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Slide Walking Footplex
H and Kick to Back Step routine
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Hand kick to back cross step, backwards push, backwards cross push, half spinner to nose, switch backside twist nose slide
This is about the hardest routine in the Slide Walking project. The slide is switch twist backside, pretty much the hardest nose slide. All the footwork moves require a lot of concentration and practice. All are advanced variations on steps mostly covered in Reef Lines. In order to do this, you will have to practice a lot of background tricks and work up to the variations.
Hand kick to back cross step
This is one of these longboarding tricks that probably looks a lot easier than it is. You're doing something very difficult and making it look easy. Crowd response gives strange clues how you're doing. A howling wide slide into snap check and rollaway on a 54 inch board should get some crowd response. But with hard walking tricks, if someone walks up to me and says, "man that looks hard," I appreciate the compliment, but I get worried. Obviously I need to smooth it out so no one notices I'm having difficulty.
In order to do this, you really have to know where your feet are going to end up. You have to place your feet perfectly and anticipate the next move. You need to be warmed up and stretched out.
I start in the narrow tail stance, with my weight on my front foot, which is pointed at an angle forward and right. This will be a solid platform to stand on. My back hand is extended at about waist high. The hand will be the target for the heel kick.
I bring my back foot up in a kick, heel first. This is shown in another Slide Walk, in the Hang Heel routine. You could work on that one for practice. This kick and cross step is much harder. I kick the side of my foot into my hand, as kind of a showoffy detail. The front arm is held out to balance the kick, which would otherwise throw me off.
Instead of just replacing my kick foot where it started, I'm going to combine the kick with a cross step. In order to make it as hard as possible, the step will also be a back cross step up the board. I cross my right foot behind my left and bring it forward up the board. My left foot stays in the same position.
In order to make the back cross step, I turn my shoulders clockwise, to the right, to face almost to the tail. The landing of the back step is the most critical part. It's real easy to miss the board and step off to the side.
I place my right toe on the left rail of the board behind my planted foot. This forces my left leg to be turned out. If this is uncomfortable, pivot on it slightly. It's easier to balance the less you pivot. I place my right foot behind me, but closer to the nose. Thus I've taken a back cross step up the board.
Before doing this with a back step, you should practice the hand kick into a regular cross step.
Now that I'm set in a back cross stance, I pivot my left foot, which was way turned out, into a comfortable angle.
My feet are now close together and pointed toward the tail. I'm riding along in a backwards stance, ready for the next sequence.
