Now that you are going to the ice rink to practice, or brush-up on, your skating skills, you need to put together a successful practice session.
First is the warm-up. A warm-up for skill development is different than that for a hockey practice. Stretching is not necessary; drills to improve balance are. Skate around the rink at least once, slowly, to warm-up then begin work on edge drills: forward inside and outside, then backward inside and outside, followed by one foot inside/outside edge slalom drills forward and backward once around the rink.
These are important drills. Be sure to complete a full 180-degree turn on each edge. If you cannot do this, or have difficulty, find a corner and practice 360-degree turns until you find and set your balance point. Edge work requires balance with proper placement of the body over the gliding edge. Remember to use an inside edge push of the free foot to begin each drill.
When doing inside edge drills, forward or backward, the free foot will be close to the gliding foot (the toe of the free foot touches the ankle of the gliding foot.) For outside edges, either forward or backward, the free foot swings out and slightly forward so the body is forced to balance over the outside edge. Keep in mind that the forward outside edge drill does not include a crossover. Rather, bring the feet together so they are parallel and push-off with the gliding foot as the free foot takes the ice. All drills start facing the sideboards, not down ice.
As you become more adept at edge drills, you can add the following. In the left backward outside edge drill, kick the right free foot up in the two-o’clock position before placing it across the gliding foot on an outside edge going backward. The free foot will become the gliding foot (on an outside edge) and the gliding foot will be picked up and kicked out at the ten o’clock position before crossing over in front of the gliding foot. Raising the leg high causes the body to balance over the edge. The body will not stay erect, but will lean slightly to the right if on a right back outside edge and to the left if on a left back outside edge. Kick from the hip; don’t swing the foot out from the knee.
There are several other edge drills that can be added to your workout once the above are mastered. Each requires good body balance over the blade. Edge drills should be basic to any technique building. Edges are to skating as scales and arpeggios are to musical training. Both must be developed for mastery of the sport/skill. Without edges, other skill development will take longer and be more difficult to master. With edges, skating is easier because of improved balance.
For more of a challenge, repeat each of the above drills with a puck making sure not to sacrifice correct technique.
