How do I skate correctly?

[snipecity 0]

My parents and coaches keep telling me that when I skate, my whole upper body sways.

What should I do??? And does anybody else have the same problem?

[evilbabykimmy 0]

had the same problem before, this is what my coach told me to fix that:

the reason ur upper body sway is because u ur feet is too wide and constantly shifting ur body weight while ur skating.

try to put ur feet as close as possible every time u finish pushing and changing ur balance foot.

skating along blue or red line on the rink helps a lot. keep gliding foot on the line, when u finish pushing with one foot, land on the line and switch foot,skating straight and keep ur head up

[Chadd 916]

The biggest cause of that is usually skating with two hands on the stick at all times. It's actually the worst thing you can do when you are trying to skate. Focus on your arms going forward and back when you stride, that forward and back motion should prevent you from rotating your upper body.

The best thing you can do is get a private lesson or two with a coach in your area. A little powerskating instruction goes a long way and a good coach will improve your performance significantly.

[snipecity 0]

@evilbabykimmy:That sounds pretty much like the problem that I am having. I will try my best to get that drill in at the freeskate next time I go.

@Chadd: I think that moving my arms side to side is my problem. Normally, I try to keep my stick on the ground with one hand on it, BUT there is also that lesser percent of the time where I skate with both hands on my stick.

Thanks for any answers that come!!

[jhilly8982 0]

The upper body sway can come from a couple things. Striding with one hand on your stick is a good start but one problem that arises is moving your hands forwards as you skate and then backwards behind your body equally. You don't need to swing your hands behind you at all. Doing this will sway your upper body sideways.

Also, a good drill to practice is to stride slowly but focus on bringing your back foot under your body. Foot coming in should be as low to ice, scrapping ice is ok. Another variation is to do the slow long stride but when you bring your foot back under click heels with the other foot.

[chippa13 1844]

A piece of advice that I used to use when coaching; your hands should reach forward in front of you like you are pulling yourself along with a rope.