By Jarod Palmer, Minnesota Wild Player

Note: HUGE thanks to Jarod for writing this article for How To Hockey. This article is a detailed account of how he got his speed up to NHL standards. If you want to say thanks you can tweet this article and mention him https://twitter.com/#!/palmfisher

I have always been a hockey player with average speed.  As a professional athlete, I am always looking to improve my skill set, especially in finding my way “in” to the NHL. Last season, my coach sat me down and asked me what I thought was keeping me from playing in the NHL.  After a few wrong guesses, he told me that my speed, or lack there of, was not at the NHL level. Despite the amount of training I had done the summer before my rookie year, I had to agree with my coach; I was not fast. There was only one answer…I must have been training wrong.  I began my quest to successfully build speed in the following summer. I changed my training technique and became stronger, faster, and sturdier on my feet than ever before. Here is how I did it.

Changing Your Mind Set

In order to work your muscles “smarter” rather than “harder,” you must:

1. Switch the focus from your quadriceps to the “back of the leg” muscles. These muscles include your gluteals, hamstrings and calves.
2.  Shift from two-leg training to single leg training. By doing this you are able to recruit more stabilizer muscles.
3. Train with little or no weight and focus more on speed than strength.

I’m happy to say that my new techniques paid off.  The very next season, I was noticeably faster and did get my shot in the NHL with the very same coach that gave me the great advice.

 Back of the Legs

Focus your mind on working the gluteals and hamstrings during all of your hockey exercises, especially sprinting and jumping.

• One way to practice flexing the right muscles is by doing a wall set (sit in a chair-like squat with your back against the wall and hold).  Most likely your quadriceps muscles will begin to burn.  Without changing position, you can relieve the strain on the quads by tightening up your gluteals and hamstrings.
• Think about sitting in that squat position with someone in front of you trying to pull your feet out from underneath you.  You would automatically flex your hamstring and glute muscles in order to keep your feet beneath you. This is what you want to flex during the exercise.
• Make sure your weight is not on your toes but rather on your heels.  Try to lift your toes off the ground.  You might feel your lower back begin to pull away from the wall.  Counter this tendency by flexing your core and keep your back flat against the wall.
• Your hamstrings and glutes should be tight during the entire motion of a squat. Try tapping your fingers against your hamstrings. This will help tell your brain to work those muscles.
• When you are doing it right, your hamstrings will be hard. Believe me, this is as much of a mental work out as a physical one. It takes practice to get it right.

Wall Sit Video

Having troubles?  Try standing tall.  Now drop into a squat position as fast as you can and hold.  Your body weight should drop faster than gravity can pull you down because your hamstrings flex to pull your body downward.  Continue to flex the hamstrings and fire the glutes on your way up finishing with a slight forward hip thrust – thus forcing the glutes to flex as much as possible.  Getting the right muscles to fire during the squat motion took me several workouts.  Don’t get discouraged if it takes you some time.  Unless you are an Olympic sprinter, you are quad dominant.  You have to retrain your muscles to become “back of the leg dominant” and this takes practice.

 Stablizers

Every time you take a stride you balance on one blade until your other foot recovers.  Thus, single leg balance is key to becoming more stable on skates. Stand with one foot on the ground and do a four to five inch squat.

• Your free leg should be bent with your foot slightly behind you.  Remember the “back of leg” principals learned above.
• Your body weight should be over your heel.  To maintain balance, tighten up your core, keep your chest and head up with your arms loose.
• Try to breath in on your way down and out on your way up.  Now try to do the same squat with no shoes on.
• Progress in difficulty by squatting deeper each time.
• Don’t worry about going fast. Focus on controlling your balance with core body strength. Use your arms as little as possible.

Want More?  Try kneeling on an exercise ball.  The pros can stand on the ball and do squats.

 Speed and Quickness

When attempting to develop strength, movements should be slow and controlled. When trying to develop speed, all movements should be done with speed and grace.  Do every exercise as fast as you can while maintaining control.  When you do a squat, try to go down quickly.  When you reach 90 degrees (more or less) change direction as fast as you can.  Doing squats in this motion works both deceleration and acceleration strength.  The muscle fibers work one way to stop your body from moving and another way to get it moving again.  You need power through both movements in order to be able to change direction quickly on the ice.  When doing jumps or lunges focus on landing soft, using your hamstrings to pull your body down quickly with your hamstrings and exploding upward with your glutes. Again, this is very challenging and takes time to get right.

Changing the way I worked my muscles was not easy.  My body wanted to revert back to over using the quadriceps.  My workouts were as challenging mentally as they were physically.  What kept me going were the results.  My hamstrings and glutes grew in size and strength.  I began to spring off the ground rather than push.  I felt lighter and more stable on the ice, which is exactly what I wanted. Without a doubt, training this way improved my speed and stability on the ice.

I hope this information helps you as much as it helped me.  Good luck!

We have had a lot of requests for more skating videos and articles so here is one for forward skating, we have some basic articles already for how to skate and how to stop, so this one seemed like the net logical video / article to publish. In this video we show you the basics to the crossovers and a few easy drills you can do to improve your crossovers and turning. I have also embedded a video that goes into a lot more detail on different types of crossovers / drills you can do to improve.

Forward Crossovers Video

Forward Crossovers Tips

• Keep your knees bent and remember to use your edges
• While doing crossovers around the circle your OUTSIDE leg will be pushing and giving you speed / power
• While doing the forwards crossovers (zig-zag drill in first video) your INSIDE leg is pushing and giving you power
• While doing the circle crossovers try to always keep your stick inside the circle, you can lean on your stick a bit to get lower to the ice

Detailed Hockey Crossover Video

Here is a good video from Hockey Canada that goes into good detail on the crossover and shows a bunch of drills you can practice.

We have had a number of requests for a video on how to shoot while skating. Ken and I went out the other day and shot a few videos, so far we have two up on youtube with another one coming soon. So far we have the slapshot, and the snapshot so that is what I will cover in this article

How to take a Slapshot While Skating

The slapshot is a tricky shot to master, before you learn how to take a slapshot while skating I would recommend learning how to take a slapshot while standing still. A lot of people when they are first learning develop some bad habits, so it is important to learn the proper technique. Another important aspect is using your ENTIRE body to get power, not just the arms. For more on that read our article on how to take a slapshot and the follow up articles at the bottom with more info.

Prep the puck – One issue that some players might have is prepping the puck. When shooting while standing still the player will set the puck up, and then shoot. If the player sets the puck up in the same spot while skating the puck could end up a few inches behind by the time you are ready to take the slapshot.

When you are setting up for the slapshot while skating, you have two options. You can either push the puck a little bit ahead and then really skate into it, or just make sure the puck is going the same speed as you, and get a nice quick shot off.

Tips for take a slapshot while skating

• Prep the puck by pushing it a bit in front of you, or ensuring it is going the same speed as you are before you wind up
• Use the entire body to get power, use your arms, core muscles and legs
• Really push into the shot with your back leg

Slapshot While Skating Video

How to Take a Snapshot While Skating

The snapshot is a tricky shot so I encourage you to practice it at home. We have an article on how to take a snapshot if you need any tips. On the ice there are a few things to consider, positioning, weight transfer and technique.

Positioning – I find that I have a pretty good shot to goal ration from certain areas of the ice. I always opt for a snapshot when I am in close because it gives the goalie less time to set up (get the puck to the net quicker). I also find I have a more powerful snapshot while on my wing. I’m right handed, and I like to take snapshots while on the right side of the net. When I am on the left I like to cut to the center and take a full wrist shot.

Weight Transfer – Your weight transfer is very important, you want to transfer all your weight onto your front foot, or the foot closest to the blade of your stick. This is the opposite of the leg you transfer weight onto for a wrist shot. You can also take a snapshot from the other leg, it just takes a bit longer to get the shot off.

Technique – The technique to taking a snapshot while skating is a bit tricky

• Skate in and have the puck on your shooting side, on your side
• Push off with the leg furthest from the blade of your stick, and sort of lunge onto the other leg
• While pushing off with your back leg and transferring the weight onto your front leg, pull the puck in towards your body and towards the net
• Now use a quick snap from your wrists to elevate the puck and put power on it

How to take a Snapshot While Skating Video

Increasing Hockey Speed – By Jeremy Weiss

Increasing hockey speed is a never-ending pursuit for most hockey players… or at least it should be!!

Today’s game is much different than it used to be. The crack-down on “clutch-and-grab” hockey has really opened up the ice for the skilled athlete. We are seeing an exciting shift toward a high-speed, quick-paced game of skill and finesse… one in which slower athletes are being left behind… LITERALLY!

Any smart hockey player should recognize this change in the game, and should be constantly striving to increase his or her hockey speed. But in order to do that, you must first understand what makes a fast hockey player.

Hockey speed is composed of Technical Elements, and Physical Elements. Or in other words: On-ice Components, and Off-ice Components.

The on-ice components are things your skating instructor should be able to help you with such as utilizing a proper knee bend, obtaining a full extension on each stride, eliminating “head-bobbing,” striding at the proper angle, using your edges properly, etc…

The on-ice elements MUST be perfected in order to achieve optimal speed. However, there are three main off-ice components every player should develop that will GREATLY ENHANCE his or her ability to generate speed on the ice.

The three main off-ice components are as follows:

1. Leg Strength
2. Explosiveness
3. Agility & Footspeed

Increasing leg strength will allow for deeper knee bends, which make for longer and more efficient strides. It will also help to improve balance and stability in battling and checking situations.

Becoming more explosive will improve that quick burst of speed, and allow you to win more races to loose pucks. Races are won or lost in those first three strides!

Improving Agility and footspeed will allow you to take more strides in a shorter period of time. This, combined with an increased stride length, will complete your speed equation––allowing you to take a greater number of longer strides.

There are many ways to improve on these three main off-ice components. Here are three exercises that I think should be included in any solid hockey training program:

SQUAT FOR LEG STRENGTH: This video shows the main key points for executing a proper squat. Squats are a great exercise to increase overall leg strength!

PLYO BOX ROUTINE (AND VARIATION) FOR EXPLOSIVENESS: The first video explains what plyometrics are, how plyometric training can contribute to increased hockey speed, and shows a sample exercise routine using plyometric boxes. The second video shows what to do if you don’t have plyometric boxes available to you.

DOT DRILL FOR AGILITY AND FOOTSPEED: This video shows my favorite off-ice agility drill. This drill is cheap to set up, and only takes about a minute to perform, so there’s no excuse not to do it each day!

Summary

Increasing hockey speed is a complex task, with on-ice and off-ice variables. Go to a well-qualified skating instructor to help you nail down your on-ice components, and participate in a hockey specific strength and conditioning program to improve your off ice components by increasing your leg strength, explosiveness, and agility––starting with squats, plyometrics, and the dot drill. Combining on ice and off ice development will help you to improve your speed quickly and effectively this summer!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jeremy Weiss owns and operates a hockey drills and skills blog. He has a degree in Exercise Science and is a Certified Personal Trainer. Jeremy recently combined his fitness knowledge with his hockey background to develop a hockey-specific, strength and conditioning program called the S3 Formula. More info on this state-of-the-art hockey training system can be found on Jeremy’s Hockey Development page

A common problem that many new hockey players have is learning how to stop. I don’t mean stopping by dragging your foot, doing a 360 or running into the boards, I mean doing a proper hockey stop! I have written this article to help you learn how to stop in hockey, I have also made a how to stop in hockey video that I have added below. You can watch the video if you prefer a visual lesson, I will include key points below the video.

The first video shows the basics of stopping on skates. The biggest part of stopping on skates is getting over the mental barrier. Here is the first video

How to Stop on Hockey Skates Video

This video covers the basics of stopping and helps you understand what is happening.

As you can see in the video the main concept to grasp is that you have to peel the ice, and you will be sliding sideways for a brief second. The most important point to take away from this video is that you MUST keep your momentum moving in the direction you are skating, otherwise you will just turn around. Now you can watch the how to hockey stop video

The Hockey Stop for Absolute Beginners

We made the video below this one first, but we still had a lot of questions so we decided to address all those questions in this video, and offer some very simple solutions to some common problems that beginner hockey players were having.

How to Hockey Stop Video

If you like this video you can subscribe to our channel on Youtube

Learning how to hockey stop can be tough, but by learning the proper technique, taking it slow, and practicing a lot you should be able to learn in no time! Here is the process of stopping in hockey

A player starts by skating forwards, when the player is ready to stop they will lift one leg slightly to take weight off of it (this can become the back leg or front leg but for the purposes of this example this will become the back leg). With a bit of weight taken off of one skate, the player will start to lean back, rotate their hips and shoulders and begin to turn with their other leg (this leg becomes the front leg). When the player has turned their front leg approximately 90 degrees they will now plant their back leg about 1 foot behind their front leg. At this point the player will be leaning back, and keeping the momentum moving in the direction they were skating. With both feet planted the player will slide for a brief second before coming to a full stop. This sounds like a lot to learn and a long process, but it happens in less than a second. You can see this process in action in the video above if you would like. I have also added pictures of how the hockey stop happens below.

Hockey Stop – Start

You can see here that I am just finishing my last stride from skating, and now preparing to stop. I am pushing off with my back leg (left leg) and getting ready to land with my front leg (my right leg).

Hockey Stop – Rotate Hips

You can see that I have pushed off with my back leg (my left leg), landed with my front leg, and now I am beginning the hockey stop. I am starting to rotate my hips, and turning my front foot. At the same time I will be leaning back, and bringing my back leg behind my front leg.

Hockey Stop – Planting Your Feet

I have now rotated my hips a bit, turned my front foot enough to begin stopping, and just starting to plant my back leg. the back leg is used for balance, and also a bit for stopping. Most of the weight will be placed on the front leg. The key here is to lean back (so you don’t topple over) and peel ice. To stop you will be using the inside edge of the blade on your front skate, and outside edge of the blade on your back skate. I will pivot both of my skates just a little more, then really lean into the stop.

How To Hockey Stop

Here you can see the stop in action. I have peeled a lot of ice with my front leg and a bit with my back leg as well (hard to see though in this picture) The key is to keep moving in the direction that you are skating. If you have trouble stopping like this (you keep spinning or going in circles) try some of the drills I mention in the video, or in the article below.

Now that you know how a hockey stop happens I will teach you how to do it.

Learning To Stop in Hockey

• The biggest obstacle in learning to stop on skates is the mental barrier that people put up. In the video and in this article I show you how you can overcome the mental barrier of stopping on ice. As you become more comfortable with the concept of how to stop on skates you will get better and better.
• Start slow – Start skating slowly, and stopping slowly, in fact at first you will only be using one leg to stop, not both. If you are just starting, try holding onto the boards and just pushing off with your leg and get the feeling of your skate sliding sideways. Then move onto the next point
• For your first hockey stop, take a few strides to get moving, glide for a second and make sure your balance is right. Now Lift a bit of weight off of the skate of your strong leg, rotate your hip a bit, turn your skate (of the leg that you just lifted) about 90 degrees (so it is almost perpendicular to your other skate) and plant your skate in front of you. Your strong leg should now slow you down and then stop you. You should use your other leg for balance. Practice doing this until you get used to using the inside edge of your strong leg to stop. If you feel comfortable at stopping like this then increase your speed a bit, practice doing it faster and faster until you have it down. Remember to practice stopping with both legs, in hockey you need to be able to stop with your body facing in both directions, so start practicing it now.  If you can stop like this you are halfway there.
• You now know how to use one foot to stop, and the other for balance, with a hockey stop you should be using both feet to stop, but you are not ready to do that just yet, first you should practice stopping with only one foot! That’s right one foot and it is not as hard as you think. Earlier we were using one foot for balance, but your front leg was doing all of the work. Now we need to build your balance even more by taking away that leg you were using for balance. Perform the same motion as we talked about before, but take a bit of weight, or all of your weight off of your balance foot, try just using your front leg (your strong leg) to stop (as shown in the hockey stop video). Once you are comfortable taking weight off of your balancing leg, try lifting it right up. This will build your confidence in using your inside edge to stop, and the motion of sliding a bit, and keeping the momentum moving in the direction you were skating. That is pretty much it, now you can use both feet and do a full hockey stop!
• To do the full hockey stop, skate forwards, lift your strong leg, rotate your hips a bit, lean back, and turn your body to the side so that both skates are now sideways (compared to how they were pointing before). Plant your back foot and dig in until you stop. Congratulations, you have just learned how to hockey stop. The only thing you need to do now is put that knowledge into action.

Understanding Your Edges

As requested by Jacky – If you have read our How to Ice Skate article you will know that when you are skating, each skate blade actually rests on two thin edges. When you skate, turn, and stop you need to use your edges. When you are playing this comes as second nature, but can be hard for some beginners to understand, and may help you learn to stop and skate if you learn about your edges. I have included some pictures that may help you understand how to use your edges to stop.

This shows a front view of what a hockey stop would look like. This would be the front foot, in this case the left leg is leading the stop. On this skate you are using your inside edge, on the other foot you will be using your outside edge.

This show's a close-up of the hockey skate blade. You can see what I mean by the inside edge doing most of the work. The outside edge barely touches the ice.

You can see the inside edge of the left skate at work, while the outside edge of the right skate is being used. If a player were to stop in the other direction, the opposite would apply

This shot shows what the skates would look like if they were coming at you. You need to lean back in order to slide, and then stop. Remember, like in the video, practice with one foot, then try with both.

I hope this article has helped you learn how to stop in hockey. If you would like more hockey tips like this then you can subscribe to the articles with the box to the left.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think (or add some tips of your own)

If you know anyone who is learning how to stop on ice skates these videos are a must watch! We have done two videos on how to stop in hockey so far. The first video just show’s the basics, and in the second I do a step by step guide on how to stop on skates. These videos compliment our how to hockey stop article, which has all the information you need to learn how to stop!

How to Stop on Skates Video – For Beginners

This video shows the basics of how stopping on skates actually works. The main problem most people have with stopping in hockey is getting over the mental barriers. The tips in these videos help people slowly overcome the mental barrier. After you do it once, you will learn how to stop on skates in no time!

How to Hockey Stop Video

If you like our videos you can subscribe to our youtube hockey tips channel

Are you having trouble with something in hockey? Let us know what you want to learn in the comments or on our youtube channel and we will do our best to make a video for you.

How to Ice Skate

To be a great hockey player you first have to learn to be a great skater, this article will give you the building blocks necessary to become an amazing skater.

When you are first learning to skate it seems like a very daunting task, you are given two shoes with blades attached to them and asked to go onto a surface of ice, like it is no big deal. A lot of the trouble with learning how to skate is to get over the emotional and mental barriers first. Don’t feel embarrassed to use a chair or any other tool. In fact using a chair or pylon is the best way to learn to skate as it will allow you to gradually add weight to your skates and feel more comfortable.  After learning to push off with your skates, then you just need to learn muscle memory and practice a lot.

When you lace up those skates for the first time practice standing on them in the dressing room. Get used to the feel of the blades and the way it will affect your balance.  Also practice using each edge of your blade. Remember when your skates are flat, you are standing on two edges.

Practice leaning your skates so you are only on one of the edges, inside or outside. Now practice leaining on both of your inside edges and both your outside edges.

Remember these key positions as they will be needed later.

Now for stepping on the ice there are a few key points you must remember:

Stay low: I have seen it a 1000 times at rinks new skaters out on the ice standing like pencils and falling like dominoes. Make sure you have your knees bent and your skates shoulder width apart. This positon is known in a majority of sports as the ready position, it allows  you to greatly improve your  balance and it loads  muscles  which allows for better reaction times.

Know your edges: When you first step on the ice you should use the ready position. If you do this you will feel weight on your legs that will want to push your legs apart. This may feel like you are about to do the splits, to stop this you must use your edges. If you have practiced moving from edge to edge off the ice as I have stated before it should not be to hard to do. Stay low and lean your skates to their inside edges. When you feel them digging in start applying more weight, this will be hard the first few times as your body will be telling you the opposite. Trust your skates, the edges will stop your legs from splitting.

Never give up: No matter how many times you fall you have to get back up and go again, mental barriers are half the obstacle but are never talked about. You have to be ready to get a few bruises if you want to improve yourself. So don’t give up on learning, and do not give up on yourself. A desire to learn and self confidence will be the greatest tools you can have when learning something new.

I find many people learn easier by seeing, rather than reading. We have put together this video that should help you learn how to ice skate. Watch this video, it will give you all these tips and hopefully make the learning process  a whole lot easier

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or comments just leave them in the comment section  below.

Flat Bottom V Skate Sharpening

The flat bottom v sharpening method is the newest craze to hit the hockey world. The flat bottom v was created and first introducted in early February 2009 by Blackstone sports in Kingsville, Ont. The unique skate sharpening method promises better gliding ability, and increased “bite” when turning, everything a hockey player could ask for. While many were skeptical (and many still are) when the new technique was introduced it did not take long for the flat bottom v method to take off, all the way to the NHL

One of the first NHL teams to be using the flat bottom v skate sharpening method was the St. Louis blues, now over 20 NHL teams are using this method, quite a bold statement for a technique that just took off at the beginning of the year! Many players, minor league and NHL alike are claiming that the flat bottom V feels like your are gliding on top of the ice, allows you to glide longer, allows you to turn easier, and skaters will not fatigue as fast because it takes less energy to skate. These are strong recommendations considering the Flat Bottom V is just a minor adjustment in the way the metal is shaped on a thin piece of metal on the bottom of your skate.  Some say it is simply a placebo effect, others are disciples of the new cut.

The flat bottom v changes the normal half moon cut of a blade to be a flat bottom with “fangs” on each edge, supposedly allowing you to glide easier, further and faster than the normal cut and turn better. See the diagrams below of the normal skate sharpening and the flat bottom v skate sharpening

This diagram shows the normal cut vs the flat bottom v. (in the diagram it appeared that the v goes all the way up, however see the diagram below these ones for the actual shape of the flat bottom v.

Flat Bottom V Skate Sharpening Options

You can see from this diagram that there are different options to choose from when you get your flat bottom v sharpening done. According to Johnny Macs (a skate sharpening shop that uses the FBV skate sharpening) Most skaters should start with a 100/50 FBV and then adjust their cut accordingly as the best cut in the end will come down to player preference (and who knows, maybe you will prefer the regular method of skate sharpening)

Some people may ask does the flat bottom v wear the blade down quicker? According to No Icing sports (a custom radius shop) Getting a Flat bottom v on your skates will not alter your rocker radius at all and a flat bottom v does not take off any more steel than a regular sharpening would.

We are still waiting on official flat bottom v  stats and test results from the skating labs, which will be posted here when they come out (a good reason to subscribe in the box to the left!) Below I have list of possible pro’s and con’s of the flat bottom v

Flat Bottom V Pros and Cons

Flat bottom V Pro’s

• Better gliding ability
• Better turning (more bite)
• Less fatigue
• “For pushing and gliding and being on top of the ice, there’s a huge difference” Cory Stillman, Florida Panthers
• “The concept for the V scientifically makes a lot of sense” Dr. Kelly Lockwood, president and lead scientist at The Skating Lab at Brock University
• From many reviews and posts on forums parents of minor hockey players notice an improvement in skating

Flat bottom V Cons

• Reports from some minor hockey forums state the when you lose an edge you lose it all at once, which could mean missing the rest of the game until you can get the skate sharpened
• If it is easier to lose an edge with this grind it could result in injuries
• If the edge comes off easily then this would require frequent sharpening to keep the edge

It seems like the pro’s far out weigh the con’s, and the con’s all rely on speculation that the edge comes off easily (which has not been proven just yet)

So I leave the debate up to you, how is your experience with the flat bottom v? Post your comments below

If you would like to visit the official website of the people who created the FBV skate sharpening method, or buy a FBV machine for your arena or business then visit Blackstone Sport

Power Skating

Power skating is very important if you want to build your strength, acceleration and technique. If you are serious about playing hockey then you should implement many power skating drills into your practice. All of the power skating techniques shown in these videos are for on ice development, however this does not mean you have to rent a rink to practice! Shovel your pond off, find an out door rink, shovel off the ice on the lake, or build a rink in your backyard! (for us in the northern climates) Power skating is crucial to improving your game, after all the easiest way to get past the defense is to skate right past them. Stickhandling is great when you need it, but why stick handle around 3 players and risk losing the puck when you could possibly skate past them for a one on one with the goalie?

I will save the rants for some of my stickhandling articles. This is the 3rd video of 3 about power skating

You should try to power skate anytime you can. If your hockey team is leaving the ice after a practice, or the guys are getting off the ice after shinny and the zamboni is not coming on the ice yet, grab the net and push it as hard as you can around the ice a few times. Power skating is a great way to improve your game!
I hope you enjoyed the 3 power skating videos, and feel free to share this site with friends. Also thanks to CoachWalt on youtube for putting these videos up.

This power skating video is part 2 in the series of 3. This video show’s power skating drills that incorporate stick handling and puck control. Incorporating stick handling into power skating drills is a good way to build a players ability to control the puck in many situations. While most power skating drills should focus on skating, technique and power, it is important to also include some puck control in order to help the player become more rounded.

This series of videos show’s helpful power skating techniques, these drills are important for elite hockey players to help bring them to the next level.  To see more power skating drills for hockey you can view the next, or previous posts.

The bands that the hockey player is wearing help keep the stride even, and build power. This is a common resistance training technique.