Cold Hard Truth when it comes to Skating Stride

I have been working with youth hockey, junior, college and pro skaters for the last fifteen years, I have played alongside players in Division 1 college and then in the Pros with very awkward strides that are in fact great hockey players. Most were very strong and had unbelievable leg and core strength. Some body types cannot be fluent when skating, while others are more equipped to produce a great fluent stride. Believe it or not most young players will improve their stride with simply logging more ice time, attending specialized power skating sessions that preach fixing your stride is somewhat of a myth. My power skating sessions involve balancing using our core strength with lots of 1 legged skating exercises that strengthen the muscles involved with pushing and extending.  This makes lots of sense considering the fact while skating a player is only using 1 leg at a time. Off ice exercises involving plyometrics and other leg and core strengthening exercises can really help give you that stronger stride and also keep you stronger on the puck.  The Accelerated I & II summer programs are ideal for off and on ice training with a concentration on edges, puck handling and constructive game play.  While the Overspeed I & II provide more of a concentration on acceleration, strengthening and conditioning.   

Still after hours of your favorite power skating instructor and hours of off ice activity you still don’t look like Sydney Crosby well there is a cold hard truth…. “your not”. His body type along with his athletic ability “genes” come into major play with his success in hockey. Sorry to tell you it was not a coach or power skating instructor that made “Sydney – Sydney”. However the good news is there are players at the Division 1 and Pro levels that do not have those great skating genetics and with hard work and dedication off and on the ice you can reach your potential in this game.  Most players fail to realize what type of work ethic and commitment reaching their potential in hockey takes. At HPD we are here to help provide you with these hockey fundamentals that will help establish a strong foundation to build from.  In the end it will be up to you the player to decide whether or not this is something you wish to build your life around.  

Nick Parillo

Any questions on this subject please feel free to email  Nick Parillo at Playerdevelopmentcamp@yahoo.com