The Scoop on Speed

There are many components of an effective skating stroke which work in concert to produce sustainable speed: lateral push off the tops of the skates' wheels, a heel carve at the end of the leg's full extension, a semi-circular recovery, a balanced gliding position, a slight lean backwards to plane forwards, a subtle counter-balancing with the upper body to initiate a dip of the hip for transference of weight, an energetic knee drive, a straight-ahead set-down of the gliding skate, a pendular arm swing, metronomic motion from the hips downward.

Information Overload

Trying to put this all together too fast can be awfully confusing. When I was first learning how to skate I remember how everybody had their own version of what I was doing wrong and their own prescription for what I had to do to make it right. A daunting task. With so many things to think about at once, nothing ever came together. I disintegrated every time. That was until Tamo came along. He calmly gave me one thing to think about. And left it at that until the following week.

Less is More

Tamo took all the confusing and often contradictory advice away, and instead got me to focus on individual components of the skating stroke. Slowly, he helped the big picture fall into place. In the space of a few hours every week it didn't seem as if I was getting anywhere but improvement snuck up on me from week to week, month to month. Soon I was waking up and strapping on my skates and realizing that my body hadn't forgotten what I had learned the day before. Tamo had caused me to unlearn my bad habits and reprogram my muscles with good ones.

Take It Away

Things begin to click if you can just take your mind off of what you're trying to accomplish. It's like seeing a faint star by looking slightly off to the side, or recalling a name that's on the tip of your tongue by thinking of something else first. On skates we can force ourselves to make great leaps of progress if we just take away some of the things we normally take for granted -- be it our vision, traction, traffic, support, or even the surface itself. Here's what I mean:

1) Vision: If I close my eyes when I skate I improve my balance. I can concentrate more on what my body is doing in space and make minor corrections based on how it all feels . To do this exercise I need a smooth road with a white line on the shoulder, the kind of line that's slightly raised because the paint is so thick. I can tell when my wheels run up onto the line and over the other side, so I know I'm skating a straight line without ever having to open my eyes.

2) Traction: When I lose grip -- because of wet pavement, sand, or oil -- I need to make sure I push just so, otherwise I'll end slip-sliding away. Losing traction actually improves the effectiveness of my push by forcing me to push off the tops of my wheels. This way, the main vector of force isn't just sideways but more down and into the pavement, which is desirable in any conditions.

3) Traffic: When I can eliminate traffic out of the workout equation, I progress big time. Without the distraction of stop signs, irate motorists, or clueless pedestrians, I can spend quality time on my skates without having to worry about my hide the whole time. This means either going for a predawn skate or breaking out my trusty slideboard. My slideboard is a slippery device which allows me to simulate the skating motion. I wear shoes with socks pulled over them. On my slideboard, I can concentrate on form and on keep close tabs on my heart rate.

4) Support: If I purposefully keep my skates very loose, then I absolutely have to have good balance to remain upright (my first skates were three sizes too big for me so I had no choice). Most people who complain about having weak ankles actually have poor balance and could be doing themselves a favor by loosening up their skates. Without the crutch of tightly laced skates, I have to make sure my nose, knees, and toes are aligned every time, otherwise I just collapse out of my skates altogether.

5) Asphalt: Believe it or not, but taking the very pavement you skate on out from under you can be one of the most instructive skate experiences you'll ever have. I literally will go skate on grass or astroturf just because it forces me to everything correctly -- especially the part about leaning back and directing the push with the heels. On the turf, if I stop being vigilant about leaning back for even an instant, my toes sink in and I go down head over heels.

These exercises are all excellent shortcuts to achieving a new, improved, speedier you. If you take something away, chances are that the absence of that attribute will eventually become its very presence. Good luck!

Eddy Matzger is the current world record holder in the 10K and the hour, which he skated solo on a road course. He now focuses on pack style racing and on bringing skating to the people, which he does through his ever popular weekend workshops. His loyal sponsors include TWINCAM bearings, Roces skates, PowerBar, Breathe Right, and Transpack.