March/April 2003

          GOOD SKATER OR GREAT SKATER?

 We often hear parents comment about players who skate very hard but always seem to be a step behind.  They are baffled because these players appear to be good skaters but they never seem to be ahead of the play.

 There are several misconceptions about what makes a great skater.  To understand what we mean by a great skater, it is necessary to define speed as it relates to skating.

Speed is a measure of distance traveled in time – i.e. - miles per hour or feet per second.  Speed in skating is how far a player travels on each stride.  Each stride takes a fraction of a second (approximately three to five strides per second).  Some players (at top speed) travel 3-4 feet per stride; some 5-6 feet per stride; some 8-10; others 12-15.  Young players can only be expected to cover shorter distances, while the great NHL skaters travel great distances. 

Distances covered per stride are affected by several factors:  
Proper skating technique is the first factor.  
Next is the ability to push with explosive force.  
These two factors, combined with rapid leg motion (quickness), yield an explosively fast skater.

 There are many elements involved in proper skating technique.  The first is to push properly and completely through the full range of motion of the pushing leg.  This starts with strongly bending the knee of the working leg (approximately 90 degrees), and with digging the pushing edge deeply into the ice with all your weight is over the pushing skate.

The next element is to push to full extension.  You must finish each push with the pushing leg completely locked, and employ the final “toe flick” of the edge.
The next element is to fully recover the free leg to its starting position, directly centered under the body  weight.  
            In every skating maneuver there is a two-fold weight shift on every stride - from pushing leg to gliding leg, and then from gliding leg to pushing leg.  The ability to shift weight properly is another extremely important element 

Now let’s distinguish between good skaters, efficient skaters, fast skaters, efficiently fast skaters, and explosive skaters.

 Good skaters:
            A good skater, in my eyes, may be an acceptable skater; he or she has fair balance, agility, moderately good skating technique, and some speed.  This skater has not yet incorporated the many different elements necessary to get to the next level of speed.

 Efficient skaters:  
            These skaters know how to employ the various elements necessary to speed, so they skate with flow and efficiency.  However they are not yet able to exert explosive force, or may not have yet developed the necessary leg speed, to become explosive hockey skaters.

 Fast skaters:  
            These skaters may have naturally “fast feet”; in other words, may be blessed with a predominance of fast twitch fibers, allowing them to move with what we call “rapid leg turnover”.  Or, they may move their legs rapidly because their strides do not go through the full range of motion.  These “short strides” are very inefficient; these players run around the ice, often going nowhere fast, and may tire very easily.

 Efficiently fast skaters: 
            These skaters have combined correct skating technique with moving their legs rapidly.  However, they may not yet have learned to push with the explosive force necessary to becoming a truly great skater.

 Explosively fast skaters:
            These skaters have combined all the elements – correct skating technique, rapid leg speed, and explosive force.  They are the players who are spellbinding, and who dominate the sport.  This should be the goal of every aspiring hockey player.

 How often people say, “this player has an inborn gift of speed.”  While many players have inborn gifts, success is never solely due to talent.  It is the result of (proper) learning and years of (perfect) practice and dedication.

 When you choose a skill development program this summer, keep in mind that the Laura Stamm International Power Skating System focuses on teaching players to properly execute all the skating elements of every hockey maneuver.  Our program is what aspiring hockey players should include in their training regimen if they hope to become explosively fast skaters.

 Skate Great Hockey,
Laura Stamm and Mark Pecchia, Laura Stamm Certified Instructor
Copyright, March, 2003