All backward skating is difficult to acquire. After it is acquired it is more interesting than forward skating.
Some of the very difficult jumps in mid-air which I do are taken backward because it is really easier to do them that way than forward. There is one jump where I am skating backward on the outside edge on the right foot, swing the left foot violently around, spring into the air, make a complete revolution of my body, land on the outside edge of the right foot again and continue on a big sweeping curve. It is in some respects the most popular number that I introduce. It is done that way solely for the reason that it is much easier backward than forward and yet at the same time it looks more difficult backward than forward.
Most skating figures will be found easier forward than backward. Probably that is partly due to the fact that not as much time is spent by any skater learning backward skating as is spent learning forward strokes. The art of skating backward requires pluck and courage. When one attempts the full backward circles without a helper it is an occasion to mark in one’s diary.
The plunge is the main thing in learning to skate backward. Make up your mind some fine morning that you are going to practise outside edges backward or inside edges backward all of the skating session of that day. Then do it. Skating is a matter of will power after all and not at all a matter of strength. I took up skating just because I was not strong and the doctors said it was outdoor life or a little narrow box for me.
It is hard to catch one’s self during a fall when one is on the outside circles backward; the position during much of the inside circles backward makes it easier to get ready for the fall after you feel sure it is coming. Not that I mean there is any special instruction necessary in the matter of falling for there is not. Just let go and sit down as meekly as you can, smile and look about helplessly and some chivalrous American is sure to hurry to your aid. This is much more dignified and less liable to be embarrassing than scrambling to all fours, stepping on your gown and, perhaps, falling over again.
“CHARLOTTE” in spectacular backward stroke. ]
To get a strong start for the inside circle backward is the hardest part of the acquirement of the figure. Stand on the flat of the left skate, swing the right foot in front of you, just as if you were going to make a little jump backward onto that foot, bend the right knee a good deal and lunge onto the right skate on the inside edge. The left foot as it leaves the ice should then be carried across the right leg, with the knee bent and the toe turned out and down. It should be carried well across the print or mark that the skate is making on the ice and somewhat high, not dragging along. The body should lean strongly backward.