Andy & Diane Ness 2015

When we look at improving skating at all levels, it starts with a skater’s practice habits. Whether you are a Mite or a pro, skating can be improved on by working on weaknesses more than just strengths.

As we head towards the holidays and beyond, we are approaching the time of year that seems to be the hardest (especially at the Mite level) for coaches and players alike. It is really the tough part of the season at any level. The beginning of the season excitement has lost its luster and practices can become stale.

As the hockey season is in full swing, I have seen many younger skaters who are in need of a different pair of skates. Buying the proper fitting skate for every skater is essential. When trying to buy skates, fit, type of skate, stiffness of a boot and sharpening are some things to consider. This is the most important piece of equipment a skater can have.

We all know how important it is to have strong outside edges while skating. For this article I would like to make sure everyone really has an understanding and an awareness of an outside edge. 

As an athlete, we are all given certain gifts that we can contribute to the game of hockey. Some of us are genetically faster, bigger and stronger than other skaters. Being an athlete, genetics are something that is out of our control; we have to do the best with what we have been given.

One of the most underrated skating skills used in the game today is a basic inside edge shuffle. If you watch a college or pro game, you will notice a lot of times skaters are mostly gilding or trying to maintain their speed. This is when the inside edge shuffle is useful. It is a skill that is not really understood or practiced regularly and yet it is used constantly throughout every shift on the ice.

Being an explosive skater is so important in today’s game. Your first 3-5 steps are the key to winning small races all over the ice. Getting to the puck first, getting up to a full stride quicker and beating opponents to areas on the ice is a result of an explosive quick start.

After a good summer of training, players that prepared themselves properly should feel confident at the beginning of the hockey season. In the photos of Ryan McDonagh and Matt Cullen, you will notice them executing a stride.

When looking at what makes a good skater, sometimes attributes we see may be subjective. After all, if we sink a putt or make a basket, we get the immediate feedback of doing something correctly. How do tell a good skater from a weak skater?

Most of us have heard coaches encourage skaters to push themselves to get out of their comfort zone when executing skating drills. When this happens, there is a very good chance the skater can get over on their edge too far, which may cause them fall during some skating drills.

Gliding happens when a skater stops moving his/her feet but will continue to move. Gliding is done all over the ice and all the time. It is actually the skill most used while playing in a game. Hockey is a game of bursts followed by periods of gliding. 

As hockey season is finally here so is the start of Mini-Mite hockey. Whether you are a coach or a parent that wants to get out on the ice with your son or daughter, take along my must-have checklist. 

In many past articles I have written about the three main ingredients of an efficient stride. I would like to share a drill that we got from former Olympic speed skater Dave Cruikshank over the summer. 

When looking at designing a skating practice, there are many things to consider. The first thing that would come to mind is making a plan. Trying to figure out what you want to teach and in what order is critical in running an effective skating practice. The key is always the execution of a plan, not just the plan itself.

What a great time of year right now for development and improvement. When I work with the pros in the summer, there is so much attention to detail while working on skating. If younger skaters were able to learn and understand this concept, they would make great strides throughout the year. 

Throughout many of my articles, I talk a lot about the importance of loading and learning how to push properly. What sometimes goes unmentioned is the importance of every pull as well. Once the leg is loaded and you execute a push, you will then need to be able to pull your leg back underneath you to create speed.

At the end of a long season, you may notice that most players’ skating technique begins to suffer. Minor things like a skater’s stride getting choppy or a skater not bending his/her knees is most evident. 

In the previous article, I noted the importance of getting a strong push to the side while executing a stride. I would like to stick with that same concept and discuss in a little more detail about recovery as well as injury prevention tips.

Understanding the physics of skating is very important. It’s important to understand how speed works while on skates. Very simply, if you are in shoes, you are moving your feet front to back. If you are on skates, you need to push out on your edge.

In skating, one of the main areas of concern is getting every skater’s center of gravity lower to the ice. This means getting your knees bent, your ankles flexed and your butt down. This does not come with a few repetitions of drills, but rather countless hours of an actual concentrated effort.

So the offseason is coming, now what? We know we need to skate and train, but what should we do? What should we focus on? The first thing that we have to understand is that after a long season, certain things start to happen in our skating. 

Most of us have at one point in time either used a weight vest or have seen someone use a weight vest. Whether it’s on or off the ice, using a weight vest properly can really take your skating to the next level. The big question is, how do you use it? What drills can you do? 

Throughout the winter, we will work with many young skaters of all ages. Many parents have questions about how and when to get started. Typically, every city or area will run a learn to skate program. It is important to find a good one with qualified and experienced adult instructors to help your youngsters.

By always focusing on what our lower body is doing when we skate, we sometimes forget about our upper body. A skater’s upper body is so crucial when talking about skating in general. Whether moving forward or backward, or moving laterally, your upper body and stick positioning will either help or hinder how efficiently you can move.

Recently one of the areas that I have noticed that is a real struggle for young skaters is backward skating. I always tell my students anything you can do forward you should be able to do backward. 

If you have had a chance to watch some NHL hockey this winter, you know how important it is to sustain a good forecheck. A good forecheck is set up by executing good stops and starts.

While watching many NHL defensemen turn from back to front or back to lateral, you wonder how they are able to match their speed with that of an opponent’s forward. For any defenseman, transitioning efficiently is of the utmost importance. One mistake and the forward blows by you, and then you have big problems.

The stride is a difficult skill to perform at different tempos. In a game, a player will probably never go end to end in an exact straight line. The stride will be interrupted with cross-overs, shuffle steps, gliding and restarts. What does that mean for learning the stride in a functional setting?