Edge of Excellence

1. Upper Body Lean

e also look closely at body posture which can make the body angle look deceptively far forward. Both on and off the ice we use specific exercises to correct the rolled shoulders so that the chest is out and the shoulders are back. When done correctly, the players should feel a hollow in the low back area.

Shoulders Back Illustration

Another reason speed skaters use an upper body lean parallel to the ice is because in this position it is easier to get a lower knee bend. Often what you see is players who have a good low knee bend have a body lean which is quite far forward. Players with a more erect upper body tend to skate with a higher more opened knee bend. At the skating schools both on and off the ice, we train players to have a combination of the two, i.e. a lower knee bend with a slightly more erect upper body, but, of course, still with some lean forward. Players certainly can be trained to maintain this body position very comfortably with the seat down lower, but it has to be worked on. In fact, I have had very capable speed skating coaches express surprise at how low an knee bend we are able to help players achieve with a more erect upper body.

One other distinction we often try to make with players is how they skate on and off the puck. Generally, players with an extreme body lean forward, skate more upright when they carry the puck. So their technique may be better when handling the puck.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of players in the National Hockey League that lean well forward when they skate. Some of them are excellence skaters and some are very fast. As you will see from this brief summary there are a number of factors that contribute to speed in straight forward skating. A player may be strong in several areas and not in others and still be an excellent skater. All I am saying is for those fast skaters who do play with an extensive body lean forward, they probably could even be faster and perhaps more effective in other areas as well with the shoulders slightly back for the reasons described above.