September 2023 Practice Schedule
As the carefree days of summer slowly fade, I encourage you to take a deep breath and embrace the excitement of a new month in front of us. September is here!
Like the changing leaves, this month urges us to embrace new opportunities, dive into learning, and savor the beauty of transformation. In simpler words: stay open to opportunity and enjoy the process.
This month we have two new skills to go over: the Outer Back Heel to Heel Transition and the Outer Forward Counter Turn. Accompanying these skills are two of my favorite workouts (Drills 15 & 16), Choreography for all levels to September by Earth, Wind & Fire, and so many more skills to enhance your practice this month and tie it all together.
Below is my recommended practice schedule for September 2023 and you can find links to each video at the bottom of each section.
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Week 1:
DrillS 15 (OFF-SKATES WARM UP)
Outer Back Heel To Heel Transition (the smoothest way to turn back to forward)
Extra Credit:
Inner Forward Heel to Heel Transition
Backward Skating
Inner back Heel to Heel Transition
Drills 15: These off-skate drills are my favorite! I call this video a “warm up”, but it’s a workout for sure. These were my drills every day for about 5 years when I was competing at the World level. I would get out of school and head straight to the skating rink, put my stuff inside, and then walk right back out to go through these drills. I would then do a light stretch, get my skates on, and I was ready to skate for a few hours. These drills are a great warm up before you skate or a great complete workout, depending on the day. Take your time with it. I promise it will get easier to complete the more you do it.
Outer Back Heel to Heel Transition: Have you ever been skating backward and had the quick realization that you don’t actually know how to turn back around comfortably? Yea, me too! This Outer Back Heel to Heel Transition is often the smoothest way to turn from back to forward. If you pair it with the Inner Forward Heel to Heel Transition, you will have a complete rotation. This is taught pretty early on in Artistic Roller Skating within the Chase Waltz. So, for all of my artistic skating lovers, check out the Chase Waltz here. The corner steps involve both the Inner Forward and the Outer Back Heel to Heel Transitions.
Inner Forward Heel to Heel Transition: While the Outer Back Heel to Heel Transition is the safest and easiest way to get from backward to forward, the Inner Forward Heel to Heel Transition is the safest and easiest way to get from forward to backward! I, personally, have a difficult time with my heel to heel transitions, so I have to use my edges to get around all the way. Edges are the secret to good, solid skating in every capacity. So, when in doubt, practice those edges!
Backward Skating: Transitions to and from forward and backward skating require two things: forward skating and backward skating. Ha! We can’t overlook that. If you’re going to turn around while skating I would love for you to feel super confident in your backward skating. We have an entire section on the website dedicated to backward skating and one video in particular all about skating backward. The most important thing to think about when skating backward is that booty of yours! Keep that backside pushed out a little and your knees bent. The hips need to stay back to prevent injury.
Inner Back Heel to Heel Transition: This transition is my favorite way to turn forward from a backward cross pull. Opposite from our main skill this week, we go from an inner back edge to an inner forward edge, turning our body toward the inside of our circle that we are creating. On the outer back heel to heel transition we rotate our body to the outside of the circle. I recommend practicing these two transitions together so that you have multiple ways to turn from backward to forward whenever you need them.
Where to find these videos:
Drills 15 - Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Back Heel to Heel Transition - Skills page (artistic skating section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Inner Forward (IF) Heel to Heel Transition - Skills page (transition section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Backward Skating - Skills page (backward skating section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Inner Back (IB-IF) Heel to Heel Transition - Skills page (transition section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 2:
Beginner/Intermediate Choreography (September By Earth, Wind & Fire)
Extra Credit:
Heel/Toe Step
STRUT Walk
2 Foot Spin
Beginner/Intermediate Choreography: Do you remember? It’s not yet the 21st night of September…but it will be soon enough and we will be ready to groove! This month’s choreography is set up kind of like a line dance. You can repeat the steps over and over again, rotating if you want to face each direction. Within the Beginner/Intermediate Choreography we cover four main skills: Heel/Toe Step, Strut Walk, 2 Foot Spin, and Reverse Strut Walk. Grab your friends and step this one out together - on skates and off!
Heel/Toe Step: Alternating heel/toe is a cool dance move on its own, but it’s also a very important skill to master. We use this skill at the very beginning of our choreography and while dancing through skills is the best way to make them feel natural, I would love for you to check out the skills class for this as well.
Strut Walk: The strut walk was made popular on TikTok and quickly became an essential skill in roller skating. Stepping one foot in front of the other seems like an easy task at first, but the transfer of weight from one foot to the next with wheels under your feet is not so simple at times. If you would like help breaking it down, I’m here for you! You can even reverse it (which we do at the end of our choreography)!
Two Foot Spin: Back to those edges! A two foot spin is done with one skate moving backward on an inner back edge and the other rolling forward on an inner forward edge. You don’t have to move super fast on a two-foot spin, so it’s great for all levels and the spin within our choreography provides great practice. If you want to speed up your spin, pop up the heel and toe for multiple rotations.
Where to find these videos:
September (Beginner/Intermediate) - Choreography page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Heel/Toe Step - Skills page (heel-toe section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Strut Walk - Skills page (backward skating section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Two Foot Spin - Skills page (edges section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 3:
DRILLS 16 (Pressure Into The Ground)
Outer Forward Counter Turn (we’ve covered 3-turns, brackets, rockers, and finally…counters)
Extra Credit:
Outer Edge Swings
Outer Forward Rocker
One Foot spin
Drills 16: This is another set of drills done off-skates. We will be working on putting pressure down into the ground. When we begin to learn more difficult skills like one-foot turns we have to learn to put pressure into the ground through certain parts of our skate. I believe it’s best to learn to do that off skates first, focusing on our feet without wheels underneath them.
Outer Forward Counter Turn: At last we are learning the Counter turn. You can do this turn from an outer forward, inner forward, outer back, or inner back. This week we will be focusing on entering the turn from an outer forward edge. If you hop this turn you will be lifting your heel wheels and if you slide this turn you will be lessening the pressure into the ground through the heel wheels. It’s important to remember to push your hips back a bit when exiting this turn to make sure you stay stable and prevent falling backward.
Outer Edge Swings: When entering my Outer Forward Counter Turn I like to swing my freeleg forward. I find that this helps to establish my edge. Swings are a great way to practice your edges and make sure you are holding them for as long as possible. It is important to be able to hold your edge with your freeleg in back as well as in front and that is exactly the practice that the outer edge swing provides.
Outer Forward Rocker: The rocker is like the cousin to the counter turn. They are similar but not totally related. You can enter both turns the same way: from an outer forward swing. While the counter turn unwinds and turns toward the outside of the circle, the rocker turns toward the center of your circle. If you find this slightly confusing, you’re not alone. I encourage you to watch and try both turns back to back. If you have any questions, please let me know.
One Foot Spin: So far this month we have worked on heel to heel transitions and a two foot spin in our choreography, so why not put all of that together and level it up into a one-foot spin? A one-foot spin requires attention to the inner back edge. However, one of the biggest issues we run into with our one-foot spin is in the upper half of our body - not so much our edge. In order to make the one-foot spin smooth we have to keep our shoulders coming around. So, if you’re rotating to your left, keep your left shoulder pulling back and your right shoulder traveling forward.
Where to find these videos:
Drills 16 - Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Forward Counter Turn - Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Edge Swings - Skills page (edges section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Forward Rocker - Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
One Foot Spin - Skills page (spins section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 4:
ADVANCED Choreography (September By Earth, Wind & Fire)
Extra Credit:
DRILLS 15 (YES, AGAIN)
Outer Forward Bracket
Downtown
Advanced Choreography:The advanced portion of our choreography still has that line dance feel…with more difficult skills. We start with a cross behind, then a cross in front, go into a rotation using our heel to heel transition, go back the other way with some one-foot turns, downtown, 2-foot spin, and strut it out to finish it all off. It sounds like a lot but it all flows together very nicely! And it’s repeatable!
Drills 15: We tend to overlook the power of off-skate training. I personally love to go through things off skates. Every piece of choreography that I create is started on feet. The skates go on after I have the structure of the routine. The same thing goes for new skills. We don’t always have to have our skates on and sometimes it’s smart to give our feet a little bit of a rest.
Outer Forward Bracket: We use a version of this turn in our choreography. I say a “version” of it because you don’t really need to press an edge in the choreography. But of course, like always, I would love for you to practice those edges!! Although this is a one-foot turn, you can practice it with your freeleg on the ground, like a kick-stand. Like the counter turn, make sure to really sit and push those hips back when exiting the turn.
Downtown: Let’s finish the month with some fun!! The downtown is one of my favorite fun skills to do…and it’s great with friends. You can slow it down or make it quick, rotate it, and add spins or footwork to the end of each pass. The summer season may be over but we can still practice all of the skills within our Summer Checklist and this is one of the most popular ones!
Where to find these videos:
September (Advanced) - Choreography page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Drills 15 - Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Forward Bracket - Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Downtown - Skills page (dance section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
At the end of each month, I want you to take a moment to look back and see how far you’ve come. Did you learn something new? Did you progress? Did you surprise yourself? Do you have new goals for next month? Take a moment, breathe, roll your shoulders back, lift your head high, and tell yourself you’re doing a great job. Because you are.
If you would like to submit your progress for our Community Progress Video, submit your vertical video here. Submissions are due on the last day of each month.
Keep in touch about how you’re feeling. Know that I am right here, practicing all of these things alongside you. It doesn’t matter how new or experienced you are in skating, it is very important for all of us to stay consistent with our drills and practice. I am here to help with technique, movement, and most importantly with motivation.
What was your favorite part of this month? What was the hardest for you? What kept you going? Leave a comment! If you are practicing on instagram, please tag me and #quadsociety! I love to see and share your progress! Lastly, don’t forget about the wonderful community on the Discord. Everything is better with friends!
