I once heard acclaimed hockey strength coach Peter Twist jokingly begin a speech by saying, “Before I begin I wanted to let you know that everything I’m about to say will be proven wrong over the next ten years.”  His point…what the researches are learning about sports physiology is so vast that what is brand new knowledge today will be old news next week.  Take stretching; a dozen years ago starting off a hockey practice with good long static stretches was standard practice and to even think about not stretching before a workout was considered irresponsible.  Today we know that slow static stretches should be done after a practice or game when the muscles are warm. 

Static stretches, before a game, are not only not helpful, they can actually be harmful.  In addition to the possibility of injury as a result of deeply stretching a cold muscle, the stretch itself calms the muscle, making it in the short term up to 20% weaker.  But it’s not just stretching, it’s all kinds of physical performance rules that have changed, and those that are keeping up with the latest techniques are faster, stronger, and more efficient athletes than their predecessors. 

When it comes to hockey skating it is not only the latest kinesthetic research that is changing what we have always known to be true about the best way to skate but it is also good old fashioned communication.  It wasn’t until 4 years ago at the first International Hockey Skating Symposium that the top hockey skating coaches in the world got together for the first time and discussed their teaching techniques.   The relationships between top coaches that developed at that

initial meeting have lead to some fundamental shake-ups in what used to be considered laws in hockey skating, like the angle of the forward stride push, the backward C-cut, and how to place the feet in a hockey stop.

It’s a normal part of the learning process when working on a new technique that the skill will get worse before it gets better.  When a new technique is applied the new motion feels awkward and the skating temporarily suffers.  Think about when you clean your room, first you have to take everything out of your drawers and closet, put the stuff into piles, clean out the trash, and organize the things worth keeping.

Only then can you put everything back where it belongs and get your room looking good again.  It’s like that with a new technique, first you break apart the skill, adjust each piece, then once the pieces feel okay, you put them back together. Even after all of that, it will still be strange for a while.

After many repetitions the new motion will begin to feel less awkward and the player will be able to add speed. Once the new technique is practiced enough at full speed it will feel natural, and that’s when he or she can fairly determine if this new technique is better than the old.  It’s not a quick fix, it’s a process, and right now, the beginning of the off-season, is the perfect time to undertake this challenge.  If you are ready to take your skating to a higher level here are new ways to do three standard hockey skating skills.

Forward Stride- For many years hockey players were taught to do a hip generated push back at a 45% angle that finished behind the body.  The laws of physics suggest, however, that skaters get twice as much distance from a push that goes to the side.  The rest of the body travels forward during a side push so the foot will end up at a 45% angle away from the body at the moment of toe snap.   

Backward Push- The term “C-Cut” became part of the hockey vernacular in the late 70’s.  The hockey C-Cut suggests a full half moon shaped push, finishing heel to heel.  The problem with this skating standard is that even before the pushing foot is parallel with the body it turns the skater, sending him off course and causing the classic bottom wiggle.  What’s worse, when the pushing foot goes behind the body it no longer produces speed and it can easily cause a fall.  Try instead to change the shape of the push from the letter “c” to a lower case “r”.  T

he gliding foot provides the straight line of the “r” and the pushing foot makes the top curve.  In this push the foot will extend out and away from the body, finishing at a 45 degreet angle diagonally in front of the body.  Once the push is complete the player will return the foot by bringing the pushing heel toward the gliding toe, not the gliding heel.  There’s no rear end wiggling, no wasted energy, and no falling with this improved technique.

Hockey Stop- One variation of the hockey stop that became popular about 15 years ago is the scissor stop, where the two feet are spaced apart not only in width but also in length so that the inside foot (on the outside edge) is few feet in front of the outside foot (on the inside edge).  Top skating coaches are in disagreement about whether or not this stop is effective on it’s own but when followed by a start the scissor stop has a problem that’s difficult to defend. 

Because the outside foot is so far behind the other it has to either swing over the front foot or the front has to slip backward to get out of the way.  So the first motion of the start isn’t a burst of explosive speed in the intended direction of travel, it’s a set up, a slip to prepare for the start.  In the case of hockey stops, what is old is new again… try the new, which is actually the old technique of a hockey stop that has two feet placed widely apart but no further separated front to back than a toe heel relationship.

With hundreds of students from mini-mites to the NHL, Wendy Marco is considered one of North America’s top hockey skating coaches.  Her DVD is loaded with original skating drills and on-ice games and can be found at www.ColdRushHockey.com.   Look for the caveman in this publication.