Edge Control Tuomo Kärki, IIHCE
The overview of the presentation Introduction What is edge control and what things effect on it? Why players have problems with edge control? How to practice skating and edge control? 2
Background Born in Finland, Oulunsalo, 1967 Ice hockey Playing career 14 years (F A- jun. age 7-18, Oulun Kärpät 11 years, National teams U16-U17, after that cooling down RoKi ja Kiekko-Oulu 3 years) Coaching career 11 years (RoKi 2 years, JYP 5 years, Kiekkoreipas 4 years, National teams U16-U17) Work career 12 years (JYP head of junior hockey 2 years, Kiekkoreipas head of coaching 4 years, IIHCE head of education 6 years) Education Sport instructor Sport science studies (Jyväskylä University) Other sports Finnish baseball (age 11-15, Oulun Lippo 4 years) Hobbies (jogging and gym) 3
Skating in ice hockey Specific characteristics related into ice hockey skating: Changing situations in game Different playing positions Different playing roles Length of shifts Opponent and contact VLC 21:30-4
Skating in ice hockey How skating in ice hockey differs from figure skating and speed skating? Figure skating Ice hockey skating Speed skating Drills to develop: balance glide coordination Drills to develop : skating position return phase glide stride phase Drills to develop : strength speed stamina Drills should support the development of different phases of ice hockey skating technique 5
What edge control means? Ability to control centre of mass while point of pressure against the ice moves lengthwise (heel toes) and crosswide (outside inside) during different phases of skating 6
Edge control (phases of glide stride) Changes in centre of mass while point of pressure against the ice moves lengthwise and crosswide during different phases of skating Lengthwise Activating bottom muscles Abducting thigh to the side Extension of hip, knee and ankle Pushing to the side and back Pressure point in the middle of the blade Pressure point in the middle of the blade Crosswide Pressure point in front of the blade Outside edge In the middle of the edge Inside edge 7
Example player 1. Weakness of the bottom and core muscles Big difference between the pressure point and the centre of mass point 8
Example player 2. Strength of the bottom and core muscles Small difference between the pressure point and the centre of mass point 9
Skate (boot) dressing equipment Position of tongue under shin pad First lower body equipment All tied or one open if necessary Laces tight enough Laces tight enough Better: Protection Flexibility Balance Tongue under shin pad Whose responsibility to take care of? 10
Skate (blade) profile and sharpening Wrong kind of sharpening effect on blade profile in long run glide, agility, balance suffers Pay attention to maintain blade profile (flat glide surface 30-80 mm or radius profile) Be aware of the depth of hollow (deeper hollow increases the grip and friction) Whose responsibility to take care of? 11
Skate (blade) profile examples Centre point Flat glide surface in the middle e.g. 5 cm Flat glide surface in front e.g. 5 cm, 3 cm front of the centre point Flat glide surface in the middle e.g. 5 cm, front and back of radius 3,96 m or Radius profile without flat glide surface Whose responsibility to take care of? 12
Skate (blade) depth of the hollow blade r = radius shallow radius short radius Shallow radius blade doesn t go so deep into ice less friction better glide Short radius blade goes deeper into ice more friction better grip requires more strength to skate Whose responsibility to take care of? 13
Practicing ice hockey skating things effect on edge control Example drills: Skating position, balance and stride off ice Skating position, balance and glide stride on ice Skating is a kinetic chain... develop kinetic chain instead of isolated muscles! 14
Skating position, balance and stride off ice Control of hip Balance (jumps still and side to side on one leg or changing Stride (step behind, to the side + twist) 15
Skating position, balance and stride on ice Balance and control of hip Stride (thigh abduction and hip extension) Glide Stride (thigh abduction and hip extension) 16
Practicing ice hockey skating - conclusion Things to consider concerning drills to improve ice hockey skating: practicing muscles used in skating (develop kinetic chain instead of isolated muscles) balance (exercises on one leg) coordination (use of upper body and arms) take care of the skate (boot, tongue, laces tight, blade profile) pay attention to skating inside of game like drills (backward, crossovers, turns, with a puck) 17
Thank you! 18