by Rick Beckfeld, Team Sweet Hockey.

Whenever I ask a group of young players if they can skate as fast with the puck as they do without the puck, the overwhelming response is no. When asked if they know why, the answers vary from worrying about losing the puck to having to look at the puck. In most cases all their answers are correct.

To skate as fast with the puck as you do without you must do one main thing. “Skate without the puck”! I know you’re thinking that makes no sense at all so let me explain. First of all when skating forward without the puck a player must involve arm movement in a forward to backward movement for maximum speed. You would never run a race with your hands in your pockets or moving you arms side to side so don’t do it when you skate either. When skating with the puck we must maintain that forward backward arm movement as well. This can be done by carrying the puck on the backhand, using only the upper hand to control the puck. We must have our elbows out, away from the body as well. Then instead of keeping the puck on the blade of the stick, we push the puck ahead and skate to it. The difficult thing for younger players is to push the puck straight ahead without allowing it to cross their body. When the puck is pushed diagonally, across the body the player must put his lower hand on the stick for correction to bring it back to their backhand causing the player to quit moving their arms. Also when this happens the puck usually comes close to the body requiring the player to take a more upright, straight legged position which shortens the stride length. All this will cause the player to lose significant speed. When the puck is pushed forward, on the backhand side, with the puck out ahead of them the player is able to not only see the puck but also see the ice in front of them. Their body position will remain constant with good knee bend giving a long, powerful stride. If the player over skates the puck slightly they are able to simply pull the puck back up with out changing body position. The fact that the puck is on the players stick for only a very short amount of time lessens the possibility of the puck popping over the blade of the stick as well.

The next time a coach or instructor asks you why players slow down when carrying a puck you will be able to not only tell them why but also how to correct it. Simply tell them to “skate without the puck”.