The 4 Fundamentals Of Top Ice Hockey Skating
By Jon Weaver, Thu Dec 8th

In ice hockey, skating can make or break you. Here are the 4fundamentals to becoming a top performing ice hockey skater,plus 4 extra techniques to push you right over the edge!

1. A solid, well-balanced stance is basic to any degree of speedyou want to attain. If you will work on your starts, stops, andturns as described, you will be well on your way to goodbalance.

2. In striding, you have better balance if you skate with yourfeet about shoulder width apart. If your feet are too closetogether, you are more easily knocked off-balance in the heavygoing of a game.

3. The faster you skate, the more you should bend forward fromthe waist. The comparison here is to the body-lean of a sprinterdoing the 100-yard dash and the striding form of a two-miler.During the course of a hockey game, you will be both a sprinterand a strider as the play dictates. But when you really want todig fast, with or without the puck, you should lean well into it.

4. For straight-ahead speed, your power comes from the thrustyou get when the knee of the digging foot straightens. To getmaximum thrust, the knee of the leg coming forward should bewell bent. Be sure you carry this knee forward ahead of thefoot. Then when you place your foot on the ice, you get fullmuscle power when the knee straightens.

Top athletes, especially outstanding track stars, recognize theimportance of leg power and do something about it. They use aprinciple of training known as over-load.
And you can use yourown form of it, too. Here are some methods of over- loading:

1. Drive yourself all out as long as you are on the ice duringscrimmage. Do not just coast around the rink on skates; theywill do most of the work for you if you let them.

2. Skate in short, hard bursts, gradually building up the numberof lengths of ice you can do successively.

3. Get a buddy to let you push him up and down the ice. You areover-loading by the amount he weighs.

4. In testing yourself at top speed, keep up a continual refrainin your mind: “I can go faster yet!” Be sure to warm up wellbefore any all-out test.

If you study these 4 fundamentals and over-load with the 4techniques above, you will improve your skating skillsdramatically. And that in turn will improve your overall icehockey performance.

About the author:FREE ice hockey training can be found at Sir Jon Weaver’sinformation web site. Discover the secrets to performing at thetop of your game, with a focus on beginners. It’s FREE! Clickhere: http://www.HockeyForBeginners.com

Useful Tips About Ice Hockey Equipment - Part One
By Johnny McKenzie, Thu Dec 8th

Do you want some tips about ice hockey equipment?

In this article you will find some useful tips on how to takecare of hockey equipment as well as some useful links to icehockey manufactures.

We will mainly focus on online equipment stores, but we willalso touch traditional stores.

The advantage of buying hockey equipment online is that you arelikely to get both goalie equipment and other gear for a fewdollars less than in your ordinary store.

A small problem though is that ice hockey equipment cost quitesome money even though you buy it online. Therefore you mostlikely want to try it on before you buy.

One way you can go around that problem is by trying the gear youon in your local hockey store and they buy it for a little lessonline.

That way you will always know it has the correct fit and youwon’t have the hassle with returning it for another size.

For example, in most US goalie equipment stores you can buy allkind of new hockey goalie equipment for sale. These are perfectplaces to go and try the skates or pads before you buy themonline.

When buying ice hockey equipment online, the savings can bebigger when you buy more expensive adult gear as compared tocheaper equipment.

For the manufactures, it is very important that many pro playersuse their equipment. The hockey equipment a pro use, returnsprofits to the manufacture when kids want to use the same modelsand brand.

Sometimes goaltender pads might be hard to find, but in Torontohockey equipment for a goalie is easy to find because there areso many equipment stores there as compared to other locations.

New hockey equipment is expensive though and you might be one ofthose that have asked yourself the question:

“Where can I find used ice hockey equipment?”

The answer is easy.

It is easy to find used goalie equipment in Canada. A good placeto start looking is at flea markets but you should also have alook at eBay Canada.

At flea markets and eBay you are also likely to find streethockey goalie equipment for adult players. Playing street hockeyis the most fun you can have, second to playing ice hockey.

About the author:At HockeyTribute.com you can learn more about theNHL and ice hockey equipment.