Eileen Peerless Power Skating Method offers proven techniques from a power skating expert that will help hockey skaters of all ages, abilities, and levels to improve power, speed, and overall performance on the ice. Relying on her nearly three decades of experience teaching hundreds of hockey players, Eileen Peerless shares practical skills that can be used in real game situations. Peerless divides her guidebook into three sections-balance, stride, and agility. She provides a solid foundation of step-by-step methods, team and individual drills, and clear illustrations that will help any hockey player develop into an excellent skater. Skaters will learn how to: ¿ improve balance by developing better edge control and skate placement; ¿ implement a strong, powerful stride that uses the body for strength; ¿ master agility and increase speed by turning and stopping properly. Knowing where the body belongs in every skating maneuver is critical to improving skating technique, speed, and balance. Eileen Peerless Power Skating Method provides the kind of methods that, with practice and dedication, will lead both beginning and advanced hockey athletes to achieve unlimited success on the ice.

Eileen Peerless Power Skating Method

The Art of Technique Applied to Hockey Skating By Eileen Peerless

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Eileen Peerless
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-5113-6

Contents

Introduction............................................xiChapter One: Balance....................................1Getting acquainted with your Edges......................2Body Positioning........................................3Free Foot...............................................4Arms....................................................6Edge Balance............................................7Individual Edge Drills for Balance......................8Balance Drills: Edge Jumps..............................14Additional Edge/Balance Drills..........................22Team Drills.............................................29Edge drills with quick feet.............................31Advanced edge drills....................................32Chapter Two: Stride.....................................35Forward Stride..........................................37Knee Bend...............................................37Knee Extension..........................................39Return..................................................41Arms....................................................44Skate Path..............................................46Drill: Bend/Extend......................................46Drill: Side toe drag....................................48Backward Stride.........................................48Knee Bend...............................................49Knee Extension..........................................50Return..................................................51Arms....................................................52Skate Path..............................................52Drills..................................................53Chapter Three: Agility..................................57Stops...................................................58Inside edge stop........................................59Outside edge stop.......................................60Two-foot stop...........................................61Practice drills.........................................62Rotation Turns..........................................66Forward to backward turns down ice......................66Drills for rotation turns...............................68Things to Remember When Doing Turns.....................71Heel-to-Heel Edge Turns.................................71Drills for edge turns...................................72Power Turns.............................................74Stepovers...............................................78Quick feet drills for stepovers:........................80Forward Starts..........................................81Quick starts............................................81Power starts............................................86Explosive starts........................................88Side Starts.............................................90Jumps for Agility.......................................92Conclusion..............................................95

Chapter One

Balance

"Teach the body first and the feet will follow."

Balance is the foundation for skating: the better the balance, the better the skating. Balance means body. Knowing where the body belongs over the feet all of the time is essential. All skating technique needs the body to be properly balanced over the blades of the skates at all times.

The best drills for body placement over the blades are those using the blade edges. Mastery of the use of inside and outside edges is essential to become a complete skater. When you are performing edge drills, make sure the distance traveled on an edge is longer rather than shorter. The arc made by an edge on the ice should be no less than 180 degrees. This will help in getting the utmost in balance and body placement.

Getting acquainted with your Edges

Inside and outside edges are used in almost every skating maneuver. Edges result from a drop of the ankle either inward (for inside edges) or outward (for outside edges). Figure 1-1 shows both an inside and an outside edge. Figure 1-2 shows inside edges. The knee should not drop inward but should be bent forward to line up over the toe. The angle of the edge to the ice is 45 degrees.

Body Positioning

Properly positioning the upper body when doing edge drills helps with balance. To do edge drills properly, the upper body must be lined up over the gliding edge. The upper body does not stay stationary but rotates, depending on the edge. The upper body has a slight lean in the direction of travel in order to keep it lined up over the edge of the gliding skate. This lean keeps the upper torso balanced over the blade.

For example, the shoulders rotate to the left when you are on

a. a left forward outside edge (fig. 1-3);

b. a right forward inside edge;

c. a right backward outside edge;

d. a left backward inside edge.

The shoulders will rotate to the right when you are on a. a right forward outside edge;

b. a left forward inside edge;

c. a left backward outside edge;

d. a right backward inside edge (fig. 1-4).

Free Foot

The position of the free foot (the one off the ice) is important because it helps the upper body achieve the proper position for ultimate balance over the blade edge.

Forward inside edges: the heel of the free foot forms an open V (the heels do not touch) with the gliding skate. This position points the knee outward, not forward.

Backward inside edges: the free foot is close to the gliding foot so the body can be properly balanced over the gliding inside edge. The knee of the free leg is forward.

For backward and forward outside edges, the free skate forms a 90-degree angle with the gliding skate (fig. 1-5). For outside edges, the knee of the free foot is lifted and forms a 90-degree angle to the gliding knee. The higher the lift of the knee of the free leg, the deeper the outside edge. Be sure to keep the knees at a 90-degree angle for outside edges. When on a backward outside edge, the bent knee of the free leg leads the body in the direction it will travel. On a left backward outside edge, the right knee of the free leg is bent and opening toward the right to keep the upper body balanced over the left outside edge. The back, rather than the chest, is parallel to the skate blade.

In all edge work, the free foot should not wander away from the gliding foot, nor should it be behind the gliding foot. These positions will cause the body to be off balance. Always support the body. If the body has no "home" or is not properly balanced over the skate blade, it cannot provide the balance and power needed for skating.

Arms

Arms should not be a factor in balance and should not be used as balancing tools. When doing edge drills, arms should be bent at the elbows to form a 45-degree angle between the lower arm and upper arm. The arms move with the body, not against it. So if you are on a left forward outside edge (fig. 1-6) and your body is turning inward, the right elbow should come slightly forward and the left elbow slightly back.

Edge Balance

To get a feel for inside and outside edges, stand on the ice with your skates directly under the hips, about eight to ten inches apart. Drop the left ankle outward to an outside edge. The blade will form a...