Arts, Music, and Recreation Sports Figure Skating Drills for Ice Hockey Players Hockey Power Skating Drills Share Flipboard Email Print Figure Skating Helps Hockey Players. Hero Images / Hero Images Collection / Getty Images Sports Skating Basics History Gear & Equipment Lessons & Tutorials Famous Skaters Inline Skating Baseball Basketball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Climbing Cricket Diving Extreme Sports Football Golf Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Skiing Snowboarding Soccer Surfing Swimming Table Tennis Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Other Sports & Activities View More by Jo Ann Schneider Farris Jo Ann Schneider Farris was a silver medalist in junior ice dancing at the 1975 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships and is the author of two books on skating Updated May 11, 2018 This article takes some secrets from figure skating and applies them to power hockey skating techniques. Most of these drills can be practiced on public ice skating sessions. Players can begin each drill from behind the goal line and then skate most of the drills around the entire ice surface using both lengths of the arena (except the crossover drills). Note: Our expert, Jo Ann Schneider Farris, developed the drills in this article. She has taught hockey power skating for over twenty years. Balance Drills When a player first takes to the ice, he or she should first work on balance. The following drills may be useful: Two foot glidesStraight line one foot glidesGliding on curves (first on two feet and then on one foot, all directions)DipsTwo foot jumpsC-cut jumps (small jumps to one foot curved inside glides down the length of the arena)LungesOne foot squats (alternating legs)Groin stretch - Glide on two feet and touch toesShoot-the-ducks (alternating legs)One foot balance drills (spirals) Forward Stride Drills It is important for players to be able to be able to easily move forward. Knowing how to make the most of every push and stride is the key to power hockey skating. There are several drills that will help forward strides. Tips: Move from one foot to the other. Try to keep away from doing too much skating with two feet on the ice. Stay under control. Trust the blade's edges. One foot T-pushes (scooter pushes) with and without leg extensionForward striding with arms swingingForward striding without using armsForward strides with toe draggingLunges with toe dragTwo foot c-cuts (forward swizzles)One foot c-cuts (1/2 swizzles)Two foot edge pulls (slalom)One foot edge pullsTwo foot edge pull jumpsOne foot edge pull jumps Varying Tempos of Forward Strides The following drills may help players master forward striding techniques. Make sure to keep the skating knees bent. Forward crossovers around rink ends, rapid strides to the blue line, 2 strides from blue to blue, rapid strides to the goal line, repeatGoal line to first blue line, 8 rapid stridesBlue to blue, 4 stridesBlue to goal, 2 strides Crossover Drills Crossovers are the way skaters move around corners. On a curve, the skater crosses the outside skate over the skate that is on the inside of the curve. Being able to do good crossovers in both directions is essential for hockey. The following drills will help players with crossover techniques: Crossover walks along goal line (both directions)Running crossover walks along goal line (both direction)Pumping on hockey circles (front and back)Forward and backward crossover on hockey circlesFreeze drill—skate crossovers fast on circle, when the whistle blows "freeze" on the foot you are on and hold without putting foot down (do both forward and backward)Crossovers in both directions on all five of the rink's hockey circle Backward Skating Drills A player should be able to skate backward just as well as forward. The following drills will help improve backward skating techniques: Backward straight line c-cuts on two feet (backward swizzles)Straight line c-cuts (one foot at a time - back half swizzles)Alternating straight line c-cuts (back 1/2 swizzles)Backward slalomsOne foot backward c-cuts (short back inside edges)Backward pumping on hockey circles (both directions)Backward crossovers Stopping Drills Stopping on the ice is done by scraping the flat part of the blade across the ice. Pressure is put on the scraping foot, and the friction created on the ice causes a stop. This article lists some basic drills that will help improve a player's stopping technique. Two foot snowplow stopsOne foot snowplow stops (a player will favor one foot, but must practice stopping with both his or her good foot and bad foot!)T-stopsHockey stopsOne foot hockey stopsBackward snowplow stopsQuick starts and stops all the way down the length of the arena from goal line to goal line Starts Stopping and starting is done throughout every hockey game. Gaining power while starting is a hockey essential. Some drills that will help a player with starting techniques are listed below. Forward starts first starting from behind the goal line, stopping at the blue line, starting again at the blue line, then red line, and then the blue line along the length of the arenaSide crossover starts (both directions)Leaping side crossover starts (both directions)Backward starts into backward skatingBackward start into backward crossovers Turning Drills Players need to be able to quickly turn from forward to backward and backward to forward in all directions. It is essential that turning does not cause a player to lose momentum. The following drills will help players with turning techniques: Mohawk turns (v-turns) in straight linesMohawk turn (v-turns) on curvesWindmill mohawk drills (turning from front to back and from back to forward while turning like a windmill)Sprint to the blue line, turn, skate backward to red, turn forward to the blue line, turn backward at the blue line, and skate to goal line backwardSkate forward and then jump 180 degrees and then skate backward to the goal lineTwo foot turns (all directions) - forward to backward and then backward to forwardOne foot turns (3 turns) Tight Curve (Pivot) Drills In addition to being able to start, stop, and turn, hockey players must be able to make quick and tight turns. Pivot drills can help players master curves. Curves around cones or face-off dotsPivots making figure eight patterns around face-off dots or from goal line to red line and back360 curves around face-off dots360 jumps and 360 curves at goal, blue, red, blue, and goals lines while doing forward striding down the length to the arena Continue Reading