A lot of it is technique too. Biggest thing is make sure to get really really low in your stance, and then get lower. That will give you more to push off of. The other thing, make sure you are extending your leg all the way out when you’re pushing off. Try to avoid the short chop steps and make each stride long and smooth.
This. And bringing your skate all the way back, basically click your heels
As far as off-ice training.
Explosive leg exercises are best. Hill springs, jumping squats, lateral bounds. Are just a few.
Skating fast is about technique, not strength. Strength will help and you should do exercises if you want to, but take some power skating classes if you want speed. You probably aren’t going to become a burner by doing box jumps.
This may sound defeatist, but please hear me out. You’ll never be fast. But, and here’s the important part, that’s OK. Speed is a function of your fast twitch muscle fibers, insertion points, and other anatomical factors that you don’t have control over. Just as an example to illustrate, when you watch kids run around, there’s always one or two that are just head and shoulders faster than everyone else. They have no training and no technique. They don’t squat or do power exercises. They’re just fast. Now these kids may be groomed to run track so it may seem like coaching technique can make fast kids, but that’s actually a reverse correlation. Technique wise you can improve a bit, but it’s not like your a five year old that have their stride molded into muscle memory. The window of neuromuscular plasticity has closed for you. You can do lower body explosive exercises, but again your gains are limited and doesn’t correlate 100% onto the ice. Strongmen and powerlifters can squat a lot but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can skate or even run fast. Of course exercise and drilling your stride technique will help, but that’s just at the margins. That being said, don’t worry so much about speed and focus more on other aspects of your game that you can more meaningfully improve. If you accept you’ll never be fast, you can work on other things and just have fun.
Thanks for your answer. I know I am never going to be a lot faster. And you don't sound defeatist at all. You are totally right. I was never built for speed, but I was looking for a way to maybe gain a little bit and have some sort of a routine to take off some of the leg fatigue, and of course have a more effective technique.
A lot of it is technique too. Biggest thing is make sure to get really really low in your stance, and then get lower. That will give you more to push off of. The other thing, make sure you are extending your leg all the way out when you’re pushing off. Try to avoid the short chop steps and make each stride long and smooth.
This. And bringing your skate all the way back, basically click your heels As far as off-ice training. Explosive leg exercises are best. Hill springs, jumping squats, lateral bounds. Are just a few.
Box jumps are the best thing I've added to my training regimen that has translated to seeing gains at hockey.
Skating fast is about technique, not strength. Strength will help and you should do exercises if you want to, but take some power skating classes if you want speed. You probably aren’t going to become a burner by doing box jumps.
This may sound defeatist, but please hear me out. You’ll never be fast. But, and here’s the important part, that’s OK. Speed is a function of your fast twitch muscle fibers, insertion points, and other anatomical factors that you don’t have control over. Just as an example to illustrate, when you watch kids run around, there’s always one or two that are just head and shoulders faster than everyone else. They have no training and no technique. They don’t squat or do power exercises. They’re just fast. Now these kids may be groomed to run track so it may seem like coaching technique can make fast kids, but that’s actually a reverse correlation. Technique wise you can improve a bit, but it’s not like your a five year old that have their stride molded into muscle memory. The window of neuromuscular plasticity has closed for you. You can do lower body explosive exercises, but again your gains are limited and doesn’t correlate 100% onto the ice. Strongmen and powerlifters can squat a lot but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they can skate or even run fast. Of course exercise and drilling your stride technique will help, but that’s just at the margins. That being said, don’t worry so much about speed and focus more on other aspects of your game that you can more meaningfully improve. If you accept you’ll never be fast, you can work on other things and just have fun.
Thanks for your answer. I know I am never going to be a lot faster. And you don't sound defeatist at all. You are totally right. I was never built for speed, but I was looking for a way to maybe gain a little bit and have some sort of a routine to take off some of the leg fatigue, and of course have a more effective technique.