I just came back from an event in Canada this last weekend and I wanted to share some thought with you from the event.  So many times throughout my career I have heard athletes say; "This is the weekend I have been training for.  Or, this weekend or today, I have to show how good I am."  Both are recipes for disaster!

 How do you get ready for a big event?

Well, let me give you a few tricks that me, my wife (Bonnie Blair - 5x Gold, 1x Bronze Medalist in speed skating), and the athletes' we train use and for preparation for a big event.

• Train everyday like it is the Olympics or "The Big Game" - Then, when you need to perform at your best all you have to do is treat it like any other training day. This is easier said then done. This takes an incredible amount of mental discipline to master, but if you do this you will be strongly rewarded. You will have a routine in place that you are comfortable with and you will know in your heart that you did everything you possible could to prepare for this event, and that will settle down your nerves.
• Focus on the elements that it takes to be good not on the results - Be good at these primary elements in your sport and the results will follow - ie hockey: playing within your system, skating, passing/stickhandling, puck protection, positioning, reaction, watching film, nutrition, strength and conditioning, etc.
• Always prepare like a professional everyday for practice or a game - This will help you get ready mentally as well as physically when you need to have an exceptional performance. Having a routine will settle down your nerves (what your warm up is, how early to get to the event, what do I like to eat that sits good in my stomach, etc.).
• Always turn a negative into a positive in practice - Then, on game day or race day, it will automatically happen and your best effort will follow.
• Get ready the night before the event - Have everything laid out and ready to go for the big game, so on the day of the event you are clear and focused on the task at hand.
• In games leading up to the event, try and visualize that it is "The Big Event" you are preparing for - This will give you a few practice reps, and like anything else the more you practice something the better your chances for success.
• Get all your homework done or things on the "to do" list that are hanging over your head. This way you don't have anything bothering you that might distract you or take away your focus.
• Find out what works for you and settles you down before or during an event. (ipod, talking with specific coach, family, spend time off by yourself, etc.)
• Embrace the stress of performance and enjoy what you love to do. It should be fun to see how well you can do against the best competition on that day (this can be done in practice as well - play little games with yourself and try and put some stress on yourself to perform and see how you deal with it and see what happens to your body?). Win or Lose you will learn something about yourself that will make you better and stronger for the next battle!

David Cruikshank

 Our Philosophy at DC Hybrid Skating combines the physics of generating speed from the fastest skaters in the world (speed skaters) and joins them together with the elements of speed in the game of hockey. 

Learning to skate fast requires an understanding of where speed comes from and the patients to practice the elements of speed without rushing for instant results.  "If you can't do the skating skills off the ice you won't be able to do them on the ice".  It is important to build stability, strength, and improve flexibility if you want to be a fast skater.  If you want to be fast it starts off the ice with more than just lifting weights and other common strength training regimes.  Time must be spent training in the skating position where a fast skater will fire his leg extension to the side at over 500 degrees per second.  

Remember it is not what your style looks like it is how fast you get from point A to point B.  And, it's important to take out the variance in your stoke so that you can concentrate on the other skills that are necessary in a game without worrying about your skating.  By improving your skating technique and taking out the variance in your skating stride you will be able to repeat your puck handling, shooting, passing with more consistency and accuracy.

Over the fall and into the winter we will provide you with the exercises that we use to build a strong off ice skating base.  These exercises will give you stability and strength in the skating position.  Our first exercise is using a slideboard (if you do not have a slideboard you can imitate the skating stride in the grass by pushing out the side and landing on one leg imitating the slidebaord - we call this dryskating - no jumping though from side to side just stay low and push to the side landing about 3-4 feet from the push off leg).

This is a starter skating workout that we use in our gym all the time.  It is not meant to be a conditioning workout, it is meant to be a technical workout.  It begins to teach one of the most important elements of the DC Hybrid Skating Philosophy - Pushing to the side:  Remember you can be the strongest and best conditioned guy on the ice, but if you are not efficient and can't apply what you have (force) into the ice then you are at a huge disadvantage and will fatigue quickly.  So, focus on technique now and we will worry about conditioning once we can repeat the proper skating technique!

2 sets of 8x 30sec low technical skating 30-45 sec rest

Points of concentration are:

• Pushing directly to the side
• Keeping knees bent at 90 degrees
• Always keep your feet pointed straight ahead
• Your recovery leg should push out the side and then circle back around so that the recovery leg knee touches the pushing leg calf
• Don't overstride or push too hard - this is a technical workout
• Keep your shoulders and hips level to the ground

I hope you will enjoy our journey together as we begin to learn how to skate fast and efficiently!

David Cruikshank

It is very important as an athlete to challenge your goals and abilities, but to also not let your desires or expectations bring your performance down.  I was talking with a young athlete the other day and he had told me that he was going to a very prominent hockey prep school for a camp/tryout.  He said he was very nervous and anxious about how he was going to perform.  We had an excellent chat about what to expect and how to deal with his preparation for that camp.  I have outlined some of our conversation below.

1) Enjoy yourself - if you can't have fun while your competing then your chances of optimal performance go way down. As a young athlete your focus should be on development of skills and not on performance.

2) Focus only on what you can control and don't try to do something spectacular. If you practice hard everyday and give it your all, then you just repeat that habit and your performance results will follow. Most optimal performances happen when an athlete is in the moment and focusing on the task at hand. Bottom line take what the game gives you and capitalize on those opportunities!

3) Don't worry about what other people think. If you are just trying to impress someone and do things that you think will be make them happy, more often than not you will be let down. Do a few skills very well and people will notice. Even if it's not what they are looking for, they will talk about it and let others know.

David Cruikshank