Edge of Excellence

3. Arm Swing

hrowing the arms forward and back rather than side to side is another component of forward skating which most players have been told about, but they don’t do it. The forward arm swing is important not only in terms of speed but also in terms of efficiency. To start with, if players use their arm swing correctly, they can skate faster with one hand on the stick than two. Granted, 95% of the time in a game players need to keep two hands on the stick, but those occasions when he can momentarily get away with one hand on the stick, for example, trying to catch an opposing player when you're back checking, are extremely important situations in a game. As a back checker, trying to catch a player using an open system (one hand on the stick) when the opposing player has a closed system (two hands on the stick) while carrying the puck, gives you a big advantage in terms of speed, if you use your arm swing properly.

Front View Arm Swing Illustration

Side View Arm Swing Illustration

It is equally as important to teach players how to skate with two hands on the stick with speed. There are a number of issues here we look at which is beyond this summary analysis, but the main focus is on neutralizing the upper body and driving from the hips down.

We teach players off and on the ice to exaggerate the arm swing. I want the arms thrown directly forward and back, with a elbow bend on the way back and a full extension of the arm on the way forward. The elbows should be kept in. If the elbows go out to the side then the arms invariably start to move side to side again. The arms when thrown forward should come from underneath and up, like a typical arm swing, i.e. not straight out from the shoulder. The arm thrust forward should not come up above the chin.

With the arm swing forward the trunk area should remain firm and with little or no movement. If the player moves his upper body forward as he thrusts his arm forward this will reduce the effectiveness of the arm’s ability to thrust the player’s whole body forward, which he wants to do to gain speed. Consequently, the chest should not turn. The shoulders should not drop down but remain square.

Even when players start using the correct arm movement, one of the biggest areas we have to work on is getting players to actually thrust their arms forward. We will have players skate forward from the goal line throwing their arms side to side. When they reach the blueline, players will switch to a strong arm swing (directly forward and back) feeling the difference in terms of their speed as they thrust their body forward with their arms. However, players must concentrate on fully extending those arms. It can’t be done as effectively if the elbows remain bent. In a game situation, a player’s arms will start to move slightly toward the midline of the body which is fine. What is important is that the arm direction is forward and back, not side to side. Our on-ice video projection is very helpful. It enables players to see their arm swing from a side and front view as they skate forward.

Elbow Bend Arm Extention Illustration

Players not only need to be able to skate fast, but we want them to be able to skate fast using less energy. This is what we work toward. You go to training camp and the player next to you in the dressing room is equally as fast but you use less energy going at the same speed, you’re the winner because you will be able to skate longer at top speed and you will have more jump still left toward the end of a shift. When players throw their arms side to side they not only are throwing part of their body sideways when they want to go straight ahead which slows them down, they also are burning up a lot of energy. If you are going to burn energy, you want to use that energy to help propel you in the direction of travel.