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wondercheese
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:45 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 291
Location: Washington, USA

I can make sharp turns to the left (I'm left foot forward), but I cannot turn to the right. I was wondering if there are tricks to making a turn in the opposite direction of the foot that is forward, or if I just need to learn to switch...

WC

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Thu 21:53] wondercheese: we weren't trying to cause damage, and we DID pay for the broken lotion!
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Merrie_England
PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:21 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK

Even without you needing to state it, I could have told from your question that you have your left foot in front. Smile . . it's always harder at first to turn the opposite side to which foot is in front, because if you turn the front foot the natural tendency at first (at least for me and the friends I've taught) is to let the back foot mimic that turn in the same direction, which will mean that you might end up with both feet side by side and you are likely to fall in that position, at least until you get the AOD-style balance perfected (am working on this at the moment myself). Same goes for left turns with right foot in front.

So, whilst it's true that it's easier to turn right if you have the right foot forward, it's not at all difficult to do it with the left foot forward once you get used to a different technique, but don't be upset if it takes a lot of practise, I think even this basic thing took me a couple of weeks of 2 hours a day practise being older - kids seem to pick it up fast but adults like me who haven't learned new balance skills since the age of about 18 months (walking upright) find it simply requires hours and hours of practise to get a new trick.

Here's how I turn right with left foot forward.

1) You lock your legs such that your right foot is behind and in line with your left and CANNOT come right or forwards.

2) Since you're cornering, you're gonna be experiencing a sideways (centripetal) force, in this case to the left, just like when cornering on a motorbike, so you have to do a LEAN to the right with your upper body (If nervous of "leaning" for fear of a slip you can also lean your shoulders: tense the right hand side abdominals and lateral muscles to pull the right shoulder down and lean your head right - but to be honest unless you're on wet floor normal heely wheels should be sticky enough to grip fine whilst leaning hard and fast), just like on a bike. Obviously it's best to learn by turning slowly at first, but as you get faster you'll need to "lean" your upper body more. Often I find leaning as I approach the corner helps me a little, as long as I don't lean "too soon."

When I was learning I found it impossible to learn cornering in malls/shops without breaking the golden rules of not heeling round corners close to the inside edge, where you can't see the Helen Keller - so, find yourself a quiet spot where you won't get interrupted, or make yourself a corner on your kitchen floor using obstacles like tables and chairs - to practise cornering around - at first make it a gradual wide corner, and when you've mastered that and can carrry the same speed through the whole corner and beyond back into a normal straight glide, make it a sharper and sharper corner. Smile

3) This is going to mess with your head a bit, so read carefully. Smile To turn left with your left toes in front, you turn your front (left) toes to the left, so to turn right, you turn your front (left) toes to the right, right? Not quite. . .

Whilst it is true that you will be turning the front (left) foot's toes to the right, I find it also helps if you use a bit of rear-wheel steer - what I am saying is, not only do you turn your front (left) toes to the right, but you also turn your rear (right) toes to the LEFT a little (the opposite of your front foot). When teaching new people to heel (and indeed when I was learning corners myself not so long back) I found this trick helped prevent the back foot coming forward and therefore you're less likely to fall as the way the back wheel takes you will be trying to "cross" rather than "uncross" your legs, and keeping your legs crossed is always safer when heeling (I'll resist the urge to make the obvious comparison with other facets of life Very Happy ) because crossed legs means your back foot cannot come forwards into the "rollerskating" (feet side by side) stance and cause a fall.

So, just like when doing straight forward heeling you have to resist the urge that many beginner heelers get (I did and most of my friends I've taught did) to bring the back foot forwards, when cornering right as a left footer you have to resist the body's natural tendency to "uncross" the legs and resist the tendency to allow the right (rear) foot to come forwards - as I say, pointing it in the opposite direction and "steering from the rear" as drifters say, helps.

The rest (like knowing HOW much to lean depending on the tightness of the turn you're doing and the speed) is just practice. Smile

So, as you've noticed, just going forwards there are four different ways of cornering:
1) right with right foot first [usually easier at first]
2) Right (left first) [usually harder at first]
3) L (R first) [usually harder at first]
4) L (L first) [usually easier at first]

When you learn heeling backwards, again you will have to learn four more ways of cornering, two of which are again usually a little easier than the other two, but all of which (I find) requires the same 3 "tricks" summarised below:)

So, to summarise:

1) lock legs so they can't uncross and prevent back foot from coming forwards.

2) lean into it (if turning right, lean right)

3) use a little rear-wheel-steer (point back toes slightly in opposite direction to the way you're cornering) to keep legs crossed and prevent back foot from coming forwards. Smile


Some people I hear do tend to prefer switching so that they have the "easier" leg in front for the required corner, but I being a perfectionist will often force myself to do it the hard way - only by using the leg I'm least comfortable with will that leg become more comfortable, and get me closer to being able to do any trick on any leg or (as H2 calls it): Skate "AJ" Smile Of course, I guess some may disagree with any/all of the above, as is their right, but (disclaimer) this is how it has always seemed to me. Smile

Hope this helps, and sorry if i made any obvious typo's in the above: been up for about 15 hours straight Very Happy

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wondercheese
PostPosted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:29 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 291
Location: Washington, USA

Thanks ME!

That trick of turning the right foot inward worked like a charm! I can now corner/weave around obstacles in both directions!!!! AND I got kicked out a Rite Aid for practicing, and not shopping! Oh well, I was waiting for my boss to get finished with a meeting...

WC

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Thu 21:53] wondercheese: we weren't trying to cause damage, and we DID pay for the broken lotion!
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Merrie_England
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:55 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK

wondercheese wrote:
Thanks ME!

That trick of turning the right foot inward worked like a charm!
Glad to be of service m'lady. *bows* Very Happy

But yeah, I probably should have put that last trick (#3 - right foot inward as you call it) first on the list: the other two will probably be needed more as/when you start to do really fast tight cornering. Smile

wondercheese wrote:
I got kicked out a Rite Aid for practicing, and not shopping!
Hehe, yeah, funny when that happens lol. I think my next argument with anti-skating security guards (when I am shopping) is that if they ban me for having wheels, they must also ban the shopping carts, as those big metal things would do much more damage if they bumped into another customer than my soft little self would, LOL.

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wondercheese
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:07 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 291
Location: Washington, USA

Well, the other 2 (lock legs, lean) I was already trying, but even so my back foot was wanting to come forward. It took 3 (right for inward) to make it work! Now I have to go back to working on riding switch and switching....

WC

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seth1230
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 12:48 pm  Reply with quote
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at vertigo practice dave pointed out to just make your stance smaller when your turning the opposite the direction with teh opposite foot. idk if thats what merrie said also but i dont bother reading any post longer then 2 paragraphs.

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Merrie_England
PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 1:53 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK

seth1230™ wrote:
i dont bother reading any post longer then 2 paragraphs.
*old man voice* LOL, you young'ins, no patience Very Happy

But no, I'd never tried that, so thanks for the tip seth, I'll give it a go. Smile

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wondercheese
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 12:34 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 291
Location: Washington, USA

It kinda seems that turning in the back foot does make the stance smaller... as in my stance gets narrower and shorter.

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Merrie_England
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:37 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK

wondercheese wrote:
It kinda seems that turning in the back foot does make the stance smaller... as in my stance gets narrower and shorter.


Yeah, that's the natural tendency of the body wanting to bring the back foot forwards to it's more normal position of being beside your other foot, which is what causes most leftie people to struggle with the right-hand corner - of course, once you've counter-turned it, it can't come forward because your other foot's heel is blocking it's path Smile

Of course, if the stance is shorter, your front-to-back balance is a little harder at first, since you have a shorter distance between which you must now keep your center of gravity - but yeah, you get used to that in time.

I think for us older heelers, a lot of the difficulties with heeling comes down to trying to override some of the natural "normal walking" tendencies that we've been using for like 20 odd years . . . things like the instinct to bring the back foot forwards to beside the other foot for a more stable base if you're falling, which can be counter productive when heeling, have to be consciously overridden with new instincts, i.e., "if you feel yourself falling, stamp your toes down quick (hard brake)" - it's a matter of reprogramming the standard schemata your brain has been using, which is naturally going to be easier for a kid who's only been walking a few years as opposed to an older person for whom the normal walking "program" is much more deeply ingrained.

It would be incredible to see how good a heeler a naturally gifted kid could be if they started heeling as young as possible (say age 2, might require custom small heelys) and had all the best teachers or whatever Smile

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IVI4V3R1CK
PostPosted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:40 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Dec 2007
Posts: 1067
Location: Colorado Springs, CO

If you want to do a continuing run, I always just do a switch. But if I need to make a 90º turn, I usually just plant my foot and jump/turn and kickswitch back in. Its Heelys people, we can plant our foot down lol

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