Karen Heng Olson explains how she teaches the 8-Step Mohawk Sequence from the Juvenile USFS Moves in the Field Test. The most challenging part of this pattern is the outside mohawk and Karen breaks it down in detail in this video.
If you watch a typical test session, over half the skaters doing this pattern will usually have either a very weak outside edge, a flat, or even an inside edge on the exit of the outside mohawk. It should be a strong back outside edge.
Karen talks about every detail of the outside mohawk and how she teaches it. You’ll notice that she teaches it separately from the rest of the pattern and she places it on a hockey circle so there can be no doubt about the quality of the entrance and exit edges. She discusses arm movement and placement, head placement, foot movement and placement, where the skater should be on their blade, and what has to change during and after the turn.
When starting to incorporate the mohawk into the rest of the pattern, she again puts it right on the hockey circle, even though the pattern will eventually be much larger. One of the most important parts of the pattern is when and how the arms switch. The arms switch and pass close to the skater’s side on counts 2 and 6. This is another major error seen at most test sessions.
The additional exercises that Karen suggests are extremely effective. Most skaters feel very uncomfortable doing crossovers with their shoulders and arms facing the “wrong” way. Having them practice that helps them feel more comfortable with the first part of the pattern. She also has them do an exercise with a back outside three turn right after the mohawk. This is an effective way to make sure the skater finishes the mohawk on a back outside edge as the three turn is very hard if there’s no edge to work with or if the skater has poor alignment.
Finally Karen addresses the issue of tempo and cadence. This is extremely challenging for many skaters but is extremely important when doing the pattern correctly.
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7 responses to “USFS Moves In The Field Tips: 8 Step Mohawk Seq – Juvenile (Karen Heng Olson)”
Karen, you are magical! Today I went to try your method for 8-step mohawk sequence and I felt so much better about my left mohawk that I could not do before. Could you please explain twizzles?
GOOD ONE! Thanks Karen!
Thank you – makes total sense now 🙂
Karen, I especially like your idea of doing the back 3 turn to ensure a good check on that difficult back outside edge following the mohawk.
This was so helpful. You addressed all of the common problems and gave me solutions to work with. Thank you for all the tips you are providing for the beginning coach. I am very grateful.
This helped me so much in a move I was stuck with for so long. Thank you so much Karen!
This very helpful. Wondering if you could do one on tne 5-step mohawk MIF?