Basic Body Position / Quad Speed Skating..Question...

[8-Ball]

Its been a while.. maybe things have changed..

But.. this is how I was always told.. was how to get oneself dialed into the right body position for skating.

Everyone is a different height and weight.. and body style..

I was always told that the easiest way to get into it.. was to act as if you were sitting down in a chair. Eyes forward and off the floor...ass down.. back angled but relatively straight.. bended knees but not too far.. weight / body centered on the skates.. not forward.. not back.

Corrections are made.. IF..

you feel pain in the tops of the thighs.. that is sittng BACK on your skates..and you need to slowly adjust your weight forward.. if your feeling knee.. foot.. shin pain.. your too far forward.. and need to move back a tad.

DO NOT tuck in arms behind you..**sprint speed skating**.. use arms for pumping and balance..


Those are the basics.. VERY basic..

what .. if anything.. is wrong??

All opinions welcome

[quadbob]

FIRST OFF WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY IS VERY BASIC AND DOES NOT APPLY TO EVERYTHING AND YOU FOLKS DON'T NEED TO CASTERATE ME FOR SAYING IT.

inlines vs quad basic tecnic differances, basicly 8 ball your correct but form is more complicated than that. but what you said is a great starting point.
the one biggest issue with quads is that you want to lead with your right or outside shoulder and with inlines you want to lead with your left or inside shoulder. this combined with what 8 ball said makes for a great starting point and needs to be adjusted from there.
for example this is perfect for my relay partner, it fits him like a glove. like one of my old coaches used to say, NICE AND SQUARE SITTING IN A CHAIR. and he does it like it's text book!
but myself i have to lean. if i don't lean. i can't get around the corners as good. but as long as i can lean to the inside of the trac i'm fine. this may be why i can skate both inlines and quads fairly good. not great mind you. but not bad either. i could at one time almost drag my hand on the floor like the inliners. of coarse that was a million years ago and i can't bend as good as i used to. everyones a little differant and a good coach will work on your strenghts and try to fix your weaknesses. they'll take what works for you and build on it. 8 ball is correct, start buy sitting in a chair position and go from there.

[merlin]

The 'chair sit' position is just a basic starting point. It's more of a conceptual thing than an absolute rule: it's simply an easy way to explain what you want to a novice.

Once a beginner progresses in ability and can hold the basic position correctly, then the coach will tweek the form to suit the individual skater. More 'rules' like keeping toe, knee, shoulder in-line, feet shoulder width apart, etc. then come into play to "fine tune" the technique, and consideration is given to body type and so on. e.g. a short, stocky person will generally develop good form faster than someone who is very tall or has very long legs.

[OldSchoolRinkRat]

This is actually quite helpful to me, as I have never really attempted to do any speed stuff, but my interest in it is growing.

Typically I just watched from the sidelines and never really got into it, and finally after 15 years of watching I would like to at least attempt it.

I've asked a few of the older guys and gals that used to be on the speed team back in the day for pointers, and this is pretty much what they told me to a tee.

I might be popping in this section of the forums a little more often now that the interest has sparked up again.

[8-Ball]

Exactly.. the chair thing..is just to help those that tend to stand up more in their stance.. to get a lil low.. .BUT not too low... Its all relative to body type.. and height.. etc... But its meant to help DIAL in your position..or give you the tools to do so..

Thanks so much.. its been 20 years.. I am wanting to get into some coaching .. and I just want to make sure that speed skating didnt go the way of my 20 year old 295 Kangas, lasers and Labeda Turbos...

Thanks for the confirmation/clarification.

I had been looking for training videos that I remember watching back in the day.. but Ill be ****ed if I can locate them.

Thanks again!

[markthetrucker]

The chair thing sounds right to me, but I was always coached to turn your shoulders in the corners. level to the floor turn your upper body into the turn. Now some of the others on my team were into kinda throwing the left foot out, then turning your body and crossing over, in order to shoot the corner and grab for speed.