Poor Butterfly Push When Down

[srv2miker 0]

Hey all,

Searched here and GSBB, but couldn't find any in-depth answers to my questions. I'm trying to get the butterfly push figured out, because I continue to struggle with it. My slide is fine from a standing start, but if I'm trying to bfly push across the net I go no where. No matter the angle of my skate, or the force of my drive, my skate just seems to slip out from underneath me. I push and go maybe two inches before my skate blows out and my momentum stops.

What I'm wondering is if my hollow is too shallow. I'm using 7/16" right now - would going down to 3/8" improve this, or based on people's experience is this purely a technique issue?

[Law Goalie 147]

7/16" should be plenty; there's no reason not to try 3/8", but it does sound like a technical issue rather than a geometrical one.

The only thing I can suggest is to get on the ice alone (ie. without some wingnut players firing pucks at your head), and break the movement down as slowly and methodically as possible.

The reason your butterfly slide works from the stance is that you already have an intuitive sense of how to find your edges and transfer weight from a standing position. You just need to find that in the butterfly - which can be, after all, a kind of second stance. That, and moving from the stance into a butterfly slide is sort of controlled fall, meaning you already have that momentum on your side to aid the lateral push.

Get yourself in the butterfly, then lift up your backside leg and place your skate blade on the ice as if you were going to push across, then hold it. Take a minute to see how well your edge is contacting the ice. Are there any pieces of gear that are making it awkward or uncomfortable? Do you feel stable in this split-knee position?

When you push from here, the thing to remember is that you'll always move at 90-degrees to your blade - in other words, the instep of your backside foot aims where you're going. If that isn't aimed properly, you're either going elsewhere or nowhere (if you try to correct as you push).

[dsjunior1388 81]

7/16" should be plenty; there's no reason not to try 3/8", but it does sound like a technical issue rather than a geometrical one.

The only thing I can suggest is to get on the ice alone (ie. without some wingnut players firing pucks at your head), and break the movement down as slowly and methodically as possible.

The reason your butterfly slide works from the stance is that you already have an intuitive sense of how to find your edges and transfer weight from a standing position. You just need to find that in the butterfly - which can be, after all, a kind of second stance. That, and moving from the stance into a butterfly slide is sort of controlled fall, meaning you already have that momentum on your side to aid the lateral push.

Get yourself in the butterfly, then lift up your backside leg and place your skate blade on the ice as if you were going to push across, then hold it. Take a minute to see how well your edge is contacting the ice. Are there any pieces of gear that are making it awkward or uncomfortable? Do you feel stable in this split-knee position?

When you push from here, the thing to remember is that you'll always move at 90-degrees to your blade - in other words, the instep of your backside foot aims where you're going. If that isn't aimed properly, you're either going elsewhere or nowhere (if you try to correct as you push).

if your going to sticks an pucks to work alone, just wear a player helmet with a halfshield or no cage, people will probably get the hint even though you are wearing full pads.

[Law Goalie 147]

Good suggestion, especially if the skate mandates helmets. I usually just wear a cap if I want a no-puck skate, but I have sometimes been asked to put on a helmet.

[Justin Liedloff 13]

At a quick glance, it sounds like the issue is load. When you are in your stance, you are able to perform the slide because you simply load up your drive leg and go. Because you are blowing out your skate edge, it sounds like the load isn't being properly transferred.

I speak from experience, where I simply could not figure out how to slide from a down position. Turns out, my issue was that I had all of my weight on my DOWN leg, when, in actuality, you need to transfer your weight to your UP (drive) leg. By transferring your weight to your drive leg, it will put more pressure on the edge of your skate, preventing a blowout.

Basically, you want to act as if you are getting up on your drive leg, and then push yourself just before your DOWN leg leaves the ice. It takes some timing, and at first you will probably notice yourself lifting your down leg, until you figure out the exact timing of it.

[Law Goalie 147]

That's exactly it - the knack is to load the backside leg, and then as you push, transfer your weight to the frontside knee.

The key is, as Justin suggests and I implied, to use the same basic movements in the stance and butterfly; in both cases, you end up in a split-knee position with your weight on one skate, then drive across onto the down knee.

[DCott 0]

Agree with the last 2 posts. You may just be trying to lean in the direction you are trying to move (ie. down leg). You have to, for a split second until you get moving, shift some weight onto the push leg. Taking weight off the down pad will reduce the friction along the ice. It takes a little patience if you're not used to it, but you'll more than make up for it with a strong push.

[dcdot377 0]

Stacking the leg that does the pushing is an important start. If you still cannot get it down maybe you can try to get half way up and then push. This will help you to get maximum weight transfer and it will feel more natural. That's how I taught myself to do it.