Contributed to Players By: Eileen Peerless

The Stride With the emphasis that coaches place on speed in playing hockey, the development of the one element that can produce that speed seems to be overlooked. That element is the stride -- and from it the quick start. To understand and to execute the quick start, the skater must be able to understand and execute the stride. Both require skating "into" the ice, not on top of the ice. Unfortunately, there seems to be very little understanding of the proper technique needed to produce a good stride. Performing drills such as forward swizzles using big pushes (or scrapes) with the heels or the one-foot half swizzles, again using a big heel push, are not the best way to teach the stride. Such drills encourage the skater to push with the heel, rather than the toe, and to scrape across the ice rather than dig into the ice. Several elements work together to produce speed in the stride. Posture and body lean. The body should lean slightly forward. But be careful, the more the body is bent forward at the waist, the straighter the knees. The chest should face forward, not down. The head and chin are up. Balance. The body weight is always balanced over the gliding foot. When the pushing leg is fully extended, the entire body weight should be over the gliding foot. Hips and body. There should not be any extra motion except to transfer the hips and body from the pushing foot to the gliding foot. Arms and shoulders. The right arm and shoulder will move forward as the right leg extends so that the entire body is lined up over the gliding foot. Knees. The stride requires a deep knee bend. The leg should extend fully in the push with the knee whipped forward in the recovery. It is the knee that reaches forward into the next stride, not the foot. Foot action. The ankle should be relaxed with the toe out, not down. If the toe points downward, the leg cannot be fully extended. Another important element is the final toe push. To get maximum power in the stride, the skater must concentrate on this final toe push. It is this last-moment push that provides the forward movement. No matter how fast or efficient a skater is, without this final toe push, as hard as possible, at the end of each stroke, the stride is not complete. Working on this part of the stride will help produce much greater speed. Because of the importance of the stride and quick start to the game of hockey, I conduct a clinic devoted specifically to their development. The clinic concentrates on the techniques that will produce speed in both the stride and quick start. Remember, an effective and efficient stride takes time to develop. It takes perseverance and patience. But the hard work will result in a faster, smoother skater who is always first to the puck.