Skater Kick

Skater Kick Video

3-POINT SET-UP:

1. One foot on front platform

2. Second foot underneath safety strap of moving carriage

3. Push carriage away until feet are between hip and shoulder width distance apart (equal weight distribution)

Body Part • Direction • Action Verb:

• HINGE from your hips and then begin to lower your hips into a squat by BENDING at your knees

• Keeping your body frozen outside of the prime mover, PUSH the carriage away by extending the leg of the foot underneath the safety strap on the carriage

• Resist the carriage back in

Range of Motion:

• Push the carriage out, stopping before the knee of the moving leg fully locks out and/or your hip begins to drop

• Resist the carriage back in until back in initial squat position

 Kinetic Checkpoints:

FEET:

❌ Put all of the weight into your heel

❌ Lift your toes towards the ceiling 

❌ Push the weight into the outer edge of your foot (over supinate) as you push the carriage out and extend you primary moving leg

✅ Maintain an equal weight distribution in all three points of contact in your foot (the tripod: below the big toe, below the pinky toe, and in the heel)

✅ Keep the arch of your foot engaged and lifted  

KNEES:

❌ Driving your knee past your toes

❌ Pull your knee behind your ankles

❌ Allow the isometric leg’s knee to move inwards as you push the carriage away with the moving leg

✅ Aim to keep your foot in alignment with your mid foot as you lower into a squat position and keep the isometric leg frozen in this position

✅ Keep your isometric knee frozen over top of the mid-foot throughout the entire range of motion of the exercise

HIPS:

❌ Excessively Tipping your pelvis forward prior to lowering into a squat

❌ Hinging from your hips to the point that your chest/shoulders are parallel to the floor

❌ Keeping torso fully upright and tucking hips under 

❌Tucking your hips under by going too low

❌ Hiking up the hip of the isometric leg and lowering the hip of the moving leg

✅ Keep your hips frozen in neutral position and level throughout the movement

Talking Points:

• Remember that your body will always want to take the path of least resistance, therefore do what is easiest (shifting body weight to push carriage out), not what is most effective (maintaining isometric squat position outside of prime mover). My favorite cue is to have clients imagine that there is a hand on the outside of the knee of the isometric leg that they are to push against (maintaining all 3 points of contact in the foot) as they push the carriage away. This will help the client focus on the knee/hip abduction of the movement and stay frozen outside of the prime mover.

• allow the hands to grab the high bar. Keep the arms in an extended position and focus on packing the shoulders and anchoring them into the lats. This will help maintain the body position outside of the prime mover.

• Once you have mastered teaching the basic position, add variety by changing angles (more knee dominant, more hip dominant, add external rotation to the hips ,etc.)

• This move can also be done in a staggered set up, stacking the weight in a single leg squat position over the front platform and placing the prime moving leg behind the isometric leg.