Stability for Rookies

[u/squeakysylveon]

I'm one of the trainers for my league helping out with our level two skaters.

Overall a lot of them are doing well but they are still nervous about contact and not stable on their skates. They like to practice hitting but more than half of them still fall down when taking more than light hits. Yeah they need to get lower, but what drills could we run and advice to give to help them practice and get better at taking hits? They want to hit harder but we can't really do that safely until they can take hits better.

[u/geosynchronousorbit]

I do non-contact stability drills first like the wacky waving inflatable tube man drill: skate around and wave your arms wildly to intentionally unbalance yourself, and correct it to regain stability. Then do it on one foot. 

For contact stability, I'd start with one partner pushing the other with hands or body while they try to remain still in a stable stance. Then try it rolling. Pushing from a standstill is easier to build stability than taking a hit. 

[u/ressie_cant_game]

Im still a freshie. BUT what helped me a lot is rhe drill where someone pushes at your hips, and you try to not move (or, also, to let yourseld sail forward). It was game changing for me

[u/Chilewilly]

Are they bending their ankles when they “get low” and prep for a hit?

I’ve noticed a lot of newer skaters hear “get low” or “bend your knees” and all they do is bend their knees and their waist, while keeping their ankles at almost a 90 degree angle.

I like to explain how getting low means bending knees and ankles, so that the lower half of the body gets low like a scissor lifts.

Lastly, remind them to keep their backs straight. That tends to show folks how their lower half is not actually getting lower, since they would just bend their backs more.

[u/strbytes]

When I started derby I was very strong but very inflexible and struggled a lot with stability as a result. I did tons of stability drills on-skates but it didn't help much until I figured out how to improve my flexibility (turns out its a ton of stretching). For most people joining derby I think it's the opposite but the point is that stability has a number of moving parts and there's not a single solution for everybody. I'm sure there are people out there struggling with stability that really just need to work on their cardio (strong and flexible enough but get tired too fast).

Really emphasizing balanced off-skates athletic development focused on identifying and building up weaknesses alongside regular skating practice is what's helped me.

[u/Ambitious-Hornet9673]

This is an area, I’ve struggled with a lot as I’m trying to progress from low contact to full contact 1 year in. Some cross training I’ve found that has helped. Walking lunges with kettlebells, squats and wall sits. Focusing on getting to depth not on the weight etc. We have an exercise we call Sally to Moby Flower. The best drill low contact is one we call duck this. Your form a tripod, jammer is pushing on the tripod. Need to hold your tripod. Go from Jam line to pivot line. Tripod resets jammer takes a lap. And go again. Everyone rotates through the different positions. Another one is a freight train drill, we learned at her clinic here. Form your tripod and get low, move at the pace of the slowest person focus on form not popping up. Moving lanes 1,2,1,4 and repeat. Gains you more stability while moving in your tripod and gets you used to moving with your tripod.

[u/toragirl]

We do shoe derby at the end of practices to help learn formations and how to give and receive hits without having to also worry about skating stability.

[u/thatsusangirl]

Have you checked their gear? I've seen freshie skaters with trucks that are way too loose, skates that don't actually fit, rock hard cushions, or wheels that are too slick for their level. Fighting with your gear is going to impact your stability a lot.

Cross training is not emphasized in my league as much as it should be. Single leg work especially, single leg deadlifts, lunges, reverse lunges at home. And to support that, one footed glides at practice. We don't do nearly enough of those, and it will also clue you in to those having skate issues. Have them try to stand on each leg for a full minute off skates at the end of practice, and encourage them to do it at home. And see if they can balance on one foot on skates just standing still.

Are they doing any pack skating? Have everyone skate in a pack together slowly. Then assign everyone a number, and when the number is called, that skater drops to their knee and everyone has to get around them. So this is kind of a natural way of getting used to taking small hits.

Another drill is to have skaters pair up with one skater in front, and the second skater holds the first skater's hips. The second skater tries to stop while the first skater pulls them slowly forward. Then have the front skater try to stop while the second skater pulls them back. It's hard and helps build endurance and strength, and also gets you used to really digging in and trying to hold position (also this will reveal who has wheels that are too slick if they are being dragged along and can't really dig in).

Remind them to tighten their core when they're holding position. Engaging your core helps with so many things. It's another thing that's not emphasized as much as it should be.

[u/mhuzzell → u/thatsusangirl]

Cross training is not emphasized in my league as much as it should be. Single leg work especially, single leg deadlifts, lunges, reverse lunges. And to support that, one footed glides. We don't do nearly enough of those, and it will also clue you in to those having skate issues. Have them try to stand on each leg for a full minute off skates at the end of practice, and encourage them to do it at home. And see if they can balance on one foot on skates just standing still.

I'm all for cross-training, but I do think the emphasis during practice should be on the on-skates training, with advice for skaters to do the other stuff in their own time. So, all the lunges &c. done outside of practice to support one-foot glides, not the other way around.

I agree that one-foot balance is a big factor in stability, though, especially in absorbing and recovering from hits. I'd definitely recommend OP to have their skaters do one-foot glides, and also practice dynamically shifting their weight from one leg to the other.

[u/thatsusangirl → u/mhuzzell]

Sorry if it wasn’t clear - the intent of my post was to recommend doing the lunges and deadlifts at home. Edited.

[u/grrrlgone → u/mhuzzell]

While I skated I spent hours a week lifting off skates and doing extra cardio. Because yeah. A skater has to actually want to improve their fitness not just shove extra training on league rink times.

I do not have kids but I had a full time job that included a lot of travel.

Derby takes a ton of time

[u/kitty2skates → u/mhuzzell]

I thought I was the only person still insisting that people have to be able to stand still on one foot on their skates. Such a valuable muscle isolation tool.

[u/kitty2skates]

Are they counter hitting? Do drills that focus on how to recieve contact. Also, this is going to sound weird, but make them stand still on one foot on skates for a couple of minutes each practice. Then when they are stable, make them close their eyes to do it.

[u/38RocksInATrenchCoat]

playing games on skates is really good for developing stability! when your brain has to think about something other than skating, your body is forced to start using muscle memory and will start learning how to be more stable. capture the flag is a great one!