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About This Page: This is a discussion on Hockey Players Forum within the LetsGoKings.com forums, at Los Angeles Kings Hockey Fan Forum. Can anyone recommend anything specific I can do at the gym (as opposed to on the ice) to improve my backwards skating?
Not really man. I have played for 15 years and it's one of the hardest things for people to learn. Practice makes perfect. The gym is not gonna help much unless you lack leg strength and then its the obvious squats and leg press.
Not entirely true...some people can have issues pertaining to stamina, leg strength, etc. That can certainly be helped by gymtime.
DH, What are you trying to improve? Speed? Or can you not skate backwards, period? If speed is the problem, try transitioning forwards to backwards. Slow to make your transition, then as you do - speed up and churn your legs. Be sure to make sure to skate with your weight forward (almost as if you were skiing) and drive those edges into the ice. If you can't skate backwards, describe your problem and I'll try to give some advice but you need to be specific. Certain people can either have a problem with balance (forgetting to lean forward), or they forget to bend their legs properly, etc.
A really good technique I learned is in skating a few mph and then transition backwards to the point where you're going kind of slow... then, start cutting C's. One leg. Then the other. So bring one leg out, make a C (USING YOUR EDGE), bring it back in under you. Then the other leg. That'll make a reversed C. After a few, your speed should increase. Practice that to death and you should start maintaining speed in no time.
Try hockeyshot.com. They offer good visuals and cues to adopt in your skating and shooting.
I don't mean to discourage the thread originator, but in my experience, there is no substitute for one-on-one coaching. Gotta (a) hire a figure skating coach at public skates, or (b) hire a hockey coach at sticktime, or (c) go to one of the following camps:
__________________ "Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter. So long as men live together on earth and need means to deal with one another -- their only substitute, if they abandon money, is the muzzle of a gun."
-- Atlas Shrugged
Yeah the whole C cut thing works but thats the very beginning basics. Are you trying to learn how to skate backward with speed? If you are then crossing over skating backwards will really help pick up speed quickly.
Here's the deal - I don't get all that much ice time, and what time I get is divided up among all the skills. I'm just noticing that the muscles I use skating backwards are not ones I use in everyday life. I thought maybe there were some specific things I could do when I'm not on the ice to help speed up that development.
Here's the deal - I don't get all that much ice time, and what time I get is divided up among all the skills. I'm just noticing that the muscles I use skating backwards are not ones I use in everyday life. I thought maybe there were some specific things I could do when I'm not on the ice to help speed up that development.
Bottom line is that you need to get yourself more ice time. The more you skate, the better and faster you get and the faster your muscles develop. Honestly, I don't recall doing anything special with my legs, ie. exercises, to help speed up the development. It just happens the more you play.
You're like a fat person that's trying to find a short-cut to lose weight. You just don't diet and take those diet pills. You get your ass to the gym 4 or 5 times a week. In this case, to the ice rink 4 or 5 times a week. DO IT, MAN!
Here's the deal - I don't get all that much ice time, and what time I get is divided up among all the skills. I'm just noticing that the muscles I use skating backwards are not ones I use in everyday life. I thought maybe there were some specific things I could do when I'm not on the ice to help speed up that development.
Go to a public skate. Try to find one that's not so crowded, you'll have more freedom and room.
My dad coached kids hockey for several years and had hockey schools in the 60's. In a 1 1/2 hour practice, he skated those kids for 1 hr. He used the time for skating, stops and starts, pile-ons, clock-wise around the rink, counter-clockwise around the rink, etc, frontwards and backwards. The last 1/2 hour was used for scrimmage and plays. The kids used to complain, but those same kids went to Nationals and took 4th. It works.
Look at it this way, you can't do anything in hockey if you can't skate. Work on that first and the rest will come.
Bottom line is that you need to get yourself more ice time. .... In this case, to the ice rink 4 or 5 times a week. DO IT, MAN!
Quote:
Originally Posted by fansince67
Go to a public skate. Try to find one that's not so crowded, you'll have more freedom and room. ....
You need to to seek out more sticktime. If that means traveling further than you normally would to get to a rink that has it, then do so. If that means badgering the (geographically-close-to-you) rinks that don't have much sticktime to schedule more of it, then do so.
Public skates are better than nothing, I guess. But skate in your full hockey gear (minus a stick, as they won't let you bring that out = liability issues), including helmet and mouth guard. If you're going to push your skating boundaries, you can't be afraid to fall, and full hockey gear (including helmet and mouth guard) is critical to eliminating that fear.
can you skate backwards on roller? if you can't get on the ice, you can at least practice on some inlines. then when you get on the ice, it's pretty much the same thing with blades instead of wheels. just a little adjustment.
Here's the deal - I don't get all that much ice time, and what time I get is divided up among all the skills. I'm just noticing that the muscles I use skating backwards are not ones I use in everyday life. I thought maybe there were some specific things I could do when I'm not on the ice to help speed up that development.
if you cant get alot of ice time id recomend getting a affordable pair of inline skates with outdoor wheels and practice on a basketball court or something along those lines
__________________ "I'm going back to falling off chairs and puking on lamposts"
Bottom line is that you need to get yourself more ice time. The more you skate, the better and faster you get and the faster your muscles develop. Honestly, I don't recall doing anything special with my legs, ie. exercises, to help speed up the development. It just happens the more you play.
You're like a fat person that's trying to find a short-cut to lose weight. You just don't diet and take those diet pills. You get your ass to the gym 4 or 5 times a week. In this case, to the ice rink 4 or 5 times a week. DO IT, MAN!
those diet pills with no diet and minimal excercise (our games on sundays) work great for me haha
__________________ "I'm going back to falling off chairs and puking on lamposts"
Skating backwards 
fansince67
