Skating Posture

[Michzm 0]

Hey guys,

I'm new to playing hockey at 25, and being in Australia, ice skating is something you do every few years with a few mates in rental skates. Anyway, now that I've played a few casual drop in games, a few of the other players are telling me that my posture is too upright even though it feels to me like I'm almost in a seated position haha. The local rink doesn't do skating lessons or training at all but they do a development night.... which to my horror was 19 sub 12 year olds and me.... which felt wrong....

I've read around to see what I can learn and tried doing it but eitherway, Does anyone here whos been actually coached have any hard and fast rules about posture?

[chk hrd 164]

Shoulders over knees, knees over toes. Keep your head up, extend the leg all the way on strides and bring them all the way back. Heals to turn, toes to stop.

[hunt3rsean 44]

I'd recommend searching youtube for some hockey "skills" tutorials. It will at least give you a visual with a small information breakdown on something like this. chk hrd gave the basics and pretty much that's all you have to remember. Obviously, not two players are going to skate exactly the same. But, the basics are like he mentioned. Also, maybe have a buddy record some of your shifts on a camera so you can see how your posture trully is compared to how you feel it is. This also helps tremendously.

[Chadd 916]

There is no one body posture for skating. You will be in one position if skating with the puck, a different position if you're backchecking and yet another if you're skating backwards. Some guys skate really hunched over and others skate with a much more upright back. The most important thing is to bend at the knees and not at the waist.

[flyers10 57]

The most important thing is to bend at the knees and not at the waist.

This! You don't realize how hard it is to bend the knees and get low for a powerful stride, especially if you learned to skate as an adult. Video tape yourself with a camcorder or cell phone and what feels as low to you may be fairly straight legged.

[Michzm 0]

Alright, awesome. I will take that all on board and give it a crack!

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

I have a flipcam I use to film my games sometimes. When I'm teaching someone how to skate, I'll usually stay on them to bend their knees. I'd say try lots of circles. Keep your knees bent, and push out with the outside leg while going around the circle and be very careful not to bob up and down and keep the inside leg planted. It'll kill your quads, but it'll help once you start working both legs. A lot of people lose extension and power in their stride from bobbing.

I'm probably guilty of leaning forward a bit too much at times. When I'm at a full sprint, my head will usually be about board-level.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

I saw a video of one of our league games once. Oh man, zero knee bend.

[bekster 0]

The most important thing is to bend at the knees and not at the waist.

Maybe you meant it in a different way (like right posture on the pic) but only bend at knee (left posture) is wrong since you wont involve your hamstrings and glutes. And its almost impossible unless you dont use top 3 eyelets on your skates. You need to have more of a "sitting" position like the middle posture on the pic with bent knees and hips while keeping chest and head up. that way you can use most of your muscles. But sure thats just general, there are so many different variables in a game that there is not one correct stance.

[Chadd 916]

In most beginner cases, you see the pic on the right. If you have someone thinking the position on the left, they end up closer to the middle. Most men would be severely off balance if they were in the middle position given the amount of weight they carry in their upper body. Yes, for hard striding it is a good position, but you can't be in that position all game long.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

That third one is definitely me. You can see my terrible posture in the video I posted in another thread of me running over a little kid.

I think I've gotten a bit better, but I'd need more video of myself to know for sure.

[fatwabbit 93]

yea... zero knee bend here. Started playing when I was 19, and never really was taught anything. Bad knees and knee braces dont really help.

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

I'm definitely in the middle position.

[memphishockey06 0]

I used to coach an introductory hockey league for people just learning to play the game, or trying to get back into it after years without. One of the ways I try to get people to relate with positions used in other sports, and one thing I've used to explain proper form is an "athletic stance."

Many sports - basketball, baseball, volleyball, and some positions in football - all share a same basic stance when stationary. Knees bent with your feet shoulder length apart, up on the balls of your feet, with your butt down and chest out and head up. This is a great way to visualize the way your body is positioned in hockey as well, which creates a stable base for you to work on your skating. The biggest mistake people make when they begin skating is to lock your knees straight and bend forward at the waist. Keeping your but down and knees bent will help to keep your center of gravity low, and allow you to maintain your balance the proper way.

At the end of the day the best way to become more comfortable is to get out there and skate. While rollerblades can't re-create the "toe snap" used with hockey skates, they're still the next best thing and a great way to concentrate on your stride mechanics. A good pair of soft boot fitness rollerblades will also help to build your ankle strength.

Congrats on getting into the sport and good luck!

[Michzm 0]

Have the mods thought about opening a section dedicated to training or techical questions? For people such as my self, who don't have access to actual training or people who learn purely through the internet. Don't get me wrong, YouTube is a great resouce but what I like in the insight from people, like chk hrd, bekster and especially memphishockey06. Person experience beats videos or articles anyday!

[sohoman 0]

If I could add a different spin by asking a few questions pertaining to your skates:

Did you get properly fitted when you bought your skates? Width,Length, Instep, Arch, stiffness and flex?

Do your boots allow you to flex your ankles forward so that you get sufficient knee bend?

Did you get your skates profiled when first sharpened? Beginners should consider a longer radius of 11'

These are a minimum of things to consider as an upright stance (or more likely a lack of knee bend) might be caused by boots that are over tightened especially on the top two eyelits as a result of being too big. Also a rocker that is too small say a radius of 9' or less may force you to skate on the middle flats for fear of losing your balance. The easiest way to skate on the middle flats is upright with legs straight.

I say this not trying to blame the equipment but through experience I found if you have incorrectly fitted boots and too small of a rocker (especially for beginner adults) you may find that you are being forced into a less than optimal stance to compensate which no amount of training will fix.

BTW is the rink the video was taken by any chance Erina? I just so happen to live in Sydney and play div1 senior hockey and have played at Erina several times.

All the best

[IPv6Freely 2093]

BTW is the rink the video was taken by any chance Erina? I just so happen to live in Sydney and play div1 senior hockey and have played at Erina several times.

San Diego Ice Arena.

My skates don't fit right. They're plenty comfortable, though. Bottom eyelets are all just snug, and the top 2-3 eyelets are really tight. Otherwise, the boot is too loose. If I tighten the bottom eyelets more, the outsides of my feet kill me.

[Michzm 0]

These are a minimum of things to consider as an upright stance (or more likely a lack of knee bend) might be caused by boots that are over tightened especially on the top two eyelits as a result of being too big. Also a rocker that is too small say a radius of 9' or less may force you to skate on the middle flats for fear of losing your balance. The easiest way to skate on the middle flats is upright with legs straight.

BTW is the rink the video was taken by any chance Erina? I just so happen to live in Sydney and play div1 senior hockey and have played at Erina several times.

You're probably on the right track too, I'm using second hand skates which are a touch to big, so thats definitly a contributing factor.

I play at Erina, we don't have perspex, we have ratty, beige nets with holes.... we do get a fair bit of natural light through those massive windows though...

[dir3 0]

I play at Erina, we don't have perspex, we have ratty, beige nets with holes.... we do get a fair bit of natural light through those massive windows though...

Welcome to ice hockey in NSW :D

I saw a rebels player get boarded at canterbury where there is no net in the far corner... I though he died

[gxc999 7]

There is a relationship between knee bend and how far you should be leaning forward. I think Chadd gave a good explanation earlier, about the middle stance being optimal for the quick stride/accel but not being something you can do all game. There are so many factors though, including how long your legs are, what type of upper body build you have etc etc.

[rfm1237 0]

Shoulders over knees, knees over toes. Keep your head up, extend the leg all the way on strides and bring them all the way back. Heals to turn, toes to stop.

X2. Also feet need to be nuetral underneath you (i.e dont roll to your inside edge) Went to a camp recently and the skating coach had us get into the correct posture and hold it for two minutes. Harder to do than it sounds if you are staying low and neutral.

[Quintin 16]

The cues I use for newbies:

- Butt down

- Chest and head up

- Keep the centre of mass low

- Weight transfer per stride (simply - how your shoulders move)

The lower the centre of mass, the more stable you will be and skates will grip into the ice. Keep in mind, while skating is a lower body dominant movement - what separates players on one level to the next is treating as a full body movement. Players that skate with this mindset allows them to increase skating efficiency, so you can do more with less effort & thinking.

Typical skating stride should allow for maximum extension of the pushing leg as well as efficient recovery.

The low hip position coupled with 90 or less degrees allows you to generate near max power per stride. When you're doing a vertical jump, you just don't bend at the knee but also drop your hips too. Dropping of the hips allow for increased range of motion as well as a full triple extension (straightening of the ankles, knees and hips).

The foot position, when extended, should be in external rotation in hip of the push-off leg (not directly behind you or parallel to your body - where depends on what is most efficient for you. However, improvements/changes in factors such as flexibility, posture, muscular function (not just strength) etc. means that your skating will change - that ultimately is what off-ice training, when correct programming and exercises are implemented correctly, does.).

The main factors in progressing with skating ability is skating efficiency. When you learn to become efficient in your stride, whether you're a traditional Niedermayer-type (close stance recovery) or 'modern' Crosby/Tavares-type (wide stance recovery) skater, then you can start focusing on the little things.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[maxamillion 3]

How tall are you? I was always a giant compared to everyone I learned with, so I kind of had to teach myself my own technique. Now that I'm pretty even in terms of height with a few guys now, I feel that my skating stride is more effective because I grew into it a little earlier. If it helps I learned from watching Keith Primeau. As everyone has pretty much pointed out, key is ass over ankles, Big long powerful strides instead of short, running strides, and, for me, being a little more on your toes. It looks like I'm gliding, but I can keep up with a lot of the faster guys I play with when I put everything into it.

either way, Ice hockey is great isn't it?

[Michzm 0]

I am a bigger guy, I'm 6'4. Since I wrote this a few weeks back I have bought nice fitted skates and have worked on my posture and have improved a fair bit because of advice on this thread! My stopping is still very average but works for the moment, but my backwards skating is just dismal which ironically I imagine is 50% technique and 50% posture of which 100% of mine is wrong haha

[maxamillion 3]

I am a bigger guy, I'm 6'4. Since I wrote this a few weeks back I have bought nice fitted skates and have worked on my posture and have improved a fair bit because of advice on this thread! My stopping is still very average but works for the moment, but my backwards skating is just dismal which ironically I imagine is 50% technique and 50% posture of which 100% of mine is wrong haha

Too be honest I never really learned to stop until it was dire. One day I was about to bowl into someone and instinct kicked in and finally it all came together. like luis mendoza.

Back skating is still tough for me. I have good backwards speed but my mobility side to side sucks.