Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 November 2013 16:31
By Diane Ness
In the previous article, I was able to give some drills and ideas for improving your quick start. There are thousands of drills that you can do to help improve this and I would like to show you a couple more for a younger level.
Looking at the photos above for the first drill, you will see the skater start in the V, T or L quick start position. The coach can have his/her stick facing knob down on the ice with the blade in the air. When the coach says “go,” the skater will explode of the mark making his/her way to the stick. As the skater gets closer the coach can then let the stick fall forward. The goal is for the skater to try to get the stick before it hits the ice. The coach can make it more challenging by moving back further, dropping the stick earlier, or having two skaters racing each other to the stick. This is a fun game and the kids will forget that they are actually working on a skill. The drill should run quickly so each skater can get enough reps in on their quick starts. Coaches should remember to keep reminding the skaters of their technique while executing this drill.
The second drill that I like to do with my younger skaters is a stop and start tag game. Two skaters can partner up and place their sticks together to form a long line (the Boarder Patrol pads work great as well). The coach should explain to each skater that whoever is “it” he/she cannot tag his/her partner over the sticks. The sticks should act as an imaginary wall and the tagger can only tag the other skater on the same side of the sticks. When the coach says “go,” it becomes a mini tag game filled with stops and starts and tight turns.
The great thing about this game is that you can get your whole team going at the same time so we don’t have any skaters standing around. The game can be done in 20 second intervals as the kids should be going at full speed. The coach may also want to get in on the act to challenge some of the better skaters. He/she can force the skaters to stop and start quicker by challenging them with more speed.
As you can see simple games like this are fun for the kids and also serve a purpose for what you want your skaters to do. Each coach should be creative in thinking of ways they can make practices different and more fun rather than the same old drills. Keeping it fresh for the kids is a great way to make sure they are engaged each and every practice.
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.l
