Kathleen works on Mohawks in a private lesson with a young student. Starting with slower movements, she asks the athlete to do forward-backward-forward Mohawks going down the rink on either side of the line. She reminds him to keep shoulders facing the line.
The student initially is a little off balance when skating backward. As he turns, his body is too far forward, so keeping chest up and feet together will help with getting a good push back to the line.
If the student looks like they’re “slipping” because they aren’t on top of their edge, they need to get down into their knees when gliding backwards and really feel that push to maintain speed.
After a few slower drills, Kathleen has him double up the Mohawks, which highlights the importance of hip flexibility. She has the athlete hang onto the wall for a quick hip stretch.
The second part of this drill is combining a Mohawk with a back crossover, focusing on big pushes, more speed and covering more ice. Keeping shoulders where they are supposed to be really aids with mastering this drill.
Sorry, this content is for members only.
Click here to get access.