Skating Improvement: A Dual Approach

By Jack Blatherwick

It takes a dual approach - - skating and dryland - - to optimize development. The control of body weight on one leg - - with optimum knee bend - - this is not something that is developed by skating alone. We need to open our eyes and ears to what the speedskaters do. They've left hockey in the dust with their training, and our youngsters deserve better.
 

Would speedskating coaches consider teaching skating without including dryland training?

"Absolutely not," were the words of Dr. Michael Crowe, the architect of skating development for the United States Speedskating Association. "In dry(land) training you develop an essential base of strength, balance, coordination, and power. Without this base there will normally be a number of technical faults that keep the skater from reaching his/her potential."

Elite speedskaters from around the world were in Roseville, Minnesota, for the World Junior Championships in February, 2004. These athletes and coaches take their skating seriously. It is mind-boggling that, although skating speed and power are absolutely essential to compete at higher levels of hockey, we simply don't give this fundamental enough thought, planning, and effort.

Consider that a serious figure skater may train on-ice 4-6 hours per day, six days per week, 50 weeks of the year. Speed skaters might spend nearly that much time between dryland training and skating.

Now, stop and add up the minutes a typical 14 year-old hockey player spends in a year on skating improvement, if there are any minutes at all. Don't count in-season drills that aren't dedicated to skating improvement, because these might actually make you worse.

"If a player has some technical faults that cause a loss of power, repeating the faulty stride over and over will certainly make it more difficult to correct," said Dr. Crow. "There is often a failure to feel the correct source of power. This results in an improper sequence of muscle activation from the hips to the thighs to the calves." Dryland training is extremely important in that it teaches young skaters to feel the real sequence of power delivery.

Faulty repetitions of skating skill, repeated thousands of times are about as productive as going to the driving range to improve a golf swing - - then repeating a faulty swing over and over again. I know this well.

For improvement, we first need a knowledge of (or instruction on) proper technique. We also need feedback (perhaps by video or from an instructor) followed by thousands of quality repetitions. At best, a hockey player might get a few lessons and limited feedback.

What we lack in hockey is serious training. (1) We don't skate enough, and (2) we don't train for optimum delivery of power through skating-specific dryland workouts.

If you have dreams to play at higher levels, there is no way to get there without being a great skater. You must be fast at top speed, quick off the start, and agile in changing directions. This is not an opinion. It is fact, established by testing several NHL and AHL teams, Olympic teams, and Division 1 and Division 3 college teams.

In all, we have tested 4000 hockey players, both men and women. At any age there is a consistent pattern: the players on teams at a higher designated level skate faster than those at a lower level. In other words, A-bantam players are generally faster than B-bantams; Division-1 college players are generally faster than Division-3 players. Varsity players in high school are faster than their counterparts on junior varsity. Junior-A is faster than Junior-B, and the National junior teams we've tested are faster than Junior-A teams.

The statistical analysis is overwhelming. Even when laboratory tests show no other physiological differences between two teams at the same age, the skating differences are highly significant. Consider this fact, which we have never published, from testing candidates for the 1980 Olympic team, the "Miracle" workers of Lake Placid.

All 78 candidates were tested on-ice for top speed, acceleration, and skating endurance. Here is the amazing result: In each of the three tests, the eventual Olympic team was significantly faster than those who failed to make the cut. Note: of course there were some individuals who did not fit this pattern, but the difference in the group averages was highly significant (pThink of it. The top amateurs in the country are invited on the basis of performance in college; then a panel of experts chose the most effective competitors for the final roster - - unlike the movie "Miracle" which had Herb Brooks picking the team on his own. Without access to the test results, the experts chose the fastest skaters.

Does this say that skating speed and quickness are the most important fundamentals required to make it to the highest levels of hockey? Of course not. Competitiveness, mental toughness, and rink sense are more important. Stick skills rank right up there, but these are not easy to test in an objective way.

It does tell us, however, that if you cannot skate fast, turn corners efficiently, and accelerate quickly, you better sit down and devise a plan to improve. It is beyond comprehension - - given the efforts of figure skaters and speed skaters - - that players in hockey do not put in enough time to reach their potential as a skater. Worse yet, the adults in hockey are not even making a plan, like that in speedskating, that would help committed players improve.

It takes a dual approach - - skating and dryland - - to optimize development. The control of body weight on one leg - - with optimum knee bend - - this is not something that is developed by skating alone. We need to open our eyes and ears to what the speedskaters do. They've left hockey in the dust with their training, and our youngsters deserve better.

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