Terminology Definitions

Lions & Gazelles

The base wizard moves of Lion and Gazelle are classified as “3-turns” because they involve carving in a direction (left or right) and transitioning (front to back or vice versa), creating a trajectory that looks like the # 3 on the ground.

The parameters that define the base wizard moves are:

Left/Right
Front/Back
Open/Closed
1 foot (Lion)/2 foot (Gazelle)

Left/Right is not usually noted when describing tricks, because it is fairly obvious when watching a trick and technically doesn’t affect the difficulty. In practice most skaters have a preference for certain tricks in certain directions, which creates a “natural” and a “switch” side.

Front/Back Also referred to as forward and backward (or fakie), this is usually the initial descriptor of a wizard move (Back Open Gazelle).

Open/Closed A lot can be said about this parameter and not many folks really have this memorized, especially if they came to skating from other formal disciplines. Figure skaters will refer to this as inside/outside, which is applicable to 1-footed moves but gets muddy on 2-footed moves done with parallel edges (inside of one foot, outside of the other). One way to remember it is based on knee and therefore hip position – Open moves are “manspreading” with the knees wide apart, and Closed moves are “gotta pee” with the knees pinched close together.

1-foot/2-foot 1-footed tricks are called Lions and 2-footed tricks are called Gazelles. Lions are what figure skaters would call a 3-turn, and Gazelles are the 2-footed transition that involves parallel edges on entry and exit of the 3-shaped carve.

Swivels vs. Gazelles

Swivel is used as a generic term for when a skater spins with several wheels contacting the ground. When a slalom skater spins, they usually go onto just the front or rear wheel, but in wizard skating, the goal is often to appear in contact with the ground while spinning, hence an illusion is created. Due to the rocker of wizard-style frames, it is possible to pivot on one of the wheels and drag the adjacent wheels along the ground. A swivel is possible on the center of the wheels (not the inside or outside edge) when a rocker is present, and so when you see straight-line center-edge spins, this is distinct from a gazelle and deserves it’s own name (TBD, just swivel for now?). In addition, because center-edge swivels do not require a carve trajectory or an inside/outside edge, they don’t usually come with an Open/Closed designation (i.e. Fakie Swivel).

UFO’s & Stunami’s

These two spin variations differ from swivels and gazelles because they involve both feet being on the same type of edge, and because of this, they create distinct shapes of the body. In addition, neither UFO spins nor Stunami’s involve an edge change – they are just spins, not transitions. The term UFO comes from the aggressive inline grind name where the feet are far apart, each on the inside edge of the skate. This type of spin looks like a warrior pose, and is a fairly easy trick to learn if you have a good rocker in your wheels. Just make the shape, wind up with your arms, and feel the spin! Stunami’s on the other hand are analagous to the aggressive inline grind called the Unity. The skates are both on their outside edges, and the legs are crossed. Several Stunami’s performed in one fluid motion is usually referred to as a Stunado.