Thank you, I appreciate your independent thinking about skating mechanics. I wanted to ask you about the 5-10% of the time in the forward stride that you quote. That is less than I observe anecdotally. And if you include quick starts and linear crossovers as part of forward stride mechanics, the number goes up further. (I've observed that skills in these directly correlate with skill in the forward stride). In fact, I'd argue that acceleration is the most important end product of a strong forward stride. Additionally, I find that most young skaters are lacking in basic stride mechanics (the 3 you mention as well as shin angle), and the single thing that separates the kids as they get toward high school age is that those kids that are faster in a straight line are generally the more effective players in other parts of their game. The danglers and kids who have good moves in tight spaces tend to start to get left behind somewhat if they aren't able to generate above average speed. So even if it's a small part of the game to actually skate fast in a straight line, it's a sorting function. The fastest straight line skaters have a disproportionate effect on the game. The fastest straight line skaters can get into beneficial locations sooner, have more ability to control the pace of the game, and they also can carry more speed when they end up going into other mechanics like the corkscrew, etc. So I think it's worth deeper consideration about the forward stride. Thank you again for your analysis. I've learned a bunch of useful things from you and I appreciate it. I look forward to your thoughts on this.
Whenever I get into an argument about arm swing. I usually just end up having to tell them "do speed skaters swing their arms forward"
💯
Great coaching as always bro 🙏
Thanks for the comment 👍
Thank you, I appreciate your independent thinking about skating mechanics. I wanted to ask you about the 5-10% of the time in the forward stride that you quote. That is less than I observe anecdotally. And if you include quick starts and linear crossovers as part of forward stride mechanics, the number goes up further. (I've observed that skills in these directly correlate with skill in the forward stride). In fact, I'd argue that acceleration is the most important end product of a strong forward stride.
Additionally, I find that most young skaters are lacking in basic stride mechanics (the 3 you mention as well as shin angle), and the single thing that separates the kids as they get toward high school age is that those kids that are faster in a straight line are generally the more effective players in other parts of their game. The danglers and kids who have good moves in tight spaces tend to start to get left behind somewhat if they aren't able to generate above average speed.
So even if it's a small part of the game to actually skate fast in a straight line, it's a sorting function. The fastest straight line skaters have a disproportionate effect on the game. The fastest straight line skaters can get into beneficial locations sooner, have more ability to control the pace of the game, and they also can carry more speed when they end up going into other mechanics like the corkscrew, etc. So I think it's worth deeper consideration about the forward stride.
Thank you again for your analysis. I've learned a bunch of useful things from you and I appreciate it. I look forward to your thoughts on this.
Good insights here
Good message, thanks for taking the time to write that👍
So many people don’t give the love to the 10&2 like Train 2.0. I make my kids practice a 10&2 at the start of every session.
Love that.
Genius!
Thanks Nick 👍
Feels more natural if you had a Spec Ed helmet on.. Where did you lose me?? 🤔
Noted.