How do you, as a coach, help your players become stronger skaters? It's a question all coaches (and parents) wrestle with because it's such an important skill.
When performed well, skating is an efficicent blend of power and technique. If there is a weakness in either of those two areas there's room for improvement. Issues like inconsistent work ethic or limited practice time can be a problem but let's assume your players are hard workers and have ample ice time. What then?
In this article we look at 3 common weaknesses that often prevent youth players from developing into smooth, powerful skaters. We'll also look at how those issues can be addressed through your training to make a significant difference.
►Players don’t bend their knees enough because they don’t have adequate leg strength
They aren’t ignoring you when you yell ‘bend your knees’—they just can’t stay in the correct deep knee bend position for very long because it requires more strength than they possess. They can achieve the proper position briefly—and it looks great for a few moments!—but their legs quickly start burning and they need to stand up taller in their stride to make the burning stop. Without a deep knee bend they can’t take a full stride and can’t generate as much power from each push. Imagine if they had the strength to stay in that deep knee bend position longer—how much faster and more powerful could they be?
Off ice training is obviously one way to address this problem and should be introduced to help players build a foundation of balance and strength. In terms of what you can do on the ice during your practices, the Bronko Belt is a very productive way to augment your players’ training. Because of the Belt’s positioning around the hips, the muscles needed for proper knee bend are forced to support the training weight while the player skates. Drills designed to force a player into the proper knee bend position will cause a player to build strength and endurance in this position. The better they are at expressing power from the deep knee bend position the more likely they are to develop speed.
►Players lack the core strength required for greater acceleration and agility
Try taking a step without using your core. Now try turning left or changing directions or stopping suddenly without using your core. You can’t do it. You need your core for just about every movement you make on the ice (or off) including skating, stickhandling, shooting or checking. There can be no powerful acceleration or agility without adequate core strength!
Many young players have limited core strength and often don’t activate their core effectively to utilize what strength they do have. If you want your players to be able to accelerate quickly or change direction suddenly, help them develop functional core strength. It will also help them shoot, protect the puck and give/receive checks.
Off ice training will help. Body weight exercises to strengthen the core and lower back can be done by players at any age. When on-ice, using the Bronko Belt can help because it forces players to activate their core each time they accelerate, decelerate or change direction. The training weight inside the Belt will keep moving in the direction the player is skating until the player uses his core to control and stabilize the weight. When the player takes the Belt off it feels remarkably easy to change direction and accelerate which is how you know the player’s core has had a great workout while he was wearing the Belt.
►Players haven’t learned to properly perform many of the skating techniques they use
Youth players build many of their skating habits at team practices. Most youth coaches though don't have a background in skating instruction. They also don't often have much time to focus on skating specifically. When they do, they often have a full team of players to work with which often limits how much time they can devote to any single player. It is not hard to understand why many players have weaknesses in their skating that need to be addressed even if they are gifted athletes with above average leg and core strength.
You don't need to be a skating coach yourself though to provide accurate information and training opportunities for players to perform high quality reps at practice. A Bronko Skills Center membership provides Coaches with drill progressions and key teaching points so players can improve specific techniques and eliminate bad habits that can act as a brake on a player's development. A Skills Center membership can help coaches plan skillful practices on a consistent basis and provides a framework on which to layer more advanced team concepts.
►Keys to Remember
To become an elite skater you need a combination of proper technique and sport-specific leg and core strength. Off ice training is an important way to help players improve their leg and core strength which can contribute positively to skating technique. However, proper skating movements are very difficult to duplicate off the ice so many of the exercises players do off ice are only approximations of the actual movements they need to perform on ice.
The Bronko Belt allows players to add resistance to their on-ice training while executing the full range of skating movements. The Belt can help players develop the strength they need to achieve and maintain the proper knee bend and help players build core strength used for acceleration and agility on the ice. Paired with the Bronko Skills Center, which helps coaches and players learn proper techniques for skating and puck skills, the Bronko Belt can help young players improve in three of the areas most likely to limit their skating potential.