Posture for Speed Development

This tweet from a Mike Potenza article went OFF.

"Skating efficiency and speed depend heavily on knee bend and posture. Most young athletes do not have enough strength to maintain knee bend while skating, thus causing the athletic position to deteriorate, especially when these hockey players are fatigued."
-@mike_potenza

— Hockey Strength (@joinusatHSC) May 18, 2020

It comes from Mike's article Low Positional Skating Strength. Strength is important. So is strength in the postures required for skating.

Strength through optimal ranges of motion leads to a longer stride on the ice. A longer stride--provided stride frequency is maintained--equals a faster skater. Craig Edwards (University of New Hampshire) made a great comment about this. He showed how he includes isometric holds in lower positions--the positions equivalent to skating--to train strength through that range. Here's Craig's post:

View this post on Instagram

I know I used one of these videos a couple weeks ago, but @hockeystrengthofficial tweeted out this from @potenza401 of the @sanjosesharks which sums up one of the bigger reasons why we add a decent amount of isometric holds in the off-season.

A post shared by Craig Edwards (@craig__edwards) on May 19, 2020 at 8:52am PDT

While strength through the optimal range can hold back skating posture, and therefore stride length, and therefore speed, it's not the only factor. In his book, Speed Training For Hockey Kevin Neeld explains how lacking hip flexion or calf dorsiflexion, among other limitations, prevents a skater--no matter how strong--from skating in the optimal posture for the greatest stride length.

The first step, then, is to determine your skating posture. If you skate too high, you could be weak or immobile through the necessary posture. Or both. If it's caused by insufficient mobility, what is the tightest link? Then, once you address that, reassess and move on to working through the next limitation.

That discussion, including assessment strategies (on and off the ice) and specific exercises to target weak points, are a big part of what Kevin covers in his book (I'll write a more thorough book review at some point).

Assess your posture.

Address the weak (or tight) link.

Reassess and readdress.

With this process, your stride can coalesce to its best.

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Read more of David's articles at romanfitnesssystems.com