66. Backward 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. We're going to be showing you a new skating element. What are we showing today Xenia? We will show you how to do backwards power pulls. But first we'd like to thank our supporters Robin and Yelena for their support of our skating. All right let's go show them. In this video we will show you how to do backward power pulls. This video will contain information from our other power pull video. New information will be presented first. When doing backward power pulls make sure that you don't wiggle your hips, stick them out, or drop one in. You have to use your presses and rises not wiggles. Another thing to be aware of is exactly how far back you are over your heel. Skaters that are not very comfortable with skating through the heel tend to misjudge how far back over the skate they are skating. Sometimes one can think that they are skating through the heel when they are skating through the middle of their skate. If you're having trouble with this or are hitting your toe pick, work on your backward inside and outside edges. Also have a friend tell you if you're skating over your heel or if your heel is off the ice. Be aware of your posture as well. It's easy to be leaning forward and not be aware of it. Don't round your back either. To be clear you're allowed to lean as long as you keep your head and chest up. Also don't be stiff. Keeping your head up means lifting it from the back of your head. Avoid rolling your chin up when you're told to keep your head up. When doing power pulls, think of your path as being on an axis. Make sure that you maintain a straight direction. A common mistake is to drift to one side. This usually happens if one of your edges is weaker than the other. Keep your arms under control but don't rely on them to do the power pulls. In other words, if your arms are stiff you're probably relying on them to do the power pulls. If your arms are swinging you are not controlling them. This may seem trivial but how you tie your skates has a significant impact on how well you can do your power pulls. If your boots are too loose you won't get the rebound from your presses. Using the rebound from your boots will make gaining speed and power a lot easier. If your boots are too tight your skating will be stiff and awkward. In order to do power pulls well you have to be comfortable with going on your deep inside edge and deep outside edge. If you're unsure of how to do set edges watch videos 48 and 49 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 getting comfortable try switching to one foot. There are a number of things 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, 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 are 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. 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 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 edge and the pressure of your press. Doing power pulls requires significant edge 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 what the problem is. If you are struggling with the presses and rises work on 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!