January, 1999
People are often surprised when I tell them that I teach young children to speed skate. They often gasp in amazement when I say that some of my students are as young as five or six years old. They ask, "Do they skate on those long blades?" It amazes me that people think that learning to speed skate is such a difficult task, especially for young children. People of any age can learn to speed skate. How fast they learn and how difficult they find it all depends on how the technique is explained to the learner in order for them to understand.
There are 4 guidelines that should be used to teach a person of any age to speed skate:
- Explain the skills using concepts appropriate to the life experience of the learner. A five year old does not have the same life experiences as a 20 year old.
- Do not overload the learner with too much information at one time.
- Ask the learner questions. People tend to retain information better if they have had to think about what it is they have learned and why they have learned it.
- Always have fun!
As a coach of mostly beginning level skaters, I have become quite creative in teaching the basic speed skating stride to children. Most young children do not know the meanings of terms such as weight transfer and recovery. I try to explain the movements to them using words that are meaningful to them. The following technical drills are those I teach to young children as the basis of the straight-away stride.
Basic Position
The first portion of the skating stride that should be taught is basic position. First, have the skaters stand up straight and place their feet shoulder width apart. Next, have them bend their knees until they cannot see their toes anymore. Then ask them to drop their bum as though they are sitting on a chair. Every child has sat on a chair before, so they already have a concept of what sitting in a chair feels like. Once they have a solid understanding of what basic position feels like, practice gliding in basic position.
Flamingo
The second skill to teach is how to glide on one foot. First have the skaters try gliding on one foot while standing upright and then have them try it in basic position. When in basic position, it is important to glide with the elevated foot behind the body, as it is a precursor to being able to perform proper recovery. I refer to this position as the "Flamingo". Children find it easier to visualize and mimic a pink bird standing on one foot than a person standing on one foot. Besides, it is much more fun to pretend to be a bird!
Triangle
The next skill in the progression is the push to the side, which I call the "Triangle". Starting in stationary basic position, the skaters extend one leg out to the side. From this position, work on shifting all of the skater's body weight over the bent leg so that the child's nose, knee and toe are lined up, as if they have a pole going through them. A pole is very straight and solid. If they don't keep everything lined up, their pole will have bends and zig zags in it, which isn't very "pole-like".
If the skater keeps his pole straight and his leg extended properly, the image of a human triangle is created; the ice is the bottom side; the line through the nose, knee and toe creates the vertical side; and the extended leg forms the third side.
McDonald's M
Once the skaters can glide in "Triangle" and "Flamingo" they can move on to learning recovery. Recovery is the completion of the straightaway stride in which the extended pushing leg is brought back to basic position. Children tend to skate as though they are riding a horse. Their legs never make it back underneath them. In order to have the children bring their feet back to basic position, I teach them to draw the "McDonald's M" behind them. I dare you to find a child in North America who has never seen a McDonald's M!
From the "Triangle" position, the child brings their foot around behind them in a semi-circle until their leg reaches the "Flamingo" position, at which point they bring their knee forward, step onto the recovered leg and begin the push with the other skate. The recovery of the second leg completes the "McDonald's M" shape.A Complete Program
By putting these skills together, the skater has the ability to skate like a real speed skater! But whether or not they remember these skills the next time they come out to skate is another matter. The responsibility of the coach is not only to teach the skills, but also to ensure retention.
Always ask young children questions regarding what they have learned. Telling the child to bend his knees is not enough; the child needs to understand why he is bending his knees in order to truly learn the skill. After learning a skill, a typical exchange between the skaters and the coach might be:
Coach: What is the skill we learned?Young children, as well as people of any age, can learn to speed skate if taught in a way that makes sense to the individual. Whether recreational or competitive, young or old, speed skating can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. And no matter what, remember to have fun.
Child: Basic Position.
Coach: And why do we do basic position?
Child: So we are lower?
Coach: Yes! Why would you want to be lower?
Child: So that we have better balance? So that we make bigger pushes?
Coach: Very Good! And why would we want to make bigger pushes?
Child: So we go faster!