8 Arm Swing Tips for Skating

You may be thinking, why would hockey players swing their arms while skating? Hockey players should keep both hands on the stick! In general, this is sound advice, but in certain game situations, players should hold their hockey sticks with just the top hand—enabling them to use their arms for additional momentum and speed. For a proper and efficient arm swing, keep the following in mind:

1. The proper arm swing for the forward stride is forward and backward, along the same diagonal lines as, and in rhythm with, the legs.


2. Arms should match legs in terms of force, direction of movement and range of motion. As in running, the right arm drives forward as the right leg drives back.


3. Each arm-swing cycle finishes with one arm extended diagonally forward and the other extended diagonally back; the palms of both hands face upward. An imaginary line is formed between the right hand and foot and between the left hand and foot. The arms never cross this imaginary line.


4. The arms never cross the midline of the body because this creates lateral motion instead of forward motion.


5. The elbows stay close to the ribs as the arms move forward and backward. If the arms move in a wide arc—with elbows far away from the ribs—the arms are forced to swing from side to side, and they will cross the midline of the body.


6. Excessive churning of the arms is a waste of energy.


7. The upper body stays square to the line of travel during each arm swing; it does not turn or twist from side to side. The shoulders should move easily and stay level with the ice.


8. Since the arms and legs work in unison, full arm extension encourages full leg extension. A short, choppy arm swing encourages a short, choppy stride. Think of the windup for a softball pitch or bowling throw. A full backswing sets up forward motion on the throw. Similarly, in skating, a full backswing helps drive the body weight forward.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Laura Stamm of Laura Stamm Power Skating for this story. Kelly Anton, managing editor of the Grow the Game initiative, edited this story.

Does Your Young Athlete Need a Multivitamin?

You hear advice about taking supplements all the time—take vitamin A for better vision, B for stress reduction, C for good skin. But which vitamin B? How much vitamin C? A stroll down the supplement aisle of your local supermarket will only confuse you further. After all, there are multivitamins that target every stage of life in addition to a slew of separate single vitamin and mineral supplements. By all accounts, it may seem like everyone should be taking a supplement. And, you may be left wondering if your young athlete really needs a supplement for better health or improved sports performance. It’s time for a little vitamin and mineral 101.

Vitamin and Mineral 101

Multivitamins provide a little added “health” insurance. Suppose your child is like most Americans and eats the same 20 to 30 foods every single week. Or, maybe he avoids certain foods that are packed with specific nutrients (oysters, for example, are packed with copper but kids in landlocked states rarely seek them out). In both of these instances, your superstar could be missing out on various vitamins and minerals. In fact, most people probably do not meet their vitamin and mineral needs through food every day.

Will falling short harm your kid’s health? There’s no clear-cut answer to this question as it likely depends on each kid’s individual situation. Will his or her sports performance suffer? No, unless they are deficient in a specific vitamin or mineral. And, therefore, supplementing with vitamins and minerals will not improve a child’s sports performance unless a true deficiency exists. Now, that being said, there are two minerals of concern in young athletes: calcium and iron.

• Calcium is Key: Adequate calcium intake is essential during childhood because kids are still developing bone mass. And, some studies show that many children do not meet their calcium needs every day. Skimp on calcium during childhood and you’ll never be able to recoup those bone building years as an adult.


• Iron is Important: Iron is also a concern, especially among young girls. In kids who are anemic, iron supplementation can improve athletic performance. If your child is lethargic, spaced out and fatigues easily during exercise, talk to your pediatrician about testing for anemia.

As a parent, there are no steadfast guidelines regarding multivitamins in children. The following five tips, however, can help you decide if your child may benefit from a multivitamin supplement.

Consider a Multivitamin for Your Child if Your Child:

1.     Is a very picky eater or doesn’t eat balanced meals.

2.     Has food allergies that impair the intake of specific vitamins or minerals (if he or she is allergic to milk for instance, you child will likely fall short on calcium).

3.     Is a vegetarian or vegan.

4.     Has a medical condition that impairs the absorption of certain vitamins or minerals.

5.     Has an eating disorder or disordered eating. (Always get help from a mental health counselor and registered dietitian if your child fits in this category.)

Additional Vitamin and Mineral Tips for Kids:

• Avoid mega doses of vitamins and minerals (from one supplement or a combination of supplements and fortified foods). Mega dosing may give your child an upset stomach.


• If you want your child to take a multivitamin, choose one that contains 100 percent of the recommended dietary intake of each nutrient (or as close as possible). Also, opt for one with omega 3s if possible.


• Make sure your child eats or drinks three servings of dairy foods per day. If your child is lactose intolerant, they can typically still eat cheese and yogurt (both have less lactose than milk). If they avoid dairy altogether, opt for calcium and vitamin D fortified dairy alternatives such as soy, rice and almond milk.


• Keep all vitamin and mineral supplements out of reach of children—even older kids may not fully understand that these supplements are not candy.


• Take most supplements with food unless otherwise directed (and vitamin D as well as multivitamins should be taken with a meal that contains fat for optimal absorption).

Editor’s Note: Marie Spano, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS is a sports nutrition expert who works with athletes throughout the country. Her website is: www.mariespano.com.

10 Values Coaches Can Teach + 4 Things to Avoid

Coaches are teachers and have a huge responsibility. They can imbue—or not imbue—values that go far beyond sport itself. What are the lessons of sport and life that parents want their young athletes to come away with? Think about the athletes we admire so much—the names Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Michael Jordan, Cammi Granato and Michelle Kwan, come to mind. What distinguishes these great athletes from so many others? Think of it! Throughout good times and bad they have always played their game with class.

Coaches can inspire children to:

1. Think
2. Create
3. Experiment
4. Be artistic

Coaches can also demand that their athletes exhibit:

5. Honesty
6. Fair play
7. Courtesy
8. Consideration
9. Sportsmanship
10. Etiquette

These characteristics are all integral to winning. Unfortunately, coaches can also teach athletes to:

1. Fear authority
2. Obey without question
3. Perform mechanically
4. To do whatever it takes to win

I believe it is time to come down hard on negative behavior and poor sportsmanship. Young athletes must be taught that how they play the game counts. Then, regardless of the outcome of the game, they will be true winners.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Laura Stamm of Laura Stamm Power Skating for this story. Kelly Anton, managing editor of the Grow the Game initiative, condensed and edited this story.

Managing Mites’ Minute Attention Spans

Even 5-year-olds look so tough in their hockey gear that you forget that, well, they’re 5-year-olds. But the coaches down on the ice don’t forget since they’re the ones repeating instructions and reigning in the distracted players. To keep players engaged during a full hour practice, limit the amount of time per drill. One minute per year in age – for example, 6-minute drills for 6-year-olds and 10-minute drills for 10-year-olds – is a good guideline, says USA Hockey ADM Regional Manager Joe Doyle. At a recent ADM coaching clinic at the Pepsi Center, home of the Colorado Avalanche, you could see this in action as the Squirts moved to 6 different stations during their 60-minute clinic. To keep this many stations going, Doyle suggests one coach per station plus a floater to keep things moving. “The more coaches the better,” he adds.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Kelly Anton, managing editor of the Grow the Game initiative, for this story.

Get Quick Fast with 10 Dryland Tips

Much quickness training can be done off the ice, leaving more ice time to spend on technique training. Drills that can be done off-ice to train for quickness on-ice are:

1. Sprint and interval running


2. Lunges


3. Russian box jumps


4. Speed chutes


5. Slideboards

Many sporting activities help develop quickness, too. At the same time, kids can have fun and diversify their coordination skills.

1. Basketball


2. Soccer


3. Lacrosse


4. Sprint cycling


5. Track

If you’re not convinced that a combination of fitness and technique training are important, take a look at what Jack Blatherwick, a world-renowned expert in the field of off-ice training, says:

• “The process of becoming a complete hockey player is a multi-edged sword. Without proper technique, no amount of off-ice training will help a player optimize his or her skating. On the other hand, without a good physiological base of strength, explosiveness and muscular endurance (in a good skating position) skating instruction will have less effect.”


• “If an athlete cannot get down on one leg to a good squat position, cannot explode from there, or cannot repeat it over and over without fatigue compromising the position—that athlete will never benefit (as much as possible) from skating instruction.”


• “Without good skating fundamentals, no amount of strength and power will allow players to reach their optimal skating speed.”

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Laura Stamm of Laura Stamm Power Skating for this story. Kelly Anton, managing editor of the Grow the Game initiative, edited this story.

Sharpen Your Shot in the Off-Season with Snipers Edge

Shooting is a very important skill to practice on the ice and at home. The only problem is that a lot of players do not have the appropriate area to practice shooting at home. Parents are sometimes worried about the damage that the pucks may cause as this can cost a lot of money. One solution is to provide an area for a child to practice shooting, and a great product is a hockey shooting tarp called the Snipers Edge. The Snipers Edge is a very big tarp that can be hung in a garage or basement to catch and stop pucks. It was designed to reduce the damage caused by stray pucks and give children and adults a target to shoot at. Read the full review here.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

Early in my career as a power skating coach, I observed that power skating programs are often conditioning programs rather than technique programs. While conditioning is an integral part of hockey training, it does not, by itself, produce great skaters. To develop agile, fast players at the elite levels, players need to learn correct skating technique from the get-go! If they can’t get from point A to point B explosively and efficiently, they’re behind the eight ball!

A few do’s and don’ts for developing skating skills:

• Do build skills when fresh: A frequent request from parents is to “skate the kids hard,” “make them work,” and “get them tired.” Parents and coaches should remember that it is impossible to work on skills when fatigued. Jack Blatherwick, one of the most recognized and knowledgeable scientists in the field of skating biomechanics and conditioning, says, “Technique training should be done when players are fresh—exhaustion prohibits skill development.”


• Don’t encourage players to go nowhere fast: Too many hockey kids are put out on the ice with a stick and puck and told to “skate”—not how to skate, but just to “skate fast.” The assumption is that by skating more and moving the legs a million miles an hour they’ll skate faster. Many of these fast-legged players end up going nowhere fast.


• Do skate efficiently: Everyone wants to skate hard and to have a good workout—and they should. However, power skating programs need to focus on technique training and on teaching players how to go fast efficiently.


• Do focus on form: In athletic training there must be communication between the brain and the body—it is a combination of brain power and muscle power. The brain teaches the body what and how to do. Correct practice over the long term produces correct muscle memory. The brain cannot learn when the body moves madly. It needs to assimilate tons of information. It needs first to figure things out and then transfer the information to the muscles, which, after much practice, eventually will be able to perform correctly.


• Don’t expect instant gratification: Mastering skating is a long-term process. It takes years to become a great skater! Don’t expect to become a great skater after one power skating program. Stay committed to the long term.

Players, remember this: “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” So practice perfectly. And don’t expect to become a great skater after one power skating program. Stay committed to the long term. Eventually correct techniques will “click in” and you will SKATE YOUR WAY TO GREAT HOCKEY!

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Laura Stamm of Laura Stamm Power Skating for this story. Kelly Anton, managing editor of the Grow the Game initiative, edited this story for space.

Creative Stickhandling with X-Deviator

Practicing your stickhandling can sometimes be a bit boring, if you already have pretty good hands then you will quickly get tired of just playing with a puck or stickhandling ball. After perfecting the basic movements any hockey player will want some obstacles to practice stickhandling around, pylons and pucks are usually the first obstacles that players go for, but there is another option—the X-Deviator! Read the full review here.



Ringettes Rock at ADM Clinic!

I first saw ringettes in use at an ADM clinic for the U8 set at Magness Arena, home of the DU Pioneers. The way kids fought for those blue rubber circles, I knew they had to offer something more than just novelty. They somehow ended up in my kids’ Christmas stockings, ready for play in the driveway and at stick-and-puck sessions (where they have a hard time making sure they don’t go home with other players!).

It turns out, I’m not the only one intrigued and impressed by the ringette. At a recent ADM coaching clinic at the Pepsi Center, home of the Colorado Avalanche, coaches queried USA Hockey ADM Regional Manager Joe Doyle about them. And once again the players, this time Squirts, vied to get their sticks on the ringettes. According to Doyle, the drill — which involved holding onto the ringette while making big, wide, exaggerated fakes — helps with:

• Strengthening the bottom hand to help with competing for the puck


• Keeping the stick on the ice


• Avoiding high sticks


• Fostering creative moves

Aside from serving as a great segue to pucks in hockey drills, ringette is a sport in its own right. Popular with girls in Canada, the sport is similar to hockey — except the fast-paced game is played with a straight stick. Learn more about ringette in the following video:



To order your own ringettes, click here. I suggest the Ring Wrap With Ring (the removable wrap lets you use it on pavement).

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Kelly Anton, managing editor of the Grow the Game initiative, for this story.