Skating is the most basic skill for a hockey player. It is the one area that all hockey players have to become experts in. The ability to skate with ease is a requirement because movement on ice has to be second nature. While playing hockey, you need to be thinking about the pass you are going to make or the hit you are trying to avoid, and cannot afford to be thinking about your skating.
Step 1
Push off with the edges of your skates out to the sides. This is how you move on hockey skates. It's important to know that you are not skating on a flat blade. Hockey skates have two sharp edges and a hollow space in-between the edges. By pushing off to the sides you gain speed and power.
Step 2
Lean your body in the direction you want to turn. Your skates will respond because they will go in the direction you are leaning towards. Keep your body weight forward on your skates and continue to push off to the sides in order to turn your hips.
Step 3
Spin your rear hip in the direction you are skating and lean back in order to stop. Ice hockey is a game of fast starts and stops, and you must be able to stop sharply and take off in a different direction.
Step 4
Lift up on your skates and spin around in order to go from skating forward to backward in the same movement. This is a requirement of defensemen, though it also helps when forwards can do this as well. In order to go from skating forward to backward without losing speed, lift as much of your weight off the blades of your skates and then spin backwards.
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