Power skating for hockey includes a number of techniques and drills designed to help hockey players skate faster and more efficiently. Although power skating programs differ, most focus on the fundamentals of skating, including stroking, edges, and turns. Mastery of these fundamentals helps hockey players skate well with minimum effort, allowing them to keep their minds on the game and their bodies ready to respond.
Identification
Power skating for hockey is different from a general strength training or conditioning program, according to power skating expert Laura Stamm. Instead of focusing on getting a good workout, power skating focuses on technique. Proper technique allows a skater to get the maximum power out of a minimum of movement. Power skating techniques are often taught individually and then combined, so that the hockey player learns the proper execution of each move.
Types
Power skating drills for hockey usually focus on one of three different skill sets: stroking, edges, or turns. Stroking focuses on the skater's ability to push himself or herself across the ice. It teaches how to push strongly and efficiently to generate maximum speed with minimum effort. Working on edges focuses on how a player uses his or her body weight and skate blades to make curves on the ice. Turns are taught to help players keep up with the game by making it easy for them to turn around and skate in any direction quickly.
Function
In addition to helping skaters gain strength and improve their technique to develop speed and strength in skating, power skating trains the body and the mind to work together, according to power skating expert Laura Stamm. In all sports, an athlete's mind and body must work together to react quickly to changes in the game. Repeating power skating drills helps the brain memorize the moves involved in proper skating technique, so that a hockey player can have the mental alertness to watch the puck and the skating power to handle and shoot it well.
Misconceptions
Although off-ice strength training will improve your overall health and muscle control, it won't make you a better skater, according to power skating coach Kyle Melinn. Power skating focuses on technique because using proper technique allows the skater to put the most force behind each move. Without proper technique, hockey players often find themselves skating as hard as they can but moving slowly, because they are wasting energy on movements that don't propel them forward.
Benefits
In addition to improving your skating, power skating drills can also improve your balance, making you a better and safer skater. When teaching power skating to hockey players, coach Robby Glantz stresses the importance of keeping a deep knee bend. According to Glantz, the deep knee bend both helps hockey players push harder with the opposite leg and keeps the skater's weight low to the ice, which improves balance and lessens the risk the skater will fall, even if he collides with another player.
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