Forward Stroking
After you have become comfortable moving forward on the ice with marching & swizzles and gliding on one foot, your next step will be forward stroking. Figure, hockey and speed skaters all use stroking as an effective means to move forward quickly.
Arms are out. Place your feet in a "T" position with the arch of one foot facing the heel of the other (the back foot is "turned out"). Bend both knees. Using the inside edge of the back foot, push off, extending the back leg straight (see the picture above for an example). The leg you are standing on remains bent.
After holding this position for 2 - 3 seconds, return the extended leg back underneath yourself. Then, take the other foot, turning out slightly, and push with the inside edge extending the leg the same way as the first foot.
Make sure you bend your knees between pushes or you will not gain speed (which is the desired outcome of this skill).
Once this skill is mastered, it is a great warm up at the beginning of your practice session. Combined with crossovers or other edges, it can make for interesting patterns and keep your warm up fun!
The Ice Zone offers classes called "Stroking" which work on technique and endurance. These classes are geared toward skaters who have learned stroking and forward & backward crossovers. Please see the main schedule for this class.
