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Foundation: Off-ice spiral to sit position on the floor drill
Episode 1
Purpose: This challenging skill helps skaters test their balance and their strength; even if they can do a camel to sit position on the ice, they will be surprised to find it is much more challenging to do it off the ice!
Focus: Strength building, lower body strength, balance, alignment
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Forward bounding: Beginner-Elite
Purpose: Skaters should add bounding to their warm-up as a heart rate boosting drill and to work on the quickness and explosive power. Skaters should try to be quick and light on their feet, trying not to heel strike.
Focus: heart rate boosting, timing, rhythm, power -
Grapevine: Foundation-Elite
Purpose: This drill helps skaters to work on their quick feet and the quick snapping of their hips and core, waking up their obliques. Skaters should try to move their hips with their feet rather than just crossing over to get greatest benefit from this drill.
Focus: Timing, rhythm, quick twitch,... -
Forward and backward skips: Beginner-Elite
Purpose: Skaters can use this exercise in their warm-up to warm-up hips, knees and ankles. Practice both forwards and backwards down the floor pumping arms back and forward with the knee to simulate the axel take-off on the ice.
Focus: hip, knee, and ankle extension; power, roll up to the toe, co... -
Stroking exercise with free leg pulse and upper body resistance: Advanced
Episode 2
Purpose: This is a compound exercise that challenges skaters to balance in a deep knee bend while pulsing their free leg, keeping their core still while controlling upper body movement.
Focus: hip activation, glute activation, quad activation, lat activation, stability, glute, upper body strength... -
Advanced: Off-ice forward and backward bear crawl
Purpose: This exercise challenges a skaters coordination and strength as well as the ability to maintain a neutral position of the spine.
This video demonstrates using a wobble disc on the back to help skaters maintain a good awareness of their spinal position. A yoga block or another object cou...
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Elite: Off-ice single leg banded reach back on wobble disc drill
Purpose: This challenging exercise can help skaters work on their balance and strength in their standing leg, the leg strength for the reach back in the free leg, and overall core strength and stability to maintain the position.
Focus: Balance, stability, injury prevention, ankle strength, flip...
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Advanced: Off-ice camel to sit position on bosu demonstration
Level: Advanced
Base exercise: Camel to sit position
Variation: On bosu
Purpose: Skaters can practice their combination spins on a bosu to help improve their strength and alignment. This should help them have a stronger and faster position on the ice.
Focus: Balance, alignment, stability, streng... -
Advanced: Curtsey lunge to air position on bosu demonstration
Level: Advanced
Base exercise: Curtsey lunge
Variations: Curtsey lunge into air position, on bosu
Purpose: Stability--this exercise helps improve balance and strength as you transfer from the back leg into the air position, and also helps train body position in the air position on the bosu.
A... -
Advanced: Reverse tuck to spiral on wobble disc demonstration
Use a wobble disc to challenge your balance while moving from a reverse tuck sit position to a camel position. Skaters should continue to train and challenge their balance off ice to improve their stability and quality of skating on the ice.
Exercise type: Balance.
Equipment: Wobble disc.
Pu... -
Foundation: Forward and lateral leg kicks with toe tap demonstration
Level: Foundation. Base Exercise: Forward and lateral leg extensions Variations: Backward and curtsey toe taps, and kicks instead of a slow leg raise to make it slightly easier. Associated skating skills: General skating quality & control, Y spiral, I Spiral, Y Spin, I Spin. Purpose: Balance & st...
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Advanced: Forward & lateral leg extension to spiral and reverse exercise
Purpose: This balance exercise helps skaters work on extension of their free leg as well as balance and stability in the standing leg and free hip
Focus: Balance, stability, injury prevention, free hip lifted, upper body position
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Advanced: Reverse squat to spiral exercise
Purpose: This reverse squat into a spiral is a great exercise to use to warm-up your balance, flexibility, and your lower body
Focus: Balance, lower body strength, lower body flexibility, warm-up
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Foundation: Off-ice left spiral on the floor demonstration
Purpose: Doing spirals on the floor can help skaters both work on their balance, flexibility, and technique to improve their spirals on the ice
Focus: Basic technique, balance, flexibility
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Foundation: Off-ice spiral on the floor demonstration
Purpose: Doing spirals on the floor can help skaters both work on their balance, flexibility, and technique to improve their spirals on the ice
Focus: Basic technique, balance, flexibility
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Foundation: Counterchecked forward, lateral, and stroking leg extension drill
Purpose: This drill challenges skaters to maintain good balance and engagement through their standing leg and to keep their core strong and free hip lifted as they move from a forward leg extension, to a lateral leg extension to stroking position, while maintaining a countercheck with their arms....
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Advanced: Forward stroking deep knee bend with free leg pulses drill
Purpose: This exercise challenges a skaters' ability to balance in a forward stroking position with a deep knee bend, while pulsing the free leg, which activates and warms up the glute muscles.
Focus: Balance, quad activation, glute activation, hip flexor activation, stability, knee bend, quads,...
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Advanced: Off-ice stroking pulses with overhead hold balance drill
Purpose: This is a good compound balance exercise that helps skaters work on their stability and upper body strength while holding the ball overhead.
Focus: Shoulder stability, stability, glutes, toning, quads, balance, injury prevention.
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Foundation: Forward and lateral leg extension to spiral drill
Purpose: This drill challenges skaters to maintain good balance and engagement through their standing leg and to keep their core strong and free hip lifted as they move from a forward leg extension, to a lateral leg extension to a spiral.
Focus: Balance, stability, free hip lifted, quad strength.
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Advanced-Elite: Off-ice stroking pulses with weighted triceps extension drill
Purpose: This exercise challenges a skaters' ability to balance in a forward stroking position with a deep knee bend, while pulsing the free leg, which activates and warms up the glute muscles. Skater additionally have to coordinate their timing and maintain their balance while doing a tricep ext...
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Beginner-Advanced: Why is balance training so important? Off-ice tutorial
Overview:
0:11 What is balance training, why is it important, and how should skaters practice it?
2:50 Static balance exercises
6:03 No equipment dynamic balance exercises
8:15 Bosu balance exercises
10:37 Skater specific balance exercises
Focus: Knee alignment, balance, stability, injury prev... -
Beginner-Foundation: Off-ice beginner balance skill class
Purpose: This follow-along video is a great class to do to work on improving your balance. Balance is such an important skill for figure skaters to work on because so much of figure skating is done on one foot. This class starts with some basic balance positions and then ends with some skating sp...
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Elite: Consecutive sit to Y-stand drill
Purpose: This drill challenges a skaters strength and balance as they need to maintain good alignment over their standing leg and pressure through the whole foot to be able to press up to standing, and keep the knee from caving in when lowering down.
Focus: Alignment, balance, stability, lower ...
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Forward kick, candlestick spiral, sit: Advanced-Elite
"Purpose: This is an advanced progression for skaters to continue to improve their balance and control skills. It is a great skill to incorporate into a warm-up.
Focus: Balance, control, injury prevention, stability, candlestick spiral, sit spin position, combination spins, warm-up