Trick: Frontwards Hawk Move in Skating
The hawk move may be used in various circumstances but the most obvious is certainly in Speed Skating to overcome an opponent on the finish line. But you can come across similar moves in slalom, in roller derby... Here are a few tips to do that pleasing and useful move...
Par alfathor
What is a frontwards hawk move in skating?
Description of the hawk move
What is a hawk move in skating? It is a kind of rolling splits: the front foot relies on the back wheel of the skate while the back foot is on its front wheel. That move is used a lot during arrival sprints in Speed Skating in order to cross the finish line first. It is also used in other disciplines such as slalom, roller derby… Yet, there are slight differences of execution and of purpose so that, although the base is the same, names are different: slaloming along cones, similar techniques whether heel-toe or flat are used for tricks of the snake family for example; in derby, it is commonly used for stability purposes for slicing onto an opposing player…
The stages to succeed in doing the hawk move
- gain momentum
- bend your knees
- place one foot in front of the other (at shoulder width!)
- make your back foot roll on its toes
- put your front foot forwards, still in a flat position (all wheels on the ground)
- distribute your weight equally on both feet
- once balanced, lift the toes of your front foot in order to roll on the heel
- straighten your front leg and keep getting lower
- well done!
A few tips
- the lower the more stable
- toning your abs is essential
- don’t have a go at too big an hawk right away as it requires a lot of strength from your legs, as well as a good warm up beforehand
- make sure you have solid weightbearings
- cautiously tighten your skates to avoid losing balance
Mistakes to avoid
- if you skate fast, your skates may wobble a bit
- don’t let your boot scrape the ground
- avoid loose skates
Variation: Changing directions doing frontwards hawk
Be aware that you can change directions when you are in that position. You just have to lean/turn the front foot to head towards the direction that you want.
Learning forwards front hawk in skating (French)
Links
Video: an example of forwards hawk (DailyMotion)
Translation: Chloe Seyres
Video: Alfathor et Delvar
Photo n°1: Alfathor
Photo n°2: Keuj
