Kathleen is teaching a private lesson and begins by having the student skate forward crossovers on the circle. He starts slowly, then speeds up and strides down the ice.
Kathleen explains why she likes to incorporate different tempos into her drills. Slow, controlled crossovers result in the most power and efficiency, but by switching to faster tempos more similar to gameplay, hopefully the athletes will translate the technique from the slow tempo to the faster. Kathleens tells us that her student used to run on the ice instead of push efficiently, so this drill has been particularly beneficial for him.
Many players think that because they are simply moving their feet quickly, they are skating fast. This is where the benefit of a skating skills coach comes in. Athletes can learn the benefit of slowing down their strides with more efficiency to go just as fast, if not faster with less effort.
Kathleen’s students reverses the drill with great accuracy. He keeps his shoulders rotated which aids in establishing a nice edge on the circle. “Everything pushes down before out” is Kathleen’s mantra.
When the student takes a fall, Kathleen reminds him to be aware of his position on the ice. If he’s not steady on his hip, his shoulders will dip and cause him to lose balance. Keeping the long length of the strides will also aid the skater.
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