power pulls

[miraclegro]

Although i passed my MIF Silver for Power Pulls, my front ones were much weaker than my back ones. Also the judges' forms said i didn't have as much control of my upper body on my back ones. Any advice for either? Thanks, Miraclegro

[phoenix]

Do them every time you skate--use it as part of your warm up. I have to do them from a stand still--get one push, then go. And I'm supposed to go all the way around the rink on one foot, but can't do that yet going forward. Backward I can usually make it if I'm not too tired (it's usually one of the last things we do in my lessons). They're really great for helping you find your balance & getting your knees to bend. I also have to do them w/ my hands behind my back, if you feel up to it. If not try over your head (like ballet 5th position arms).

[techskater]

Have you tried doing them with one guard on? You have to go all the way down the ice from a stop that way AND it will cause you to consider your upper body and HOW you generate the pull.

[phoenix]

Have you tried doing them with one guard on? You have to go all the way down the ice from a stop that way AND it will cause you to consider your upper body and HOW you generate the pull.

that sounds like a recipe for distaster, if you should happen to put that other foot down with any weight on it...... 8O

**phoenix was just released from physical therapy in July, a year & a half after stepping on the ice w/ her guards on. Finally not in pain with every step, every stroke. I am understandably LEERY of guards on blades while on the ice!! 8O

[miraclegro]

Phoenix,

I was just picturing the same thing with me (a disaster) because i know i'd probably just once put that other foot down, and that would be the end of that! Great idea, but i know how my little mind works. Hope you are healed o.k.

[dbny]

I have to do them from a stand still--get one push, then go.

My former coach wanted me to do them with no push at all, from a complete standstill. I saw another coach do a sequence of 3 F pulls, one footed stop over and over again. The pulls were tiny and the stops precise. It was beautiful, and at one point I was able to approximate it in a very clumsy way. I'm sure it would be a great exercise for both control and power.

[luna_skater]

There's something like that in the Canadian skills. In Sr. Silver, you do a FI to O power-pull, stop, and then BI to O power pull on the same foot. Then you do a BO counter on that foot and step onto your other foot to do the same sequence. You also do it starting O instead of I.

[skaternum]

One of my coaches made me do them using a tennis ball! He made me put the toepick of my freeleg on the tennis ball and push it in front of me, with it making a big slalom-y pattern across the ice. Ugh! It was awkward, but certainly safer than doing it with one guard on. At least I could put that foot down safely on the ice if I needed it for stability.

I must admit, once I passed pre-juv moves in August, I haven't done them again since. Bad skaternum!

[jenlyon60]

One of my coaches made me do them using a tennis ball! He made me put the toepick of my freeleg on the tennis ball and push it in front of me, with it making a big slalom-y pattern across the ice. Ugh! It was awkward, but certainly safer than doing it with one guard on. At least I could put that foot down safely on the ice if I needed it for stability.

I must admit, once I passed pre-juv moves in August, I haven't done them again since. Bad skaternum!

One of the Russian coaches at my rink has his skaters who are working on the Junior MIF power pulls (with the quick twisty rockers) use a hockey puck and rest the free leg toepick on the hockey puck. The same coach likes to have his PreJuv skaters working on power pulls put a strap-on weight on the skating leg while working on the power pulls.

[renatele]

One of the Russian coaches at my rink has his skaters who are working on the Junior MIF power pulls (with the quick twisty rockers) use a hockey puck and rest the free leg toepick on the hockey puck. The same coach likes to have his PreJuv skaters working on power pulls put a strap-on weight on the skating leg while working on the power pulls.

My coach showed me the drill with the puck, but I was too chicken at the time to try it. Thanks for the reminder! I might go for it one of these days.

[Mrs Redboots]

I can only just do these, as yet, and usually end up so surprised if I actually manage to change edge that I grind to a halt! Yet I can do a beautiful long change of edge, go figure....

However, my coach says about these:

Keep your free leg very still. Don't even think of using it to help you change edge.
It's all in the knee-bend.

[jenlyon60]

Also, for the forward power pulls, it works best I find to be on the mid-to-back of the blade, so you're sort of scooping forwards (if that terminology makes sense).

I find the back power pulls really easy for some reason... for me it works best to keep pressure mid-blade. Keeps me off the toe pick and keeps me far enough forward on the blade also.

[miraclegro]

Oh, yeah, my back ones had a great "ripping" noise, and the front right one particularly was a little weak. Both front ones are terribly weak compared to the back, although they passed me. I just want to strenghthen them to make the "ripping" noise a piece of cake!

I certainly now have a lot of new things to try!

[doubletoe]

On the forward ones, I keep my knees together and use both knees to push myself deep onto the outside and inside edges. I also find that it helps to "turn your ankle over" to really get deeply onto the inside and outside of your blade. I find myself drawing the edges and navigating in-out-in-out with the toe of my skating foot. . .

[sunshinepointe]

Ick, you have to do these from a standstill? I've always practiced them after taking a couple of good strokes. I can't imagine how you generate enough initial power to change edges smoothly from a standstill... :??

[luna_skater]

It's all edge pressure. You have presssss into the edge and rise up, and pressss down again. Pressure on the blade creates friction with the ice...frictrion creates heat, the ice melts, and the blade glides. The mistake most people make is trying to use every part of your body BUT your foot to make the pull happen! Swinging hips, arms, and free leg to change edges won't get you to actually increase your speed.

[doubletoe]

Here's a real life example of why we need to have strong forward power pulls. You just never know when you'll need them. . .!

http://skating.dreamhosters.com/videos/jonathon_short.mpg

[dbny]

Here's a real life example of why we need to have strong forward power pulls. You just never know when you'll need them. . .!

http://skating.dreamhosters.com/videos/jonathon_short.mpg

Love it! Too bad he didn't do the one foot power pull stop also, but then we wouldn't have had the joy of that auto-pilot T stop.

[dbny]

It's all edge pressure. You have presssss into the edge and rise up, and pressss down again. Pressure on the blade creates friction with the ice...frictrion creates heat, the ice melts, and the blade glides. The mistake most people make is trying to use every part of your body BUT your foot to make the pull happen! Swinging hips, arms, and free leg to change edges won't get you to actually increase your speed.

Actually, that theory of why we move on the ice is now in question. Regardless of that, though, the power that moves you is not from melting the ice, but is much simpler: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Push against the ice and you move in the direction opposite to the push.

While it's true that swinging your upper body/free leg will not increase your speed, there are techniques that help the change of edge and push, that are needed by almost all skaters when first learning power pulls, and some of them are used at the elite level too, but so subtly that you do not notice them unless you know what to look for. For example, on the B pulls, the free hip is open for the BI edge and close for the BO edge. That is exaggerated when learning, into moving the free foot out on the BI edge and back on the BO edge, and it does actually help.