Speed of a hockey player can only be measured by the distance
that they are displaced from their starting position in a given time. Not by how
fast the body parts are moving, or how fast they pound their skates into the ice
making a lot of noise, which in itself contributes to the illusion, but by how
quickly the center of gravity moves over the ice.
Force can be wasted by pounding your skates into the ice, or simply by applying
the force in the wrong direction as in back to front motion. Good efficient
technique will make you faster, but beware you may be told that you have to 'go
faster' or 'move your feet faster'. When you pass the 'faster' skater, you might
suggest to those kibitzers that maybe the person that you passed and now can't
catch you should be skating as slowly as you.
If we were to time hockey players over various distances on the ice we might be
shocked at who is actually faster, as opposed to whom we thought were faster by
only watching them skate. This is because of the visual illusion of body parts
moving fast, but not necessarily the body moving fast. Combined with our concept
of what we feel makes us go fast, 'fast feet', etc., this creates the illusion
of speed.
Intensity is the measure of work, usually expressed in percentages of an
individual's maximum performance, in a particular activity. Some people have
tried to compare individual maximum work loads relative to the body weight of an
individual. This comparison has been made to suggest that one person is not
working as intensely as the other, oftentimes to prove that the lighter person
is working harder. This, however, is horse hockey. Confusion may have arisen
because body weight is part of the subjects data for some performance tests, but
has no influence on the test itself.
We can be skating at !00% intensity, but be very inefficient because of how we
are skating. As a result, the expenditure of energy could be dramatically out of
proportion to the benefits received. A player may be the fastest or hardest
worker on the team, but still be very inefficient.
Efficiency is based on the amount of energy expended for the amount of work
performed. Two players with the same top speed can be expending different levels
of energy for the same task. The players are performing the same function, they
do it equally fast, but the one with better technique will be more efficient,
and have greater stores toward the end of the game, when it is often most
crucial.
To improve efficiency, we must first look at the quality of the skating
technique. Quality is the measure of perfection and can be compared only against
the ideal for each individual. The first step toward achieving any level of
quality is to is to learn basic technical skating skills i.e. proper hockey
edges, weight placement on the edges, maximum usage of the blade, proper weight
transfer in forward skating as well as turns and backwards, and proper body
position, all of which leads to superior balance, agility, and POWER!
Skating is a skill and can be improved. The purpose of power skating is not to
make players tired, but to make them better technical skaters, and more
efficient, with the end result of being faster. This is done in a progressive
manner, beginning at very low intensity, and maintaining quality as intensity
builds.
