a single leg: the lions, also forward and backward, open and closed.
2. 

   Tip 2 · Beginner

   Open and closed position: how to identify them

   Key points

   • —Open: your shoulders go along with the opening of your hips and legs; your body moves freely, with no torsion.
   • —Closed: you leave your feet as they are and rotate your torso.
   • —It applies forward and backward, with the left or right leg in front.
   • —With that clear, it's easier to understand when a predator, a parallel or a gazelle is open or closed: the body's correspondence is always the same.
3. 

   Tip 3 · Intermediate

   Back open gazelle: two semicircles that pull you in and push you out

   Key points

   • —The back open gazelle is drawn with two semicircles: first a back open parallel and then a front open parallel.
   • —Look for the feeling that it pulls you in and pushes you out right where one semicircle ends and the other begins.
4. 

   Tip 4 · Intermediate

   Front open lion: demonstration

   Key points

   • —Demonstration video with no spoken explanation: watch it alongside the front closed lion below and notice which edge the skate enters on and where it switches.
5. 

   Tip 5 · Intermediate

   Front closed lion: from outside to inside edge, drawing a three

   Key points

   • —The front closed lion is a transition from forward to fakie on one foot, switching from the outside edge to the inside edge of the skate.
   • —Practice separately the two movements that make it up, a front closed tree and a back open tree, respecting the edge that belongs to each.
   • —When you put them together you form the front closed lion and draw a three: the center of the three is the moment when the weight change and the edge change happen.

   Common mistake

   It's one more tool to add to your flow lines.

6. 

   Tip 6 · Intermediate

   Heel press: even posture and a V with your body

   Key points

   • —In the Wizard-style heel press, the idea is to keep your position even: avoid having the dominant foot in front and the other behind, which is what you see most when starting out.
   • —It's better to change position than to hold bad form.
   • —The posture is a V with your body; hold it standing still and then add speed, gauging how long you can hold it before your legs slip away.
   • —If one foot keeps dragging (for example the left), place it a little ahead when you start so the other can catch up; that's how you adjust the strength of your non-dominant foot.
7. 

   Tip 7 · Intermediate

   Fakie toe press: balance without skates, standing still and on the move

   Key points

   • —Without skates: legs together, arms in front, chest toward your toes and hips back; raise your heels, lower into a controlled squat and rise again, engaging your core.
   • —With skates, standing still: gaze forward, legs together, body extended; raise your heels and hold it a little longer each time.
   • —On the move: push backward with a lemon and, as you bring your feet together, lift your heels to enter the fakie toe press.
   • —Hold it without letting your toes separate; when you lose stability, lower your heels and repeat.
8. 

   Tip 8 · Advanced

   S move: two interlaced lions

   Key points

   • —The S move is made up of two parts: a front open lion and a back closed lion.
   • —Prepare it with the one-foot kick, to gain confidence in your guide leg, and with the one-foot carving ending in a 180 turn.
   • —The transition is the heart of the move: be aware of the torsion of your torso and imagine the guide leg as a pendulum that brings the knee to your chest to trigger the change.
   • —Summary: initial kick, front open lion, torsion position, back closed lion.
9. 

   Tip 9 · Advanced

   Combo: front closed lion 360 into fakie toe press

   Key points

   • —Visual breakdown of the combo: a front closed lion 360 that exits into a fakie toe press.