Dissecting the 2-Way Skater

The phrase "hockey-specific" means different things to different people. In our setting, the main purpose of off-ice training is to give the players the physical capacities they need to develop and perform their skill sets, consistently, to the best of their abilities. As a result, the majority of off-ice training will not resemble on-ice movements, but still has the ability to transfer to on-ice skills, There are, of course, exceptions to this idea. Slideboarding, for example, requires a similar body position, stride pattern (albeit more lateral than diagonal) and arm swing as on-ice skating. Likewise, over the last couple years we've consistently utilized an exercise I named the "2-Way Skater", which has several direct benefits to on-ice skating. In the video below, I outline the positioning, movements, and on-ice applications associated with the exercise.

Dissecting the 2-Way Skater

Take-Home Points

The Exercise:

• Have the athlete set-up at THEIR optimal skating depth. This should be right above the deepest squat depth they can attain while maintaining a neutral spine.
• The first stride should essentially be a 45-degree one-leg reach, with abduction, external rotation, and relative extension at the hip, full extension at the knee, and full plantarflexion at the ankle
• The second stride should be a 45-degree one leg reach behind the stance leg, with adduction, internal rotatation, and relative extension at the hip, full extension at the knee, and full plantarflexion at the ankle.
• The stance leg should maintaining its starting orientation, with the toes and knee oriented straight ahead
• The athlete should undergo a normal arm swing with each rep, such that the stance leg arm drives back, and the stride leg arm reaches forward and slightly across the body to about the mid-line

The Application:

• It's common in players at all ages to gravitate toward a skating position that is higher than optimal. For younger players, this is typically a result of a lack of strength or a lack of awareness. In older players, it's more likely the result of a lack of reinforcement. This exercise helps teach low-position awareness and muscular endurance.
• A common skating flaw is to not fully plantarflex or "push through the toes" through the ankle at the end of forward skating AND "push under" with the leg during crossover patterns. Both result in a significant loss of power with each stride. This exercise helps reinforce both of these movements, but more importantly, provides an opportunity to reinforce with the player that they should be performing these motions on the ice.
• Many players have a difficult time maintaining stability on their glide or "stance" leg. In general, single-leg stability problems associated with a valgus or inward collapse of the knee can be attributed to over-pronation at the foot, poor internal rotation control at the hip, or some combination of the two. This exercise allows the coat to monitor where the breakdown may occur, and reinforce the proper alignment. It's a great progression from lateral hip activation exercises like backward monster walks, lateral miniband walks, etc.

Almost every physical quality can be trained using a number of different exercises. However, periodically using more integrative patterns that more closely resemble on-ice movements can be an effective way to achieve the result the coach wants, while improving buy-in from the athletes, and improving the dialogue between the coach and player. The 2-Way Skater is an excellent exercise to mix-in to training programs to serve these very purposes.