Amy is working with elite level hockey players in a drill working on quick pivoting turns in both directions with a shoot at the end. She wants them to ‘jam’ their outside edge into the ice.
While they seem to be doing pretty well on the drill, Amy draws on the ice with a marker to show them the exact position she wants them to hit in order to make the turn tighter and quicker. The outside edge needs to stop the momentum. She suggests even mentally breaking it up into two parts – a ‘stop and a turn’.
Amy notes that the clockwise motion seems to be slower that the reverse direction. Turning the head and ‘getting the shoulders into it’ can help stop that right foot.
To really emphasize the stopping of the right foot, Amy lines them up from a simple t-position to practice stopping over and over. She wants energy and to have them get their foot out in front. Amy takes this time to give them individual feedback based on where their feet, hips and toes are.
We can see the good rapport and work ethic for these elite skaters. They can tell that this drill is a good challenge for them and they don’t give up.
Returning to the original drill again, we can see an improvement from their first try. Amy has them keep their right knee a bit more bent and use their head.
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