Katrina states that often she teaches a group lesson or teaches athletes she’s not necessarily familiar with, so an easy evaluation of their skating ability is to have them hold an inside edge on the circle. She looks for steadiness without much wiggle (they can either hold their sticks out in front of them parallel to the ice or not have them at all during this drill).
Once players feel comfortable on their inside edges, Katrina works on their inside Mohawks. Moving from forward inside edge to backwards inside edge, players tend to over-rotate so they need to make sure their belly button stays toward the center of the circle. Remember to have them practice in both directions!
Holding the backwards inside edge can be tricky, so Katrina has them skate backward and just try to hold the edge. Repetition and time is key to mastering this, so if you only have a couple of minutes with a group, Katrina recommends just sticking to the essentials of shoulder placement.
Should an athlete need more instruction, holding onto the barrier can be an effective tool to feel how the hips need to move during the Mohawk. As a last resort, Katrina holds onto a skater’s stick to help them keep their shoulders and hips in place.
Regarding knees, Katrina teaches that they should be ‘soft’, with a little rise up then bend on the backwards blade. She gives a good reminder that all kids develop at different rates and ages.
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