64. Forward Power Pulls

We're Xenia and Oleg, four-time U.S. national competitors whose goal is to make Team USA and represent the U.S. at international competitions. We'll share with you what we learned along the way, so let's make this journey together. Hi everyone, today we're going to be showing you a new skating element. What are we showing up today, Xenia? We will show you how to do forward power pulls. But first we'd like to thank our supporters Rebecca and Stephen for their support of our skating. Thank you. All right, let's go show them. In this video, we will show you how to do forward power pulls. In order to do power pulls well, you have to be comfortable with going on a deep inside edge and a deep outside edge. If you're unsure of how to do set edges, watch videos 40 and 45 or find them in our skating essentials playlist. If you don't know how to do power pulls on one foot, try doing slaloms first. After you get comfortable, try switching to one foot. There are a number of things that you have to do simultaneously in order to do power pulls or slaloms. You have to time the knee and ankle action with an edge press and change. The pressing of the knee and ankle and edge builds power. Then you pull out of the press, changing the edge as you do so. Use the pressure that you build up to drive you forward as you rise. Make sure that you press all the way and rise all the way. Avoid popping up or stopping your rise with your knee still bent. Power pulls create a series of waves on the ice. Each wave has a crest and trough. You should feel the maximum pressure at your deepest press. The maximum pressure is at the top and bottom of the wave as shown in this pressure meter. Your presses and rises have to be smooth and continuous. If you pause at any point, you will kill your flow. Maintain a strong core. If you're loose in your core, you will lose your power. Avoid rocking back and forth on your blade. This stops the flow. There should be a straight line from your heel through your hips through your shoulders. Avoid breaking at the waist and using your upper body to try to do the power pulls. The toe of the free foot should point in the direction of the skating foot. Don't stick your free hip or your free foot out. A common problem is not pressing enough. This will result in less than enough power to do the next pull. Another thing to avoid is getting a lot of speed and then coasting on the power pulls. Instead, work on maintaining and gaining speed through the power pulls. When you do press, make sure that you ride your heels as shown here. This will enable you to use a greater portion of your blade than if you skate on the ball of your foot. When done correctly, your blades will make a sound akin to a roar. This comes from the depth of the edge and the pressure of your press. Doing power pulls requires significant press. If your edge is flat, you won't be able to build enough power. In order to improve your power pulls, you have to do them on a regular basis. If you're still struggling with them, try to understand where the problem is. If you're struggling with the presses and rises, you can do them without the edge changes. If you can't get on the inside or outside edge enough, work on your edges. Finally, there's the mental aspect of it. You have to believe that you're capable of improving it. If you say you can't, you won't. But if you say you can, eventually you will. Hey everyone, we really hope you enjoyed the video. If you did, hit the like button and click on the subscribe to subscribe for more videos. Alright, see you next time!