Quick answer
A hockey crossover is how you build and hold speed through a turn: instead of coasting around a curve, you step your outside leg over your inside leg and push with both skates so every stride adds power. The keys are a deep knee bend, staying low, and using your edges — the outside skate pushes off its inside edge as it crosses over, and the inside skate pushes out and then reaches back under you on its outside edge. Keep your shoulders level, your head up, and your hips pointed where you want to go. Forward and backward crossovers use the same idea. Learn them slowly, on a big circle, one clean push at a time.
Key takeaways
- A crossover turns a curve into acceleration — you gain speed through the turn instead of bleeding it.
- Power comes from two pushes per cycle: the outside skate on its inside edge and the inside skate on its outside edge.
- Stay low — aim for roughly a 90-degree bend between shin and thigh, with strong ankle bend. This is the single biggest driver of a good crossover.
- Keep your shoulders level; let your lower body do the leaning, not your chest.
- Swinging your arms in rhythm adds real speed most players leave on the table.
- Backward crossovers are the same mechanics in reverse and are essential for defensemen — train both directions equally.
What is a hockey crossover and why does it matter?
A crossover is the move that lets you accelerate on a curve, corner, or face-off circle. Without one, you slow down every time the ice bends — and games are full of bends. When I played, the skaters who scared me most were not the ones with the biggest straight-line speed; they were the ones who kept their feet moving through a turn and came out faster than they went in.
It works because you get two power strokes per cycle instead of one. As you lean into the turn, your outside leg crosses over the front of your inside leg and pushes down and in on its inside edge. At the same time your inside leg pushes outward, then reaches back underneath you on its outside edge to reload. Two pushes, one direction, no wasted glide.
Be patient. Crossovers are one of the harder skating skills to master because they demand edge control most players never drilled as kids, and balancing on a single outside edge takes the longest. To learn the underlying edges first, start with our guide to edge-work drills.
How do you do a forward crossover?
Set up on a big circle so the turn is gentle. Say you are turning left. Here is the sequence:
- Get low and lean. Bend toward that 90-degree shin-to-thigh angle and lean into the circle from the hips and skates — not the shoulders. Cue: "lean the belt buckle, not the chest."
- Push with the inside leg. Your left (inside) leg pushes outward, away from the center of the circle, on its inside edge.
- Cross over. Your right (outside) leg crosses over the top of the left on its inside edge, then drives down and in. Keep the crossing skate low — within an inch of the ice, not a big loopy step.
- Reach under and reload. As the outside leg finishes, the inside leg comes back under your body on its outside edge, ready to push again. This under-push is the power source most players skip.
- Repeat until you are pointed where you want to go.
Watch for: your outside leg stepping around the inside leg instead of over it — if the crossing foot lands wide, you waste the push. Cue: "cross the toe over the laces." Keep your weight stacked over the outside skate, where your balance and power live.
Coach Joel's tip: The under-push is what separates a real crossover from a fancy-looking coast. Most players I train push hard with the crossing leg and then let the inside leg drift back. Force it: after every crossover, feel the inside skate drive out on its outside edge before it comes back under you. When a player's speed climbs through the turn instead of dropping, it is almost always because they finally started using that second push.
What about backward crossovers?
Backward crossovers are the same engine in reverse, and if you play defense they are not optional — you live on them through the neutral zone and off the rush. Facing the play, pick your turn direction and get low. Turning left while skating backward, your right (outside) leg crosses over the front of your left, and your left (inside) leg pushes out and reaches back under on its outside edge, exactly as it does going forward.
The difference is where your eyes and balance go. Traveling backward, your weight sits a touch more central and your head is up and turned to read the ice, not down at your feet. Cue: "toes point where you're going." Keep the crossing steps small and quick at first; long reaching steps kill your balance when you cannot see behind you. Pair backward crossovers with clean pivots for real four-way mobility — our guide to power turns and tight turns covers the change-of-direction side.
Which edge does which skate use?
This confuses players, so here it is for a turn to the left — flip left and right for a turn to the right.
| Skate | Role in the turn | Edge used | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outside (right) | Crosses over | Inside edge | Steps over the top of the inside leg and drives down and in |
| Inside (left) | Pushes and reloads | Outside edge | Pushes out from under you, then reaches back underneath to reload |
The outside-edge push on the inside leg is the money skill. If you can balance and push on a single outside edge, your crossovers will hold speed; if you cannot, you will always coast. One rule holds for both edges and both directions, forward and backward: your pushes go out and in, never forward and back.
Drills to build your crossovers
Work these in order. Reps are per session per direction — always train both ways, because defenders will find your weak side.
- Circle laps, slow. Skate a face-off circle, one crossover per step, as slowly as you can while still crossing over. 4 laps each direction. Slow reveals every flaw speed hides.
- Outside-edge holds. Push once, then glide on the inside leg's outside edge as long as you can. 10 holds each direction. The single most valuable crossover drill, because it trains the push most players never learn.
- Cone weave into a circle. Weave a short line of markers, then explode into three hard crossovers around a circle. 8 reps. Trains the game-real habit of accelerating out of a turn.
- Arm-drive laps. Skate the circle and swing your arms in rhythm with each crossover. 4 laps each way. You will feel the extra speed immediately — arms are free power.
Set your circle and weave with a set of drill cones for consistent spacing every session. On the ice, tighten the circle a little each week to force quicker feet — a constraint that exposes exactly what your edges can and cannot do yet.
Coach Joel's tip: Train your weak direction twice as much as your strong one. Almost every player I coach can crossover cleanly one way and gets sloppy the other — and at game speed, a defender will steer you onto your bad side every single time. Spend the first ten minutes of every skate on your worse direction, while your legs are fresh. That is the difference between a skill you have in practice and one you can trust in a game.
How do you train crossovers off the ice?
The edge strength a crossover needs is very trainable off the ice. The lateral push-and-reload pattern maps almost perfectly onto a slide board: you drive out to one side, glide, and reload, building the exact hip and groin strength the inside-leg outside-edge push demands. Ten to fifteen minutes a few times a week carries straight over to your stride through turns — see our stride power guide for how that lower-body engine fits your whole skating game.
For balance work at home, a panel of training tiles lets you rehearse the footwork in a low stance without skates. It does not replace ice time, but it keeps the right muscles and posture sharp between sessions.
Common mistakes
- Standing too tall. The number-one crossover killer — a shallow knee bend robs you of push and balance. Fix: get down to that 90-degree shin-to-thigh angle and bend your ankles, not just your knees.
- Leaning with the shoulders. Dropping your upper body into the circle throws off your balance. Fix: keep shoulders level and lean from the hips and skates.
- No under-push. Crossing the outside leg but letting the inside leg drift means one push instead of two. Fix: drive the inside leg out on its outside edge, then reload it under you.
- Big, high steps. Lifting the crossing skate high and wide wastes time and power. Fix: keep both skates within an inch of the ice and cross the toe over the top.
- Dead arms. Arms hanging still leaves free speed on the ice. Fix: swing them in rhythm with each crossover.
- Only training your strong side. A one-way crossover is a liability. Fix: drill your weak direction first and more often, every session.
FAQ
What is a crossover in hockey?
A crossover is a skating move where you step your outside leg over your inside leg to accelerate through a turn, building speed on curves and circles instead of coasting. It uses two pushes per cycle — the outside skate's inside edge and the inside skate's outside edge.
Why are crossovers so hard to learn?
They demand edge control most players never drilled, especially balancing on a single outside edge with the inside leg. That skill takes the longest to master. Be patient, practice slowly on a big circle, and isolate the outside-edge push before adding speed.
What edges do you use in a crossover?
The outside leg pushes on its inside edge as it crosses over, and the inside leg pushes and reloads on its outside edge. The outside-edge push on the inside leg is the hardest and most important part — nail it and your crossovers will hold speed through the turn.
Are backward crossovers different from forward ones?
The mechanics are the same, but you travel backward, so your weight is a touch more central and your head turns to read the play. Keep the crossing steps short and quick until your balance is solid. Defensemen rely on backward crossovers for gap control and defending the rush.
Can I practice crossovers off the ice?
Yes. A slide board trains the exact lateral push-and-reload pattern and builds the hip and groin strength crossovers need, and training tiles let you rehearse the footwork in a low stance without skates. It does not replace ice time, but it keeps the right muscles and posture sharp between sessions.
Summary
Crossovers turn every curve into free acceleration, and they come down to a few fundamentals: stay low with a deep knee and ankle bend, lean from the hips with shoulders level, and get two pushes out of every cycle — the outside skate crossing over on its inside edge and the inside skate reloading on its outside edge. Add arm drive, train both directions equally, and be patient with the outside-edge push, because that is the skill that holds your speed. Drill it slowly on a circle before you chase speed, back it up with off-ice edge work, and it becomes automatic. For the edges underneath it all, see our edge-work drills and hockey skating tips, and browse the Hockey Training hub for more skating guides.
