rock Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 Looking for someone to help with my son to work to fix his stride. Build speed and acceleration as well. Anyone have any experience working with someone specific? Thanks. 14u aa player Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJUSHL Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 (edited) I would start off the ice first and see if his stride is limited by a hip or some other mobility issue that doesn't allow him to get deep enough in his stride. If he can't stand on dry land with feet straight forward (not angled out to the side, perfectly straight forward) at shoulder width apart and basically squat down with feet flat on the floor (heels in contact with the ground) and his butt basically on the back of his shoes, no amount of on ice work is going to get him a good stride. In addition to hip mobility issues, this can also help identify issues with ankle stability and mobility. He could also have some knee valgus or over pronation of the feet. I would try to get an assessment by one of the trainers at UPMC in Cranberry or by Michael Durkin in Moon. You can find him by googling Durkin Sports Performance. The off ice assessment work will for sure find some issues or areas of improvement. Then once you have a plan to address those issues, I would then find the skating instructor. As long as there are no physical limitations a skating instructor can help with posture, full extension, leg recovery, etc. I think the on ice part will be easier/quicker than addressing the root cause of the issues off the ice. Edited November 7, 2022 by RJUSHL 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 16 minutes ago, RJUSHL said: I would start off the ice first and see if his stride is limited by a hip or some other mobility issue that doesn't allow him to get deep enough in his stride. If he can't stand on dry land with feet straight forward (not angled out to the side, perfectly straight forward) at shoulder width apart and basically squat down with feet flat on the floor (heels in contact with the ground) and his butt basically on the back of his shoes, no amount of on ice work is going to get him a good stride. In addition to hip mobility issues, this can also help identify issues with ankle stability and mobility. He could also have some knee valgus or over pronation of the feet. I would try to get an assessment by one of the trainers at UPMC in Cranberry or by Michael Durkin in Moon. You can find him by googling Durkin Sports Performance. The off ice assessment work will for sure find some issues or areas of improvement. Then once you have a plan to address those issues, I would then find the skating instructor. As long as there are no physical limitations a skating instructor can help with posture, full extension, leg recovery, etc. I think the on ice part will be easier/quicker than addressing the root cause of the issues off the ice. Thanks I will look into those first. Appreciate the detailed response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyisgreat Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 Great response, Wish I would have known that 5 years ago. How old do you think is to old to have that evaluation done? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJUSHL Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 15 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said: Great response, Wish I would have known that 5 years ago. How old do you think is to old to have that evaluation done? Hard to know because I'm not trained in this, but I would think that even at the 10U age level it would be helpful for a kid to start developing correct movement patterns with various bodyweight exercises, med ball tosses, and mobility work. Once the voice starts to change, time to start (smartly) adding weight. But a lot of this will depend on the kid. Parents can go crazy and easily overdo it with their kids, but other kids can't get enough of this off ice stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJUSHL Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 22 minutes ago, rock said: Thanks I will look into those first. Appreciate the detailed response. Once you do move to the on ice part, I think it's more effective to go crazy at first with the amount of instruction. I would find a week in the late spring or summer when your kid can get on the ice for 30-45 minutes/day for a week straight individually with the same instructor. Working at it intensely day after day for a week can break some old habits and develop new ones. It's extremely difficult to change a stride significantly with just a once per week lesson. They'll make progress during the lesson, but then they'll go back to their team practice and fall into old habits and tendencies. Then the next week at the skating lesson they'll spend the first part breaking the same habits they worked on the previous session. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danner27 Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 (edited) How big is he ? Does he have long legs ? Sometimes there is nothing you can do, the kid has to grow into his body. He’s 14, he will be hitting another growth spurt this spring - summer. There are many factors that have to do with skating strides. Not all of the are training. A lot of it is natural athletic ability, family genes etc. there is some guys in the nhl that have terrible strides for that level of play. For whatever scentific reason the smaller kids develop a good stride much earlier than the bigger kids. There is certain local kid in the ushl right now. Scouts knocked him and dismissed him until he was 17 because he didn’t have a “perfect stride”. Now at 19 he’s really smooth.growing into his body was his biggest problem. At 14 he was 6’ he grew pretty fast at a young age. he’s 6’4 now. Edited November 8, 2022 by Danner27 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puck01 Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Mark Chavez is the best skating coach in this area. He breaks the stride down & your kid will hate it, but he will fix it through time. not sure if he still does lessons or is even still in the area. The key to having a good stride is getting lessons at the start of your hockey path if you can. The longer you carry a bad stride & habits the harder it is to fix it. Marry Ann Watkins from RMU is next best but it will be impossible to get one on one lessons she is booked until the year 3100! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saucey Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 All sound advice Something no one else mentioned is....how interested is your kid in improving his stride? If you are forcing him to do off ice and go to lessons, you might as well give me that money, for as much good as it will do. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danner27 Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 On 11/8/2022 at 6:44 AM, Puck01 said: Mark Chavez is the best skating coach in this area. He breaks the stride down & your kid will hate it, but he will fix it through time. not sure if he still does lessons or is even still in the area. The key to having a good stride is getting lessons at the start of your hockey path if you can. The longer you carry a bad stride & habits the harder it is to fix it. Marry Ann Watkins from RMU is next best but it will be impossible to get one on one lessons she is booked until the year 3100! Chavez is out of the business, guy was really good at what he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Hockey Fan Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 On 11/7/2022 at 4:06 PM, RJUSHL said: Once you do move to the on ice part, I think it's more effective to go crazy at first with the amount of instruction. I would find a week in the late spring or summer when your kid can get on the ice for 30-45 minutes/day for a week straight individually with the same instructor. Working at it intensely day after day for a week can break some old habits and develop new ones. It's extremely difficult to change a stride significantly with just a once per week lesson. They'll make progress during the lesson, but then they'll go back to their team practice and fall into old habits and tendencies. Then the next week at the skating lesson they'll spend the first part breaking the same habits they worked on the previous session. Being with a good instructor for a week straight is very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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