The Crazy Slalom Trick - What Is It and How To Perform It?
Preparatory Exercises - Fish, Snake, Cross
Crazy is one of the first slalom tricks you can master to elevate your rollerblading skills to the next level. This impressive trick requires mastering the Cross trick both forwards and backwards. However, it is recommended to start with the Fish and Snake tricks.
Freestyle slalom involves performing tricks while skating between evenly spaced, small cones. The skater manoeuvres between them, executing simple or more complex tricks. Achieving perfection requires a lot of practice - our guide and video will help you prepare for the Crazy trick. See how your training should look.
Starting With Fish
Fish is a slalom trick with feet close together - the skater’'s feet move similarly to a fish. The basic principle is to keep the skates close together. To perform Fish, you need to bend your knees deeply and press on your heels every time you want to turn. Your toes should be light and unburdened, allowing for slight movement and rotation. Maintain a proper body posture and avoid leaning forward or backward, as this can disrupt your balance.
Exercise should be performed on a track with evenly spaced cones or cups (start with 10 cups spaced 1 metre apart, then reduce to 80 cm apart).
To ensure smooth and dynamic movement in the Fish style, you need to engage your entire body. Use not only your feet but also your knees, hips, and arms. Once you’ve mastered forward skating in the Fish style, try the same trick moving backward. In this case, shift your weight onto your toes, keeping your heels light and flexible, which allows for easier turning.
Snake, Inline Slalom
In this trick, the skater leads one skate after the other, moving along the same path. The most important rule is to transfer your body weight onto the back foot. The key skill here is balancing your body. How to perform the Snake in slalom?
Position your feet in a scissor stance - one skate clearly ahead of the other; shift your body weight onto the back leg; press on the heels while skating; switch edges from outer to inner as you move.
Practise this trick on both legs - sometimes the left should lead, other times the right. You can also train edge skating by trying a simple exercise, the half-barrel trick - one skate moves straight along the cones, while the other weaves between them. Alternate legs and repeat the exercise.
This trick can also be performed while skating backward. During backward skating, apply more pressure to the front part of the skates to keep the heels light, agile, and more manoeuvrable. Always look in the direction of travel behind the leading leg.
Forward Cross and Backward Cross
The next step in mastering the Crazy trick is learning the Forward and Backward Cross. This technique allows you to weave around cones from both sides simultaneouslythe leading leg bypasses the cone, for example, from the right side, while the other leg goes from the left. Then the skates cross and pass the cone in a crossed position, and the next in a barrel position. Cross skating is done on the outer edges of the wheels.
Executing this trick requires excellent motor coordination. Ensure you maintain a consistent distance between the rollerblades to avoid collisions during crossovers. Start by practiscing leg crossovers in place, without moving. Stand with your legs slightly apart so the wheels are close together, and cross your legs. Remember to use the outer edges of the wheels. Avoid spreading your feet too wide.
Perform each slalom with both the left and right leg, moving forward and backward. When skating backward, look over the leading leg. Make sure not to perform the crossovers too quickly.
Crazy Trick
Before attempting the Crazy trick, mark the path you’ll skate on using chalk. Remember, during this trick, you move diagonally relative to the cones, and your face always remains in one direction. Start skating on the marked path by drawing an “O” around the first cone:
- Perform an “O” forward around the first cone;
- Turn backward on your toes;
- Perform an “O” backward around the second cone;
- Turn forward on your heels;
- Perform an “O” forward around the third cone.
Ensure your gaze is consistently pointed in the same direction.
You can perform the Cross in the same pattern. Begin with the leg closest to the cones—this leg will skate forward. Execute a crossover (Cross) at the first cone and skate backward with the same leg, performing another crossover (Cross) at the second cone. Move forward from a position with toes pointing inward, and start the backward motion from a position with heels pointing inward.
The most challenging aspect might be skating correctly on the outer edges. However, it is crucial because skating on the inner edges leads to an “O” shaped movement and veering off course. It’s worthwhile to practise skating on the outer edges.
Position yourself in an inverted V shape—keep your toes close together, heels wider apart, and arms extended to the sides. Use a cone to perform a forward cross, immediately followed by a backward cross around the same cone. Remember to consciously skate on the outer edges. When skating forward, your toes come closer together, and when skating backward, your heels converge.
While performing tricks, you can use your arms for supportinitially, this will help you maintain balance. If you want to revisit the basic positions, check out the earlier lessons in our rollerblading course! Practice makes perfect, so we wish you a successful training session!
