How to Do the Downtown on Roller Skates

Hey skaters, I'm Dirty Deborah Harry with the Dirty School of Skate and Sure-Grip Roller Skates. I'm here at the Fountain Valley Skating Center today to talk to you about how to do it downtown. I am going to really break it down from its most minute parts and then expand it. So this video is perfect for you if you're a very beginner or if you're a little bit more advanced because I'm going to break it down so that we can see all the little components and then make it like all fluid and then put some style on it. Okay, so stick with me through the end of this video to get all the information you need to know. Now, if you need skates, if you need plates, wheels, toe stops, any kind of accessories, go to my sponsor for this video. That's wickedskatewear.com. Wicked Skatewear is in Huntington Beach, California. They're online. Their store is open and you can get everything you need from skating. Just tell the gals and Kat that I sent you and I promise you they will take good care of you. All right, skaters, so let's get started. So let's talk about doing the downtown and for this video, I decided to enlist the help of my beautiful and talented friend, Tati. Here she comes, skaters. Okay, Tati, move it on over, sister. Okay, this is my friend Tati. Say hi. Hello, everybody. I met Tati down in Long Beach, you know, the beach, and it was crazy because I was just down there skating and literally saw her skating with a friend down at the basketball courts and I was up above and I said to myself, seriously, hey, that girl can skate. Like who is she? And I love to meet and discover new people when I'm out and about. So I, you know, I skate up to her and I'm all like, who are you? I saw her skating and I was really inspired by the way that she skates, which is really, I think you skate very fluid. All right. I could say the same about you. You're very free and it's fun to watch you. You are my inspiration. So today we're going to break down the downtown. You ready? In the first phase of learning the downtown, it's going to all be, it's going to, going to all be, it's going to all be, all be about the pattern. Done. Right? Okay. But it's true. It really, it is about the pattern. Otherwise, if you don't know the steps, how are you going to do it? How are you going to do it if you don't know the pattern? Now here's the pattern. Let's do the pattern. We're going to go this way. The pattern is so simple. You're going to go over, under, and you're going to go down, down, over, under, down, down, over, under, down, down. Now you've seen this before, right? You've seen this very simple and you're like, oh yeah, that's good, but it's actually really hard. It is. It took a long time. Lots of practice. What happens is when we go over, under, down, down, go over, under, down, down, over, under, down, down, so much is happening there. So much is happening. So when we first do it in phase one, it's going to look really stiff. So stiffen up, people. Bend your knees, chin up, shoulders straight across, neck very tight, arms down. I need you to shift your body weight over to one side and with your hip, pick that hip up, take your foot and put it over the other side. Push your weight down on it to release the back foot, set it down, put your weight over here, pick your hip up, go under, put your weight down to release, and go down, down. Okay? Now bend your knees, lean that way, pick up your hip and cross. Put your weight down to release the back foot, have it like that. Put your weight here, pick up your hip, go under, release, down, down. Okay. I get that looks crazy, does it not? It does. It looks crazy. Crazy cool. Right. Get that pattern because don't you think it's difficult sometimes right in the beginning to tell someone to just cross their legs like this? So even having this posturing, if you were in a beginner skater, it wouldn't be a bad idea to just stand here, hands on your hips, hold the position, tighten it up right here and just be okay with this. Then next part, take that foot behind the back and stand like that. Pose for pictures, et cetera. Now let's go over with the other foot and then go around with it and make sure this is something that you feel good about. The other part, the whole like push, push or down, down, and by the way, this is downtown number five. I always see it's about your body weight being lowered. So I got all my snacks tightened up here, tati, and then where I know I'm going to put my right foot in front. So I'm going to make sure that I put a lot of weight on this back foot. When I drop my body weight, you'll see my hip pop out. That's how you know my body weight is on the back. So it'll be down, down. A lot of times when we use the word push, I think that ends up being where people interpret it as push, push. And then I don't know, that just looks crazy to me, like push, push. Let's think about the back foot that's going to carry the weight. The front foot is going to glide forward. So you're going to go push, up, push. Or like I like to say, it's down, down, down, down, up, down, down, up. That might be a good thing in addition to crossing over, crossing under. Do these over and over until this feels comfortable. Alright, so let's say you are beyond now the idea that it's just over, it's under, it's down, down, over, under, down, down. And you want to make it a little bit more fluid. Is there anything that you've done that you're like, oh I know how to expand on this, anything that makes it feel more fluid to you? Holding the roll, I think when you hold the roll as you're pulling back. I love that. Okay, she talked about holding the roll, and what I love about that is a lot of times when I'm teaching skaters something new, and they start rolling, they stop, and I'm like no, no, no, keep going. You're learning how to skate backwards and you start rolling and you just put on the brakes, that's not good. You want to be rolling, so keep rolling. So if you generate any kind of momentum with the movements that you make, go with it. They're going to help you. So let's expand on the basic over, under, down, down. And what we're going to do is we're going to start with your feet like this, or like this, like in an A-frame. Now if you've watched all of my backwards skating videos, I will tell you that skating backwards starts with your feet, not needing pigeon-toed, not needing pigeon-toed, okay? You're going to be in an A-frame, why? Because the first step of a downtown that travels from side to side is backward, okay? You're going to put your feet like this, and you're going to focus. Your brain right now is going to be on the foot that's traveling in the direction that you want to go to. So as you drop your body weight down, you're going to think about the heel on the foot of the direction you want to travel, being at an angle, right? So you're going to go 5, 6, 7, 8, you're going to go down, and then you can cross, put your feet in a V position, then you can go under, and then you can be back in an A-frame. Let's try to travel in the opposite direction, ready? So we'll go back, we're going to go over, V, under, back to an A. Do this about, I don't know, a thousand times? A million. A thousand's not enough, so, okay. If you try this a lot, you may only now remember A, V, A. Put your feet like this, ready? We're going to go 5, 6, 7, 8, go A, cross, V, under, A. A, cross, V, under, A. It's hard to do, especially if you already know how to do it down-down. Then it's like, why are we doing this? Another part about this, which I think is difficult, is you have to have a tightness, shall you say, in your thighs, right here. The only thing to get your thighs tighter right here and the muscles be able to control your skates and your legs is skating more. I always get asked, what kind of exercises shall I do to tighten my inner thigh muscles? And I say, just skate more. Skate always. Just skate more. Skate more, skate better. Skate always. Quit your job, quit family. Just skate more. Skate is life. Right? Okay, so let's try it again. We're going to start in an A. Ready? We're going to the left. Follow along with us, which to you will be in the right. Ready? 5, 6, 7, 8. It's A, cross, V, under, A. Cross, V, under, A. A, cross, V, under, A. The reason why I want you to do that without the push is it's so important to get those angles and those edges correct and tight. We're going to do it one more time. Ready? 5, 6, 7, 8. Go. And cross, and V, and under, and A. Back, over, under, A. Back, over, under, and A. Alright, if we're going to make it look good, it's got to have a little bit of pizzazz. And that usually means a little bit more power or a little bit more speed. Okay? Here's what we've got to do. We already understand that if we want to travel in this direction, the foot closest to the direction of travel has to be at an angle so that you can skate that direction. Right? In order to get power out of that foot going backwards, it's generated by the other foot. So, my foot is this way, I'm skating that direction. The power comes from this foot faced in this direction. I am actually bending my knee over my big toe on an inside edge and I'm pushing off it. Alright? Pushing off it. That's where it's going to get tricky. You're going to really have to understand your back inside edges. So, my right foot is here, my left foot is here. I'm traveling to the left and I'm pushing off a right inside edge. Knee is over big toe. I push off it so this foot is free. I then cross it, get into a V, go underneath A frame, and then back. Note, if we don't do a double push, this is a downtown number one. Boom. Over. Under. One. Over. Under. One. Over. Under. One. Over. Under. One. Over. Under. One. When I'm telling you to push off your inside edge from the foot that is farthest from the direction of travel, this is where all the power comes from. When you push off it, immediately put pressure over... I was like, where did Tati go? Practicing my edges. I'm sorry. She just... Tati's like, I'm over this. She just leaves. Put pressure over your front truck. This foot here, as I push away from my inside edge, I push down on the toe to lift the heel to cross. V. Under. Push. Push away. Cross. Under. Push. Push away. Boom. Push away. And I'm stuck. Woo! Very, very important. These are details. You may be saying to yourself at this point, Dirty, you're just giving me too much time. Too many details. Too many. I just want to do a downturn. But I'm telling you, unlocking all these small details, unlocking all of these little edges, weight transfer, is what is going to make it so much easier. And it's going to make it look so good when you do it. Okay? So, trust me on this one. Sure. In that if I'm skating backwards with this foot, I'm pushing off with the other. So, let's do it again one more time. We're going to go 5, 6, 7, 8. We're going to push. Over. V. Under. Down. Over. V. Under. Down. Over. Under. Down. Over. V. Under. Down. Now, let's do number 5, which is the double push. 5, 6, 7, 8. We're going to 1, 2, 3, and 5, 6, and 7, and 8. 1, 2, 3, and 4, 5, and 6, and 7, and 8. And then your downtown looks all good like that. Right? Well, I hope it looks good like that. How do we gain power? Edges. Yes. Thank you. Edges are the word of the day. Inside edge on the foot farthest from the direction of travel. Boom. I'm going to super exaggerate it so my feet are lined up like that. Bend my knees and push. Cross. V. Under. Down. Push. Cross. V. Under. Down. Push. Cross. V. Boom. Boom. To make it your own, you can really do almost anything you want with your arms. You can use your arms in any way. I would highly suggest, though, when you're learning it, that you keep your arms in this general vicinity so that it somewhat mimics what your feet are doing. Where, like, I imagine it that you're handling a skirt or some kind of... Right? Yeah. That way, you know, once you start putting your arms up, you can really throw your balance off. So if you keep your arms down, that'll be help. So there you go. You guys, that's how we have... That's essentially how we both learned the downtown. She just learned it today. Yeah, it's true. It's true. I had no idea about this thing. You know. This has been a roller rink staple for generations, trust me. But I hope that this helps you in that we've broken it down to its very, very, very basics. So if you are a new skater or you're new to this kind of skating, do not... Don't rush it. And don't be discouraged. Yeah, don't rush it. It's not going to happen overnight. Get all your fundamentals down. Spend ungodly amounts of time practicing. And I promise you that through all that practice time, you will discover your own style. And it will emanate from your insides. I like to say skate from the inside with your soul. And people will love to watch you skate. And you will love skating that way, okay? Just like how I like to watch my friend Tati skate. I hope you liked her and this video. And if you did, please like, subscribe, and share. And we'll see you next time. Bye.