How to improve "Power"? | Golden Skate

How to improve "Power"?

iceskating21

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
My skater's last 2 MIF got the same feedback: "Nice footwork, but loss of power". It showed in almost all judges' comments. The coach said it takes time to improve power. She also mentioned that my skater should skates faster.

Did anyone have this experience? Is the power related purely to speed? What kind of exercise will improve it? Any opinion is appreciated!
 

energywithin22

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 6, 2019
My skater's last 2 MIF got the same feedback: "Nice footwork, but loss of power". It showed in almost all judges' comments. The coach said it takes time to improve power. She also mentioned that my skater should skates faster.

Did anyone have this experience? Is the power related purely to speed? What kind of exercise will improve it? Any opinion is appreciated!

That is a BIG subject and there are TONS of ways to improve power and speed, the two correlate a bit as well. What level is he/she on? What age? Proper posture, knee bend, proper pushing, on-ice excercises with power band, off-ice excercises like jumping up and down on one leg are the first that come to mind for me :)

How powerful and fast someone skates depends highly on how comfortable and confident they feel on ice, too
 

tstop4me

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 2, 2015
Country
United-States
My skater's last 2 MIF got the same feedback: "Nice footwork, but loss of power". It showed in almost all judges' comments. The coach said it takes time to improve power. She also mentioned that my skater should skates faster.

Did anyone have this experience? Is the power related purely to speed? What kind of exercise will improve it? Any opinion is appreciated!
<<Emphasis added.>> Assuming no abnormal issues with the skater's anatomy, the skating equipment, and the ice, a more powerful stroke will in general result in more speed (within limits). But more speed will in general not result in a more powerful stroke (some exceptions apply).
 

Nimyue

On the Ice
Joined
May 15, 2018
You can ask her coach if their club do power stroking classes. Some clubs will do power stroking lessons which focus on just what it sounds like.
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
That is a BIG subject and there are TONS of ways to improve power and speed, the two correlate a bit as well. What level is he/she on? What age? Proper posture, knee bend, proper pushing, on-ice excercises with power band, off-ice excercises like jumping up and down on one leg are the first that come to mind for me :)

How powerful and fast someone skates depends highly on how comfortable and confident they feel on ice, too

An oft overlooked aspect when it comes to power is how to generate power from an edge. Power pulls are an example of generating power purely from pressing the edge and correct body lean. Power is what will help you accelerate. If you're "doing" power pulls by wiggling your butt, then you are not doing them correctly.

If you apply the power pull concept to everything you do, including turns, cross-rolls, stroking, etc., you will find you will have more power and be able to accelerate up to higher speeds more quickly.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
An oft overlooked aspect when it comes to power is how to generate power from an edge. Power pulls are an example of generating power purely from pressing the edge and correct body lean. Power is what will help you accelerate. If you're "doing" power pulls by wiggling your butt, then you are not doing them correctly.

If you apply the power pull concept to everything you do, including turns, cross-rolls, stroking, etc., you will find you will have more power and be able to accelerate up to higher speeds more quickly.

:clap:
 

WednesdayMarch

Nicer When Fed
Medalist
Joined
Mar 24, 2019
Country
United-Kingdom
An oft overlooked aspect when it comes to power is how to generate power from an edge. Power pulls are an example of generating power purely from pressing the edge and correct body lean. Power is what will help you accelerate. If you're "doing" power pulls by wiggling your butt, then you are not doing them correctly.

If you apply the power pull concept to everything you do, including turns, cross-rolls, stroking, etc., you will find you will have more power and be able to accelerate up to higher speeds more quickly.

YES!

Also, it helps to have been taught - and made to practice until it's second nature - the correct way to skate forwards (and backwards). There's a series of movements to it which should become ingrained to develop the correct, flowing push and glide. It's why I do end to end of our rink in two pushes and everybody else takes at least 6. ;-)
 

hanyuufan5

✨**:。*
Medalist
Joined
May 19, 2018
An oft overlooked aspect when it comes to power is how to generate power from an edge. Power pulls are an example of generating power purely from pressing the edge and correct body lean. Power is what will help you accelerate. If you're "doing" power pulls by wiggling your butt, then you are not doing them correctly.

If you apply the power pull concept to everything you do, including turns, cross-rolls, stroking, etc., you will find you will have more power and be able to accelerate up to higher speeds more quickly.

I used to have horrible posture and a lot of weird muscle imbalances, which I've done a lot of off-ice exercises for, and let me tell you, I must have looked like such a doofus the first time I got a big burst of speed/power from a good edge with proper knee bend. I just stood there and stared at the ice like, "What the heck was that!?" :laugh:

So yes, good posture, strong muscles, and proper knee bend. :agree:
 

iceskating21

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
An oft overlooked aspect when it comes to power is how to generate power from an edge. Power pulls are an example of generating power purely from pressing the edge and correct body lean. Power is what will help you accelerate. If you're "doing" power pulls by wiggling your butt, then you are not doing them correctly.

If you apply the power pull concept to everything you do, including turns, cross-rolls, stroking, etc., you will find you will have more power and be able to accelerate up to higher speeds more quickly.


Is there any video or instructions on Youtube or any other place that she can have a look? Thanks!
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Is there any video or instructions on Youtube or any other place that she can have a look? Thanks!

If I do come across any, I will send them along. From my perspective, this is the best kept secret in the skating world which I learnt about only after I fortuitously discovered my 8th coach.

Be aware that recognizing when a skater is generating power from an edge is very subtle, and is easy to miss if you don't know what to look for. If you see that a skater accelerates when bending the knee and pressing the edge into the ice, that's probably it. But merely bending the knee for the sake of bending the knee does not necessarily translate to power. Edge pressure is often accompanied by a "ripping" sound, but not always. Ripping for the sake of ripping is kinda pointless.

Learning to skate with edge power is not "knowledge" that you can acquire from a book or video and immediately know how to do it. As with any skill, it takes time to hone, needs to be built up incrementally, and requires persistent reinforcement through practice.
 

energywithin22

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 6, 2019
YES!

Also, it helps to have been taught - and made to practice until it's second nature - the correct way to skate forwards (and backwards). There's a series of movements to it which should become ingrained to develop the correct, flowing push and glide. It's why I do end to end of our rink in two pushes and everybody else takes at least 6. ;-)

I actually did an excercise for that in the summer and discovered that I also need only 2 strokes/pushes :)
 
Top