speed skating, technique

Pushing Technique

When pushing in a circle or even before a cross its very important to stay low so you have a long, extended push.

To ensure that you get the best push, you should try for a 90 degree knee bend, but thats only half the equation.

For a strong push you must push through the center of your frames using your heel and the balls of your feet.

Put power into your pushes by extending your leg and using the muscles in your hips, quads/hamstrings, and calves.

While pushing make sure you are pushing with all your wheels, and when finishing your push all your wheels should leave the floor at the same time.

speed skating, starts, technique

Outdoor Start

This outdoor start is mostly used in time trials or to practice your running start.

Whichever foot you are more comfortable starting on is the foot that will be in front.

  1. With your starting leg in front, make a lower case (y) with your feet.
  2. Now that you’ve done that, go down in a 90 degree knee bend. Make sure you keep your feet in the (y) as you go down.
  3. Next, step back with your back foot and rock back on it with your body weight. This is called daylight.
  4. Next, rock forward and down. This is called loading.
  5. Finally, as all your weight is transferred back to your front foot again, lunge forward and run using the duck run style described in the Off to a Great Start with the Duck Run post.
speed skating, starts, technique

Off to a Great Start with the Duck Run

Doing the duck run / walk is simple. Think of a duck when they walk — they have a sort of waddle.

So, to start, turn your feet sideways with your toes pointing out. Now step over your skates while driving your knee forward. Bring one leg in front of the other. Be sure to set your foot down with your toes pointing out to the side. Do this slowly at first and gradually work up to trying running as shown in the video below.

speed skating, technique

Positioning your Feet while Skating

To have the right footing and edges make sure you are in skaters position with a 90 degree knee bend.

As you go down the straight-away keep your skates close together. Your left foot should be your leading foot. In other words, your left foot should be just ahead of your right skate.

As you begin to cross, remember to step down close to your other foot. This will help you to have more range of motion for your push.

When you cross down the straight-away, try not to step out that much because it could cause you to mess up your edges.

Bryce Musial on Left Edge

double push, speed skating, technique

The Double Push

The point of the double push is to go on your outside edge and carve the wheels on your to skate into the ground to make a stronger push.

To start off with the double push remember to stay low and bend your knees so you have range of motion. Now you can get going, what you do first is push out to the side as you shift to your outside edge and start your carve as you push.

While you’re on your outside edge bring the foot that you pushed out to the side around almost behind you other leg, then bring your skate through to the side of your other skate and step out slightly and repeat on other leg.

speed skating, technique

Indoor / Outdoor Skating Techniques

Skating position: Get Low, Try for a 90 degree knee bend. Over longer distances, you won’t be able to maintain this, but bend ’em as much as you can.

Keep your weight over each leg. Push through the center of the frames. As an exercise, think about pushing through the heels at the end of the stroke. Make all your wheels leave the floor at the same time.

Push to the side, not to the back. Push as laterally as you can. Your foot will go to the back a little bit, but if you think “push straight to the side” you’ll end up with a more efficient push. (video credit to, U.S speed skating)