Speed on/off the ice

[sandmeyer]

I started to play hockey a few years ago (20 y.o) and wanted to hear everyones opinion on whether speed off the ice translates to speed on the ice.

The reason why I ask is because I was a sprinter in HS, but I find I definitely lose races to guys on ice I don't think would beat me on ground. I'd say I feel fairly comfortable on ice.

Is it one of those "you either have it or you don't" things? Or does it come with practice?

Click to read more...

 

[cptjeff]

Comes with practice, but it's an entirely different set of muscles. You need to learn your technique and build the muscles used for skating too. How fast you run doesn't matter a bit.

If you want to work on stuff off ice, biking is much more similar to skating than running is. Practice that.

 

[Bulls9220]

I think its just a lot of practice and work on your strides.

 

[sandmeyer]

Thanks for the replies guys. Is the power generated more from the hips and core as opposed to the quads in sprinting? Is there any workouts you guys do I can add to my lower body routine at the gym?

 

[ponder]

While explosive athleticism/quickness certainly helps, a huge part of speed on the ice is technique. And even with technique you'll find that top speeds between skaters are not as different as you'd expect - do a straight up goal line to far blue line race against a skater you consider better and a skater you consider worse than you, assuming everyone is at least a reasonably good skater you'll all be much closer than you'd expect. Where the speed really matters is in acceleration/turning, the guys who seem super fast in game will often just get up to top speed super quick in a wide variety of situations. This means great hard turns, great crossovers (where you really get power off both feet), and great acceleration out of stops/hard turns, which means toe starts for your first few strides, as shown here:


Once you start getting up to full speed, make sure you have long, powerful strides where you flick your toe for a little extra power at the end of the stride, then bring your skate all the way back so that your heels are almost touching as you start striding with your other skate.

 

[ponder]

Also, make sure you have a good deep knee/ankle bend at all times, most skaters skate way too upright, it reduces your speed and your stability/balance.

 

[Badger36]

Having quicker feet isnt going to help you on the ice if you arent getting full extension on your strides and keeping a proper 90* knee bend.