Speed & Endurance

Objective: Skaters practice fast starts including toe stop runs and duck runs.

Suitable for: L1+

Setup: All skaters stand on one side of your training space.

On a signal (whistle) they power start, skate to the other side (10-30m away) as fast as possible, then break and wait there for the next whistle. Suggest additional distance markers for skaters who need a bit more time or who want to push it harder so that all levels are challenged

Using only duck walk start and plough to stop

Then using only toestops and derby stops or hockey stop

2 minutes - solid sprinting and stopping.

During the first three minutes, give them time to have a few seconds of rest in between. You can instruct them to do different kinds of power starts, for example:

Start with exactly 2 (or 3 or 4) toe-stop-steps

Start without toe-stops (duck-walk)

Start side-ways, with a grape-vine transitioning to a forwards run

etc. (be creative!)

Tip: for beginners who have not mastered power starts yet, take more time to explain the different power-starts, and maybe start with just one type. Make sure skaters "lean-in" to the start (by letting themselves "fall forward", turning it into a run instead of a walk). Also make sure skaters get a little air-time inbetween steps. Make sure skaters can take small steps and large steps.

During the next three minutes, speed it up: give skaters júst enough time to reach the other side and be ready to go again. Do this in intervals: three times 30sec. up, 10sec. rest.

During the last three minutes, let skaters do this at their own fastest pace: give them a fixed number of times (for example, 10) to get from one side to the other side, and have them "race" to be the first one done. You can do multiple races.

Tip: for advanced skaters, you can mandate one or another type of stop they will have to do at the end of their lane (plough stop, turn-around-toe-stop, hockey stop, etc.)

See Endurance Drills