| In ice hockey, skating can make or break you. | | | | thisknee forward ahead of the foot. Then when |
| Here are the | | | | you place yourfoot on the ice, you get full |
| | | | muscle power when the kneestraightens. |
| 4 fundamentals to becoming a top performing | | | | |
| ice hockeyskater, plus 4 extra techniques to | | | | Top athletes, especially outstanding track |
| push you right over theedge! | | | | stars, recognizethe importance of leg power |
| | | | and do something about it. Theyuse a |
| 1. A solid, well-balanced stance is basic to | | | | principle of training known as over-load. And |
| any degree ofspeed you want to attain. If you | | | | you canuse your own form of it, too. Here are |
| will work on your starts,stops, and turns as | | | | some methods of over-loading: |
| described, you will be well on your wayto | | | | |
| good balance. | | | | 1. Drive yourself all out as long as you are |
| | | | on the iceduring scrimmage. Do not just coast |
| 2. In striding, you have better balance if | | | | around the rink onskates; they will do most |
| you skate withyour feet about shoulder width | | | | of the work for you if you letthem. |
| apart. If your feet are tooclose together, | | | | |
| you are more easily knocked off-balance inthe | | | | 2. Skate in short, hard bursts, gradually |
| heavy going of a game. | | | | building up thenumber of lengths of ice you |
| | | | can do successively. |
| 3. The faster you skate, the more you should | | | | |
| bend forwardfrom the waist. The comparison | | | | 3. Get a buddy to let you push him up and |
| here is to the body-lean of asprinter doing | | | | down the ice. Youare over-loading by the |
| the 100-yard dash and the striding form of | | | | amount he weighs. |
| atwo-miler. During the course of a hockey | | | | |
| game, you will beboth a sprinter and a | | | | 4. In testing yourself at top speed, keep up |
| strider as the play dictates. But whenyou | | | | a continualrefrain in your mind: "I can go |
| really want to dig fast, with or without the | | | | faster yet!" Be sure to warmup well before |
| puck, youshould lean well into it. | | | | any all-out test. |
| | | | |
| 4. For straight-ahead speed, your power comes | | | | If you study these 4 fundamentals and |
| from thethrust you get when the knee of the | | | | over-load with the 4techniques above, you |
| digging footstraightens. To get maximum | | | | will improve your skating skillsdramatically. |
| thrust, the knee of the legcoming forward | | | | And that in turn will improve your |
| should be well bent. Be sure you carry | | | | overallice hockey performance. |