Stage 3: Forward Skating

The forward stride is the most used movement in hockey, however many players neglect to try to improve it. Many players think that once they can skate and move forwards they are fine, however even PRO hockey players continue to work on their forward stride throughout their entire career!

The forward stride is the most used movement in skating, which means it should be the one you focus on the most. What can you do to improve your stride? Here are some areas that you might be able to improve

• Better balance
• Faster acceleration
• Quicker steps (faster stride rate)
• Better use of the edges
• Better recovery after the stride
• More knee bend (for more power)
• Better glide
• Improved arm movement

FORWARD STRIDE FUNDAMENTALS AND TIPS

The key to a good forward stride

The forward stride consists of a push, glide and recovery. In order to have a smooth stride you should have good knee bend, a good push using your edges, good balance glide and knee bend in your glide leg and a fast recovery.

The key to speed is stride length and stride frequency. This is true when skating in a straight line, which happens with the forward stride. Once you get into higher level hockey we also want speed in lateral movement, crossover speed, pivots, agility, etc.

COMMON MISTAKES WITH THE FORWARD STRIDE

• Stilt Skating: ​You know those guys who walk around on stilts at the circus? Some hockey players look like that on the ice. If you want better balance, agility and power, and a longer stride BEND YOUR KNEES!
• Rail Road skating: This is when the player skates with their feet very wide apart and just barely pushes with each foot. The stride length is very small, the skates are both only using the inside edges, and there is very little balance or glide in the glide leg.
• Heel kicks: You want your recovery to be efficient and quick. Many players skate like they run and kick their heels up before planting their foot again for another stride. This wastes time and energy. Your recovery should be almost straight back and under your hip for another push.

IMPORTANT POINTS IN THIS VIDEO

There are a few things that you should remember when you are trying to accelerate quickly, I go over a number of points in the video and I will also share them here

• Turn your feet
• Some hockey players start skating by walking, and then running on the ice. They never learn to turn their feet and they will never get full power this way. In order to get all the power from each stride you need to turn your blades to a 45 angle. This ensures your blades don’t slip on the ice, if you don’t turn your feet you are basically just spinning your tires.Don’t spin your tires
• Dig those toes in!
• This point is VERY important for acceleration, but not quite as important once you get to full speed. When you accelerate your first three steps are basically all toes, you are essentially sprinting on the ice. You want three quick steps and try to dig the toe in, push hard, and then get the next toe dug in. You don’t want to coast at all. When you get to full speed you are using more of the blades and coasting with each stride, but the acceleration needs to be all power, all thrust and no coasting!
• Push hard with both legs
• Remember to EXPLODE with power from both legs. Some players push hard with the first leg to get themselves going and then go half power for the next few steps. Push hard with both legs, and practice using the right technique with both legs.
• Bend the knees and extend your legs
• This is very important, if you don’t bend your knees enough you wont get 100% of the power you could be getting. The less you bend your knees the less power you will get, imagine riding a bike without bending your knees, you wouldn’t get anywhere.
• You also want to extend your legs to get full power, you don’t want to be like the clown on the mini bicycle. Extend you leg, and then quickly get it underneath you to take another stride.
• Lean forward
• You want to keep that energy moving forwards, so lean forwards. Some players extend their legs, but stand up while they are doing it. Make sure you are leaning forwards so all your energy pushes you forwards, you don’t want to lose power by pushing UP instead of out.