Forward Stride

Knee bend is very important for a good stride. Try recording yourself and then watching how much you actually bend your knees, you may be more upright than you think.

Every part of your body needs to work together for a good stride. Your legs, upper body and arms need to all flow together.

A good glide comes from good knee bend and the right blade angle. On your glide leg your skate blade should be straight up and down so you are gliding on the hollow of your skate blade.

A forward lean will help you accelerate and gain speed. You need to find the right amount of forward lean to still be able to have your head up and remain balanced.

Rail road skating means you are not bringing your feet back enough when skating. This will give you a wide stance, but limit the length of each stride.

Straight legs will limit the length of your stride, you will only be pushing from the hips. Bend those knees and get full extension, then a quick recovery.

If you are slow to bring your foot back under your body for the next push you will lose speed. Push out quickly, then quickly bring your foot back for another stride.

It’s important to stay low for your balance and power, but some players tend to get more upright as they start to get tired. The start low, but after a few strides end up a little more straight legged. Try to stay low with good knee bend as you do all your drills

Start slow, focus on good technique, knee bend and rhythm. Once you feel comfortable go faster with the focus on knee bend, explosive movements, balance and rhythm.

A good drill for the forward stride is “Herbies”. Start on the boards at the side of the rink, skate as fast as you can to the other boards, stop, then do it again in the other direction.