26
TOTAL SPORTS DURHAM
My TOP 4 FUNDAMENTAL KEY FACTORS TO YOUR SKATING SUCCESS By Mary Giacalone “Scary Mary” Head Instructor/Owner of Scary Skate Inc. It is so important for your skating improvement to find that strength coach that will help you get stronger. Here are a few key factors that correlate your off- ice strength & conditioning with my on-ice skating development. 1) Your physical strength will help you greatly to be able to support your body in a deep knee bend as you are striding, gliding, pushing, twisting, and rotating. 2) Flexibility is just as important, as this will help improve your stride length and over all skating ability.
First off let’s start by saying how excited we all are to be back on the ice. The 5 months we were off due to Covid-19 seemed like an eternity. Seeing all your smiling faces, hard work, sweat, and getting back into your skating stride makes me happier than words can say…. Let’s talk a bit about my top 4 fundamental key factors, that will help you succeed. We can all agree that the most fundamental skill in hockey is skating. Little can be accomplished unless you can move fast on the ice with or without the puck. From stop to go, from fast to slow, when skating forward or backward, when turning, fore-checking or back checking, even shooting. Hockey is now more than ever a sport of blazing speed, a sport that you must master balance, agility and speed, on a blade as thin as a knife. If you don’t take the time to develop your skating skills now, it will catch up with you later. This year I am preaching to all my skaters who play at the rep hockey level, or want to play at a higher level to truly understand the importance of working on your technical skating skills, and working with a good strength coach. This season will be all about development for many centers. Covid-19 may prevent us from having a “normal hockey season”. This may be an exceptional year for many of you to have the opportunity to work hard on and off the ice. This in turn will help improve your skating development.
3) Balance is critical for you to perform high speed turns and be able to stop/start and change direction more quickly. 4) Agility will allow you to perform a wide range of moves with speed and ability. The speed you skate with is largely affected by the skating technique, and off ice conditioning. If you can increase your hip and knee flexibility, your core strength, foot speed, and explosive power, then your skating improvement is drastic and quicker. All of our force is from one leg to another, and pushing out should be to the side. I find that a lot of players will tend to concentrate more on their hockey skills than their off-ice condition and skating skills. The uneven balance of skills catches up with them around U-14 and U-15, and that will limit there playing days at high-level hockey. Trust me when I say that it takes years to become a great skater, just as it takes years to become a great player. I teach many A, AA, AAA, Major Junior, NCAA, and Pro Players, who come to me for instruction, because they must improve their speed, balance or agility. The players who are great at puck handling are limited, if they can’t skate fast or efficient. A quality strength coach that works in Unisom with a good technical power skating instructor, along with great skating drills is the perfect recipe, to be a great hockey player.
Until next time Scary Mary says I will see you at the rink….
SKARYSKATE.COM fb/scaryskate @scary_skate
