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The Physics of Skating: Part 6

By Andy Blaylock, 09/27/17, 2:15PM CDT

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Balancing Diminished Contraction Force Against Lateral Push Direction

Getting the Most out of Force

In Part 5 we sketched out key considerations of how we must consider both how strong our push is and in what direction that push moves our body in order to maximize efficiency. Here we wrap that up to create the full understanding. This part is actually pretty short on words so you can spend your time studying the force diagram below that brings it all together.

Turning the toe of the foot more forward gives us the most force, but this still isn't the whole answer.

If we turn that foot forward we can produce more force, but what direction are we pushing? In order to take advantage of the lateral "friction" of the skate blade, we would push perpendicular to the blade. This means we are pushing very sideways if the toe of the foot is pointed nearly forward. Finally, at this point, we are getting a picture of a "wide" stride as pushing laterally leads to the feet going out to the side of the body as opposed to the rear in a more narrow stride.

Pushing laterally pushes our body laterally, not in the direction of intended motion which is forward. So by turning the toe forward, we run into a trade-off. On the one hand, the reduced contraction velocity allows us to produce more force. On the other, the bulk of that force is in the lateral direction. 

In order to achieve the highest possible speed, we need the most force in the forward direction. This means finding the perfect angle to turn the toe that leads to the maximum value when multiplying the total force produced by the percentage that is in the forward direction.

Which Comes First?

This theory is complicated. It is more when you ask how this perfect angle that leads to maximum forward force changes depending on the speed you are traveling. Without getting into the math, the important thing to understand is that, as we travel faster, we need to have the toes of our skates pointed more forward which causes a more lateral push. In other words, at higher speeds, we will need to have a wider stride.

The Chicken or The Egg

Research has shown that faster skaters tend to have a wider stride.  Now we have seen how a higher speed demands a wider stride. So, which causes which? It would be simple to say that it is the speed that forces the skater to have a wider stride.

On the other hand, skaters need to produce the most forward force they can in order to achieve the highest speeds, so one could certainly say that the fastest skaters must have a precise knowledge of the correct stride width for all speed ranges.

So, indeed fast skaters need to know how to produce a wide stride and therefore the idea of the having a wide stride for higher top speed does have merit.

Bringing It Back To The Game

When playing hockey, we spend much more time in the lower speed ranges than near top speed. In fact, it is more important to get through these stages in order to have the opportunity to get to the higher speed ranges.

As with starts from a stop, we should indeed turn our toes straight sideways and push straight back for 2 or 3 strides, making a wide stride counterproductive at low speed. 

In the end, a wide stride for higher top speed is accurate. It is however misleading as a training guide. If one was to train only for a wide stride they would suffer greatly in the low and mid speed ranges that dominate the majority of the game.

Instead, players should train for the narrow stride during starts, a medium stride width for the "middle gears", and the wide stride to pull away when speed is at a premium.

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