Kelly’s forward inside drill is a continuation of his warmup which ended with forward outside edges.
Here he wants to see the athletes stay low, stay bent in the knees and pressing the side to side motion while rotating the shoulders through. To highlight the rotation, Kelly has them start from a T-position with the arms in a wound-up position so they feel the twist while they return to center.
Coming back to center line is a great chance for the skater to center their balance and prepare for the next push. Kelly eventually has them preform a rise out of the knee near center with leg extension while they push.
While this ‘flamingo’ position isn’t part of gameplay, it will really emphasize which skaters need a stronger core and edge control. It also helps them become familiar with the shape of their blade – not only the inside/outside edge but the front and back motion as well.
This inside edge drill might be easier than other drills because Kelly says that most kids tend to pronate inward on skates. But controlling the edge coming out of the turn will prevent the natural tendency to fall into the circle onto two feet. These drills are the building blocks for proper crossovers down the line.
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