Beginner roller skating
A Three Turn Is a Transition on One Skate
A transition is usually done on two skates. ICP-certified coach Asha Kirkby coaches a version done on one: the forward three turn, also called a lion or free turn, is a one-legged transition from forwards to backwards on inline skates. Same destination, one skate on the ground, and a move she refines through video coaching of skaters who already have it, not a first lesson.
A transition is usually done on two skates: one turns, the other follows, and for a moment both are on the ground pointing opposite ways. A certified coach also coaches a version done on one.
The forward three turn is a one-legged transition from forwards to backwards. It is also called a lion turn or a free turn; the coach uses all three names for the same move. Same destination as the two-footed transition, one skate on the ground.
It is a move she refines through video coaching of skaters who already have it. Her lesson on it is an analysis of a skater's own footage, correcting a three turn that exists, not building one from nothing. That tells you where it sits: after the transition, not instead of it.
The name comes from the trace the skate leaves. A turn on one skate that enters on one curve and leaves on the other draws a shape like the numeral on the ground. The next page is about what makes that shape smooth, and it is not the skate.
Technique from Asha Kirkby of Skatefresh, an instructor certified by the Inline Certification Program. She teaches inline skating, and that is the discipline this page is about.
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