the proper skating form

[khockey#3 0]

I get bitched at for skating with my back hunched too much and they say it looks too goofey and my friend keeps trying to get me to skate with my back strait and it just doesnt feel right to me. I know I should go to a camp but what can I do for now?

[ktang 34]

The straight back form is North American, and the curved back form is European (especially Russian). I think both work, and actually they are starting to teach the curved back form in Canada because it gives your hands more room for stickhandling maneuvers when you are going at high speed.

I think as long as your back isn't too curved, and your balls of the skate / knees / head line up, it's OK. If hockey players worried about looking elegant while skating we would never bend our knees and skate like figure skaters!

[gRxMx 0]

I wouldnt try to keep your back COMPLETELY straight, thats going a little overboard. I try to keep my back bent over juuuuust enough so that it feels like my body is crowding the puck. You shouldnt be bent over to such a degree with your legs locked that your center of gravity shifts out away from your body.

[biff44 0]

Keep trying! You might have poor flexibility, and simply are not physically capable of skating with your back straight. Work on flexibility exercises, like hip flexor stretches. And by straight, like someone said, not completely straight, just pretty straight up. Make sure you are bending your knees a lot.

If you skate all hunched over you will have the following deficiencies:

Can not see the ice well, and therfore can not make good passes and will ocassionally get creamed.

You will have poor balance and will fall over a lot

You will not be able to get a good shot off

You will not have the stamina to play a full 60 minutes without tiring, since you are not using your back muscles at all to help.

If you are trying to get scouted, the scout will NOT be checking off the box that says "skates well" unless you improve!

[#28 0]

I used to have the same problem but I have fixed it within the last 2-3 years. My trainer had told me that my legs were not strong enough, so I would bend at my back because it was easier for me to skate. I spent the last 3 summers doing plyos and that really made a difference. I did lots of one legged squats, one legged lunges, regular squats, wall sits, squat jumps, and I trained on a russian box. I did all of these excercises (except for russian box) with 30-40 pounds doing 2-4 sets of 10 each leg. My trainer made sure I had perfect form and did every excercise with my thighs parallel to the ground (90* knee bend), because he said that my muscles will remember that position. As I became stronger, my back gradually began to straighten and my knees began to bend even more. My speed has increasesed dramatically and now since I am skating lower to the ice, I have a lower center of gravity and I am harder to knock down. With stronger legs, my cornering and crossovers have also improved greatly, since I now have better balance.

[UMWhockey 0]

untill they come up with a computer generated best way to skate we will all have different opinions. It wasn't until a computer generated sprinter was developed that we found out that a straight back is best for sprinting. I have been to many different skating symposiums and clinics and worked with a lot of power skating instructors... no two teach the same thing. It is best to learn what makes someone fast and then try to put your body in it's best position in order to achieve that.

[ktang 34]

untill they come up with a computer generated best way to skate we will all have different opinions. It wasn't until a computer generated sprinter was developed that we found out that a straight back is best for sprinting. I have been to many different skating symposiums and clinics and worked with a lot of power skating instructors... no two teach the same thing. It is best to learn what makes someone fast and then try to put your body in it's best position in order to achieve that.

I second that, and also: it also has a lot to do with your body build and skate setup. Kariya and Chara will skate very differently.

[delpiero81 0]

For me depends on the situation, if i need more focus on the play i tend to have the back in a more straight position, when i need speed (no matter with puck or not) i bend the back more.

And i second what Ktang sayd, changed graf forward pithc for bauer no forward pitch and i'm also slowly adapting my posture to it, but in an "unconscious" way, hope that my english wasnt so bad! :lol: