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