Body Posture while skating

[Sammy 0]

My son is 10. He has quite a good stride but imo he is too hunched over while skating, which obviously affects ones skating effieciency.

Ive tried to get him to skater with his back more erect, by asking him to skate with his back straighter as well as more erect & as trying to get him to skate with his head up (which would help). Cause hes a kid, it really doesnt seem to work at all (meaning my telling him to do it).

In short , is there a "gimmick" that may work in attempting to acheive this end, or am I stuck with my oral advice to my son. If the latter is the case, are there any , if this was golf, "swing thoughts" I can give him?

[SB39 2]

Try getting him to strengthen his midsection, glutes, and quads. I see a lot of kids skate hunched over because perpetually keeping themselves from falling over is the fastest way they can skate as a substitute for good form and some muscle power.

[Sammy 0]

Try getting him to strengthen his midsection, glutes, and quads. I see a lot of kids skate hunched over because perpetually keeping themselves from falling over is the fastest way they can skate as a substitute for good form and some muscle power.

Thanks, but as he's only 10 I think I'll wait a bit on the muscle traing/strengthening excercises.

What you say is true, but some kids just come out of the box with naturally good posture & others for some reason dont. At the age from 6 -12, I got to believe its not a strength issue.

[Quintin 16]

Does he slouch whenever he's doing stuff outside hockey ie. sitting on the couch watching tv?

Just tell him to keep his back straight a bit more outside hockey like when sitting and it'll work.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

Profile and stick length and lie will probably be the reason behind all of ths I am prety sure if he is playing a high end hockey it wont be core strength at 10.

It might be but I doubt it.

Most likely his stick is to short and the wrong lie.

[hockeymom 2]

My daughter is still trying to correct those bad hunching habits.

In addition to what OTG suggested....

It is, of course, a balance issue. I've been told it is fairly common for bigger kids to compensate this way.

Here's one fun way to strengthen the core AND improve balance without hitting the gym....

Get him an exercise ball and have him use it as a chair when watching tv and/or on the computer. To balance on it, he reflexively has to tighten his abs which will stengthen the core. Plus with the nike bauer ad out, I'm sure he's going to want to practice kneeling and standing on it too.

After years of being told, "straighten up" someone just told my daughter to stick her chest out - that different wording had her "get it". Try different wording; on the other hand, your son may not be a verbal learner, so you might have to use other words and methods to explain it to him so he "gets it".

And finally... my daughter didn't FEEL like she was hunched over, and when she actually was straightened up for entire moments of time, she felt she was leaning backwards. Did some dryland exercises of standing in various positions (hunched, straight, leaning back) and getting pushed. She immediately "saw" with her body what was happening with balance and flexibility.

[Sammy 0]

Profile and stick length and lie will probably be the reason behind all of ths I am prety sure if he is playing a high end hockey it wont be core strength at 10.

It might be but I doubt it.

Most likely his stick is to short and the wrong lie.

True enough this can be a cause but I dont think his stick length is an issue, particularly since his posture is actually better when skating with the puck. Its when he is beetling down the ice without the puck thats really the issue.

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

Profile and stick length and lie will probably be the reason behind all of ths I am prety sure if he is playing a high end hockey it wont be core strength at 10.

It might be but I doubt it.

Most likely his stick is to short and the wrong lie.

True enough this can be a cause but I dont think his stick length is an issue, particularly since his posture is actually better when skating with the puck. Its when he is beetling down the ice without the puck thats really the issue.

Well that tell me that the profile or the skate type is the issue when it comes to the equipment part of isue!

[Sammy 0]

Profile and stick length and lie will probably be the reason behind all of ths I am prety sure if he is playing a high end hockey it wont be core strength at 10.

It might be but I doubt it.

Most likely his stick is to short and the wrong lie.

True enough this can be a cause but I dont think his stick length is an issue, particularly since his posture is actually better when skating with the puck. Its when he is beetling down the ice without the puck thats really the issue.

Well that tell me that the profile or the skate type is the issue when it comes to the equipment part of isue!

I dont believe that. He's had about 5 different kinds of skates & always skated the same. Some guys are hatched with good posture while skating, most are not. The trick is to find a way to get a kid to change & correct their posture when going full tilt, without thinking about it ((muscle memory I guess) .

I think the reason why his posture is better with the puck is that he cant go as fast with the puck as without it, or at least his mind tells him he cant.

[hockeymom 2]

It really is worth exploring. Given the difference in my daughter's skating in the past week with new skates and an expert profiling..."I'm a believer". Her balance has really improved!

Balance is tricky with kids - their growth rate means it is a moving target.

Other than that, if it is technique or a biomechanical issue, then it sounds like you've got to invest in some skating classes.

[Sammy 0]

It really is worth exploring. Given the difference in my daughter's skating in the past week with new skates and an expert profiling..."I'm a believer". Her balance has really improved!

Balance is tricky with kids - their growth rate means it is a moving target.

Other than that, if it is technique or a biomechanical issue, then it sounds like you've got to invest in some skating classes.

Oh, his skates are profiled & it helped his balance.

Thing is, you see all sorts of good skating styles thare different (ie. Coffey, Messier...etc) that I suspect by & large the kid is born with (& those kids are really in the minority). If its biomechanical, (as it is in my sons case) he frankly is a little too young to do 1 on 1 skating lessons due to the focus factor. He does power skating twice a week, but those classes deal more with edge control, quick starts/stops...etc(all of which is very important) rather than body posture.

Dont get me wrong, by all accounts he's a good skater, I just think he could improve alot if he could get his posture in a better position.

[biff44 0]

He is probably all hunched over because he has weak back muscles. How many pushups can he do? A lot? Now how many chin ups can he do? None? There is your answer. All of his muscle is in front, not the back. Until he can do at least 15 chin ups, have him work on his back.

BTW, physics dictates that you simply can not skate with balance if you are hunched over!

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

It really is worth exploring.  Given the difference in my daughter's skating in the past week with new skates and an expert profiling..."I'm a believer".  Her balance has really improved!

Balance is tricky with kids - their growth rate means it is a moving target.

Other than that, if it is technique or a biomechanical issue, then it sounds like you've got to invest in some skating classes.

Oh, his skates are profiled & it helped his balance.

Thing is, you see all sorts of good skating styles thare different (ie. Coffey, Messier...etc) that I suspect by & large the kid is born with (& those kids are really in the minority). If its biomechanical, (as it is in my sons case) he frankly is a little too young to do 1 on 1 skating lessons due to the focus factor. He does power skating twice a week, but those classes deal more with edge control, quick starts/stops...etc(all of which is very important) rather than body posture.

Dont get me wrong, by all accounts he's a good skater, I just think he could improve alot if he could get his posture in a better position.

Ok what kind of skate does he have.

What size?

What Size Shoe?

Wide foot?

Narrow?

I realize that muscle memory has a lot to do with it but besides teaching sharpening i assess Skaters in the OHL and well as of last week i statrted with AHL players so I think that more must be known about the skates and the profile.

Size of skate profile on the skate.

Size of blade on the skate.

All this must be addressed.

Ask Hockey Mom I spent atleast 12 hours with her daughter and she will have a before and after video.

[chk hrd 164]

it has been my experience that most kids hunch for a couple reasons. 1st is bad instruction...especially during power skating classes. If the coach lets them skate that way then they just form bad habits. When I teach the technical skating part of power skating I emphazise head over knees, knees over toes, keep the back straight, head up and don't "bob". At the squirt level I make it a point to let them know what will happen if they skate bent over and thier head down.

2nd is alot of kids use (or used for to long) thier stick as a third leg. This put them in the habit of leaning on thier stick for stops and turns. As they got older thiey relied less on the stick put kept the poor posture.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

BTW, physics dictates that you simply can not skate with balance if you are hunched over!

Gretzky was pretty hunched over.

[biff44 0]

Yeah, you are right about the Gretz:

http://www.oilersheritage.com/memories/vid...ky_ot_goal.html

[ktang 34]

BTW, physics dictates that you simply can not skate with balance if you are hunched over!

Gretzky was pretty hunched over.

So are most of the modern Europeans. It gives you more freedom of motion for stickhandling.

[hockeymom 2]

BTW, physics dictates that you simply can not skate with balance if you are hunched over!

Gretzky was pretty hunched over.

So are most of the modern Europeans. It gives you more freedom of motion for stickhandling.

But what about lateral mobility? As I understand it, you'd have to "pick up" your upper body to get your balance point under you, and THEN be able to make a lateral move.

[MJDhcky9 0]

Kinda off topic but I also heard once that Gretzky wore skates that were like 3 sizes to small for him.

[biff44 0]

I think if someone just gave them a correct length stick, they would be able to skate the right way! lol.

[hockechamp14 0]

Kinda off topic but I also heard once that Gretzky wore skates that were like 3 sizes to small for him.

i think that is shanny, and it's a size and a half I think.

There's a difference between hunching over and being on your toes. Jags is on his toes. So was gretz, but a little too much. I mean it's whatever works generally.

[Chadd 916]

Kinda off topic but I also heard once that Gretzky wore skates that were like 3 sizes to small for him.

i think that is shanny, and it's a size and a half I think.

There's a difference between hunching over and being on your toes. Jags is on his toes. So was gretz, but a little too much. I mean it's whatever works generally.

Gretz and Coffey both wore skates that required them to curl their toes.

[kosydar 0]

Jagr skates very much hunched over as well and is the best player in the game

Every so often what comes natually will beat out the proper or 'right' way to do things

Fedorov also comes to mind as skating hunched over.

[biff44 0]

Just occured to me...these greats that skate bent over are all Forwards!

Are their any great Dmen that also skate hunched over, or does the need to skate forward and backward make them skate standing up more?

[oldtrainerguy28 478]

These players are not hunched over they are skating over there toes.