By Ryan Walter
Courtesy Hockey Now
Whether you are a parent, coach, or administrator in hockey, what is the one thing you can do to increase your player’s ability to excel at and enjoy our great game? You’re right! Help your players improve their skating.
Every player, at every age, reaches their next level of competition based primarily on their ability to skate. I am not diminishing the other 100 plus skills that players must master, rather I am certain of the fact that your player’s ability to skate needs to be your first focus.
Remembering waaaaay back to the days I played minor hockey (just this side of the Ice Age), I realize now that my parents did so many things right. Both my Mom and Dad loved the game of hockey, and my father coached or managed most of the minor hockey teams that I played on. Back in those days we didn’t have “Power Skating.” My parents were very progressive, however, and they encouraged me to take several years of figure skating lessons.
I will never forget our teacher. She was strict and came across a little grumpy, but boy did she teach me to use my edges! Of all the fun things that we did to improve our enjoyment of the game of hockey, this single recommendation by my folks turned out to be the most important.
At its highest levels, hockey is now, more than ever, a game of speed. My generation of NHL player got really good at holding up, or interfering with, our opponents’ ability to generate speed. It wasn’t that we weren’t able to skate well; it was that the rules of the game allowed us to reduce the importance of this factor. Not any more! Now, more than ever, the game is fast and furious. So, let’s spend a minute thinking through the elements that will help our players increase their ability to skate.
1- Time on Ice
Players in my day didn’t have the skating coach resources that we have today, but what we did have was time. Many of my colleagues taught themselves to skate by playing pond hockey. Hours and hours of doing can create expertise.
I was a different duck. Because I grew up in Burnaby BC where we had no outdoor ice (only rain), I found unique ways to get more time on the ice. I would get my Dad and Mom up very early and ask them if I could get to the arena early (4:30 am!!!) because in those days they would let us skate before the ice-man needed to Zamboni a fresh sheet of ice for our 5:30 am practice.
Today’s minor hockey players fight for ice time. As our hockey population increases and our arena capacity remains the same, we try to do the same with less ice time. Many minor hockey practices are on half-ice as a result. Try to spend any extra team budget resources on finding extra ice time or plugging into a power skating resource for the players on your team.
2- Technique
Most people new to the higher levels of hockey in general, and skating more specifically, do not recognize the strong connection between a good skater and great leg strength. Technique is certainly important, but it must be combined with leg-strength development to optimize the skater’s speed.
Parents, do this for me: Right now, walk over to the nearest wall, spread your legs slightly, lean against the wall with your back, and then slide down the wall until your legs are at a 90 degree angle. Hold this sitting position for 50 seconds (the length of a shift). The more quickly your legs burn, the more quickly your legs straighten up, and the more quickly you lose skating effectiveness and speed. Great power skating instructors will ask your players to bend their knees not their backs. To maximize the technique grow your leg muscles.
Technique can be taught, but leg-strength must be developed!
3- Timing (Hockey Sense)
Often players are not actually slow, but they look slow because of their timing. Timing is everything in the game of hockey! If players constantly get ahead of the play, they must decrease their speed to avoid going offside. Players breaking out of the zone can play too close to the puck-carrier, or crowd a teammate’s space, and get slowed down. Timing, how to hit holes with speed, is an essential element which is often under-appreciated as we look at a player’s ability to generate speed.
Mature hockey pundits commonly speak of “hockey-sense.” In fact, they are often referring to a player’s sense of timing. A good understanding of timing can make your player look faster.
Finally, over the past 45 years that I have been directly connected to hockey, I have noticed that some players pay less attention during the portion of practice that is dedicated to skating technique. The best in the world, however, pay attention! NHL and AHL teams hire skating experts (our Abbotsford Heat team has one) to focus on building this critical skill in players who are the best of the best. So, the simple message is that it’s never too late to work on becoming a better skater.
John Wooden, the “winningest” basketball coach in NCAA history, said, “I don’t worry too much about winning or losing. I focus a lot on practicing the details that give us the win.”
That is the perfect mantra for minor hockey coaches, players and parents. Are we practicing the details: more time on ice, better technique, and enhanced timing? Practicing those details will increase our players’ skating proficiency while at the same time optimizing their enjoyment of the game - a win-win!
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