What to Practice - November 2024
Welcome to this month’s practice schedule! All of these videos are available within the membership at
ThatNicoleFiore.com or my YouTube channel.
All levels, all ages, everyone is welcome! You do not need any previous skills to join us. Please let me know if you have any questions. I am here to help!
Week 1:
Inner Forward Heel-Heel Transition
When you want to turn from forward to backward, the safest way to do so is typically the heel to heel transition. To do this transition, you need to transfer your weight from one foot moving forward to the other foot moving backward. You can do all of this in a small space or in a large space. That's the beautiful thing about roller skates! You can skate pretty much anywhere and everywhere! Small space? Not a problem! Small spaces like inside your home will require you to press your edges a little harder. Honestly, not a bad thing at all! I prefer it. If the heel to heel position is difficult for you to do, work on your edges. Pressing an inner edge going into and out of the transition makes it easier. Press the inner forward edge going into the transition so that when you put the second foot down, you don't have to open your hips as much. You can do more like a V shape and then press the inner back edge, close the book, and you're done!
There are a lot of body position things that I want you to focus on this month and a lot of it has to do with not squaring off. So, pay attention to where your core is aiming, how much it is rotating, and how hard you are checking it.
Video length: 15 minutes, 12 seconds
Go to the video: Skills page (transitions section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Forward 3-Turn
The three-turn is another option when you want to turn from forward to back or back to forward, but we're going to focus on forward to back right now. Instead of using both feet like in the heel to heel transition, we are going to be on one foot. If you feel that you are not quite ready for three turns yet, I want you to practice them off-skates. We will actually start the 3-turn off skates in the skills video. This is also a great time to practice your edges. The three turn is called a three turn because you create a three on the ground. Work on pressing your edges in and out of the turn to really create that pattern!
Video length: 22 minutes, 40 seconds
Go to the video: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 2:
Spice Up Your Life - Beginner/ Intermediate Choreography
We are going to do choreography to ‘Spice Up Your Life’ by the Spice Girls, starting with the Beginner/ Intermediate, of course! I know this time of year can be tough with a lot of travel involved and I want you to be able to practice it on the go, so it can be done off-skates or on-skates! This choreography is very steppy and very dancy. While the choreography will be fairly easy with the feet, we will be moving our body a lot. Really try to connect your body to your mind. Mind-body connection is super important and we seem to forget it once our skates are laced up. Use this choreography to really connect your body to your mind. For example, when your mind tells your body to step left, make sure you step naturally (how you would on feet). Avoid stiffening up. Try to move naturally.
Choreography is not all about dancing. I use it as practice. It's more time on your skates, doing things that are a bit abnormal. That is what is going to make your skating easier, more natural, and better overall.
Video length: 14 minutes, 50 seconds
Go to the video: Choreography page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Drills: Scooter Pushes
Our drill this week is a brand new one: Scooter Pushes!! Please don't hate me…trust me. This drill is arguably the best workout I can ever suggest to anyone and it is…exhausting. It involves staying bent in one leg and pushing with the other. If you are in a small space, you won't be able to push really hard, but you can still get a solid workout.
You may need to build up to it throughout the month and drill a little bit at a time. I highly recommend doing this at least once a week. I'm not going to put it on the practice schedule that often, but please try to incorporate it into your skating more than just this once.
Video length: 7 minutes, 20 seconds
Go to the video: Drills page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 3:
Strut Walk
This fun skill is also known as the TikTok walk! We had a “aha” moment with this skill in my Workshop last month. The secret: you really can’t get much speed from the strut walk on its own. The strut walk is also not simply plopping your foot down. There's a lot more to it and a lot more control needed to make it look smoother (or sexier ✨). You have to develop some speed before going into the strut walk. Once I said that to everyone in my workshop and they tried it, "Oh, this feels so much better!!!" echoed through the studio. The skaters you see on TikTok are not magically gaining a ton of speed. They are skating, turning around, and strutting. You can also gain speed while skating backward before going into it.
Video length: 20 minutes, 58 seconds
Go to the video: Skills page (dance section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Back 3-Turn
The Outer Back 3-Turn presses an outer back edge and turns forward onto an inner forward edge. Whenever you're turning from backward to forward on a three turn, your toe wheels will have less pressure in them. If you're going to hop the turn, the toe wheels completely lift up off the ground. If you slide the turn, your toe wheels will slide across the surface. Make sure your hips stay back during this process no matter what. This turn is the second half of the Marching Turn when connected to the Outer Forward 3-Turn, switching feet in between. Once you know the standard rules of a three-turn, you can take that knowledge into your brackets, rockers, and counters.
Video length: 33 minutes, 4 seconds
Go to the video: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 4:
Spice Up Your Life - Advanced Choreography
It’s time for our Advanced Choreography to ‘Spice Up Your Life’ by the Spice Girls!! Since this is the advanced choreography, the skill level will be…a bit more advanced. We have a toe stop rotation, a strut walk, and a whole lot of energy. That's the thing about advanced. It often requires a bit more energy than the beginner/ intermediate. No matter what level skater you are, I want you to push yourself - not just in your skills, but also in how much energy you are spending. Let’s work on that stamina and endurance! Like I always say, choreography is not just for skills or to learn how to dance on skates, it is one of the best ways to practice. Win-win!
Video length: 13 minutes, 48 seconds
Go to the video: Choreography page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Drills 7: Strut Training
When you do a Strut Walk, there's a lot of movement from muscle that we don't usually use when we simply walk on feet. You're using your hamstrings, moving your leg up a bit higher than normal, tightening your core to provide a little bit of a rotation, and more. Let’s make it a bit easier by drilling the movement and slowing it down.
That is the reason why I build these drills! A lot of skaters think they can just put their skates on, learn a skill, and have it be stuck with them forever. I wish it was that simple! Within the membership, you have access to drills, skills, choreography, off-skate drills, mindfulness videos, etc. There's a lot to learn from and a lot of good information to use. We have to make sure our muscles know what to do and remember what to do for a long time. If you skate long enough, you’ll meet other skaters who are 80/ 90 years old and they're still able to skate. Their bodies may not be quite as mobile as they once were, but they are still able to do the skills. This is because they have practiced them over and over for years. Repetition is a huge part of skating and that's why I'm kind of limiting what is in the practice schedule this month. I want you to really focus in on what I'm having you practice and practice it over and over again throughout the week instead of just one time.
Video length: 21 minutes, 53 seconds
Go to the video: Drills page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Progress:
Lastly, 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.
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!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know if you would like further guidance. You can book in-person private lessons or online private lessons here! And if you would like a more structured course to focus on all of your foundational skills, check out my Foundations Course.
