Source
r/hockeyplayers•
Seaplusplus

Skating form check?

Hey all! I'm just starting ice hockey, and learning how to skate properly. I've been focusing mainly on my forward stride, backward stride, and getting comfortable on my edges. I've never had proper training with skating, and I've just been learning on my own from online (how-to-hockey.com) and tips from other people. Would you all be able to critique my skating form and stride?

Backskating

Forward Stride #1

Forward Stride #2

Please and thank you so much!

Don't mind the orange ice. I'm at university down near Anaheim, and they painted the ice orange for the playoffs.

Posted Jun 2, 2015, 9:31 AM UTC

423
bubbachet10+ Years•

Incorporate more knee bend. You're hunched over at the waist, not bending enough at the knees. It'll give you a clearer view of the ice and will force you to make a more complete, powerful stride.

Stop swinging your arms like a speed skater. Once you get a stick in your hands you'll end up pitchforking the other guys in men's league and get your ass kicked.

10
kr5805-10 Years•

Also OP, the arm swinging tends to sway your body side to side, throwing off your balance. Nothing good about the side to side swing. Front to back arm swing works though.

3
acholon10+ Years•

Looks good so far

Forwards: longer strides, would help to get your knees bent a bit more and chest up, work on keeping your arms going forward this will also help keep your upper body more stationary.

Backwards: Crossovers are pretty good, start working on crossing over the other direction and feel your edges pull you through. When starting backwards the big C cut should use more of the blade and finish at the toe more.

Keep it up bud

5
Btrash•

Agree with the C cut. You should not really be completing the C as you then are turning your skate inwards and losing speed. This whole video has some good tips, and about half way through describes how to do this a bit better as acholon described. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRSqqWyM74Y

This video also has some good technique for getting more speed and power backwards https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2MhA5XJ0Us. Incorporating starting with crossovers, and possibly alternating crossovers instead of straight Cs/swizzles will be even quicker once you get more comfortable.

2
SeaplusplusOP•

Could you explain what you mean with the backwards stuff? I don't really understand. Thanks so much!

1
acholon10+ Years•

When you are starting from a stop you get very little power, fix this by getting more knee bend and having a more powerful "c cut" into the ice. This c cut should slice the ice using as much blade as you can and finishing with a small snap at your toes.

1
SeaplusplusOP•

Thanks! I understand now. Great tip!

1
nhlgoalie2010+ Years•

is that is Anaheim? If so ive played like 10 tournaments there as a kid

3
SeaplusplusOP•

It is Anaheim Ice. It's now called The Rinks Anaheim Ice or something like that now that the Ducks own it.

1
Squrmander1235-10 Years•

Got my ass kicked my last Midget summer tournament last week there!

1
ciabattabing165-10 Years•

My take:

  • When skating backwards, don't go in a straight line. Zig zag, and cross over, like when you're turning at the end. If you watch guys skating, you get more power out of cutting into the ice, and accelerating.
  • Forwards - same deal, cross over more, less side-to-side skating and more crossing over. Surprisingly, your lean is good. A big mistake people make when trying to skate, particularly when starting, is they put motion into going UP, taller, and not out, forward. Lean forward like you do, swing your arms less (although that's not really an issue when you have a stick and gear on most likely), and after your first few accelerations, cross over a bit. It's all about getting those cuts into the ice. You'll hear that crunching sound as you push, vs. a glide if your just coasting and not getting acceleration

All in all, you're a significantly better skater than most new people, and you'll improve as time goes on. If you can get to the ice 2 days a week, for pickup hockey, stick and shoot, etc, within two months you'll see a massive improvement. The more ice time the better.

2
buffalawlJust Started•

I understand this while going backwards, as i feel like the crossovers give you more power than normal backwards skating. But why when going forward? Wouldn't zigzagging going forward slow you down?

4
ciabattabing165-10 Years•

Depends on your goal. So launching, like speed skaters, will start standing sideways and cross over leg over leg the first few strides. Why? Because you can angle the blades and dig into the ice (that crunch sound). But then straight skating, yes, you don't cross over, however you also don't want to do...I guess sort of like the "wobble" you can see OP doing in his stride, leaning side to side almost. Shortest distance between two points on the ice is indeed a straight line, that principle still persists. However, starting from a standstill you'd want to be sideways, or even starting from a turn, is usually better because those first few strides can be crossovers. I suppose I worded it funny.

1
bubbachet10+ Years•

None of this makes any sense from a power skating perspective.

3
SeaplusplusOP•

Can you elaborate? I'm confused.

1
dangerfang10+ Years•

If you want to get lower practice dragging each knee on the ice and see how low you can get your ass when gliding. If you practice those you'll get more knee bend and more stability.

2
westc210+ Years•

Just keep skating and you'll get better and better. You're looking good for a beginner.

2
lostincbus•

Also, skate the other way. I know sometimes they don't let you at open skates, but often times you can skate the opposite direction in the middle if there aren't figure skaters. Work both directions, turns, stops, etc... so you aren't single leg dominant.

2
ArrogantOwlJust Started•

Couple of things I noticed that haven't been mentioned yet:

  1. Pick up your damn head when skating backwards. It also seems like your head is bobbing a lot which means you're wasting energy.

  2. Bring your feet in closer on the backwards C cuts. Your feet should pretty much end up touching. This will give you a more powerful stride.

  3. Bigger C cuts on the backwards crossovers as well.

  4. Try to get more push under on the forward and backward crossovers.

2
geauxtigers55•

How long have you been working on skating if you don't mind me asking? New to hockey/skating myself, and I wish I looked this good/could skate backwards at all haha. Good work

1
SeaplusplusOP•

I played roller for a few years so I had that to learn from, but I was never taught anything about skating technique. The team I was on (I started in university) just assumed I would figure that out.

1
geauxtigers55•

Gotcha. Wishing I had access to ice while I was in school. Drawbacks of living in the South I guess

1