Last Updated on Sunday, 27 May 2012 18:31
By Diane Ness
One of the most important skills that we can work on is changing our speed. Whether we go from slow to fast or fast to slow, changing speed allows you to create space and never allows your opponent to get a beat on you.
We like to call it having an “extra gear” with or without a puck. This is a skill that can be improved upon and should be worked on consistently.
When we want to “change gears,” it is much like a boat changing gears. You will see a boat coasting through the water and all of the sudden the engine drops (in the back of the boat) and it takes off.
In skating we will call it a restart. It is basically getting down lower to the ice, pushing our inside edge against the ice with more power and turning our feet over faster.
One drill that we can do that I really like to work on this skill is the double loop. In the first diagram you will notice the skater will perform two crossover loops, one on the circle and the second one in the whole zone. The first loop should be done SLOWLY, focusing on technique. As the skater continues on to the second loop, he/she should build their speed throughout the second loop, making sure to turn their feet over quicker. When the skater exits the last corner, he/she should be at full speed, continuing all the way through the far blue line.
There should be a distinct difference in speed between the first circle and second circle. Both circles should be done with crossovers and no striding until the straight away.
The second drill is one of the best drills to help skaters try to match each others speed. As you can see from the diagram, the drill should start from two lines on the blue line. The inside line will be the “leader” and the outside line will be the “shadow.” As the skaters start, they will skate to the bottom of the circle turning around the cone. The inside line (leader) will now be on the outside coming up the boards while the other line will be on the inside trying to match the leaders speed.
The leader should try to change speeds from slow to fast or fast to slow to see if they can gain some separation from the other skater. Both skaters should finish through the far blue line. The challenge will be for the shadow to try to stay with the skater on the outside.
For this drill, you will be able to see kids that have separation speed and also kids that struggle keeping up. This drill can also be modified by having D going backwards on the straight away trying to stay with the forwards. This is challenging for the D but usually pushes them to keep up with the forwards at top speed.
Diane Ness has been a full-time professional skating coach for over 35 years. She has coached both figure skaters and hockey players alike and is a former U.S. gold medalist in figure skating. She is the Director for the Pro Edge Power hockey camps and the Learn to Skate program at Highland Park Arena. Ness is the skating coach for the New Jersey Devils, the University of Minnesota men’s and women’s hockey teams and the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. She has trained players in the NHL, AHL, NCAA, USHL and NAHL.
