Ideas for drills during open session?

[blizzard77]

In need of some (non-speedy) ideas/links for technique drills that I can work on during a typical open skate session? (Preferably some that won't get me kicked out, LOL!)
'Cause there's only so many ways to vary a scooter push... TIA!

[WJCIV]

We just reset our season here, which means going back to strength and technique basics. You could probably get away with doing most of our practice during a session.The drills that come to mind first:

House of Pain -- We run this where you do drills on the straightaways for :50-1:30 and then rest for :20-:30 (longer drills and less rest as the season goes on). You get to select which drills you run. We currently have 7 different drills which we run through three times, which means the entire thing takes 30 minutes. We'll be adding a few drills as the season wears one, and we'll end up somewhere north of 40 minutes. You can use an app like Impetus or Seconds to track the drill. I use seconds because it has a nice big font which means it's easy to check quickly. It also vibrates the phone when there are 3 seconds remaining, so you don't have to keep checking it. Potential drills are:

1. Holding skater position
2. Lunges, switching feet on each straightaway.
3. Lunges with a switch, start the straightaway lunging on one foot, then make a single quick switch at the halfway point of the straightaway without popping up.
4. Lunges with at least 4 switches in a straightaway.
5. Side lunges, drop into skater position on one foot with the other foot extended like its at the end of the stride. All your weight should be on the supporting foot from the point you start to go down into the lunge until the point you are standing straight up again.
6. Squats, at least 4 per straightaway.
7. Low, smooth skating, worrying about technique rather than speed (this isn't only on the straightaway).
8. Slaloms, imagine your own invisible cones.

Circle drills -- Meant to work on your cornering. Typically we have a circle which is no bigger than half the floor, but you can just roll the straightaways and do it on the corner.

1. Scooter pushing (not my typical terminology, but you obviously know this one).
2. Cross and hold, cross your foot over and hold that position for 2 seconds. Then step and and hold that position for 2 seconds. Repeat. This works one making sure you take the time to coordinate your entire body on each step instead of just pushing. It also checks that you move your weight to land over top the landing foot and keep everything in alignment.
3. Cross and pause, similar to cross and hold, but the pause happens mid stride when your feet are aligned with each other (one will be up in the air). Then if you want to generate any power you have to step, powering both legs, instead of just push because you've ruined the momentum of the stride. We tend to do one foot at a time, i.e. we pause the right foot on the crossover and step the left foot as normal for a minute, then switch.
4. Kick the ball, I'm not a fan of this one because so many people throw their hips out of alignment in the middle, but it's basically just crossing with keeping your feet on the ground. At the end of the cross you "kick" the left foot forward to exaggerate that the stride is sideways rather than backwards.

Duck walks. Good starts begin with good technique. A lot of people try to run with their feet turned out the whole time, which looks silly and is inefficient. Instead the knees and feet should point forward when they're moving forward, and only turn sideways when you place them down. Also, you should drive your knees forward just like running. Your arms should sync up with your feet. I don't think anyone in a session would have a problem if you practiced this at walking pace or slower, and it will help ingrain the technique for when you run faster.

[kufman]

Originally Posted by WJCIV

We just reset our season here, which means going back to strength and technique basics. You could probably get away with doing most of our practice during a session.The drills that come to mind first:

House of Pain -- We run this where you do drills on the straightaways for :50-1:30 and then rest for :20-:30 (longer drills and less rest as the season goes on). You get to select which drills you run. We currently have 7 different drills which we run through three times, which means the entire thing takes 30 minutes. We'll be adding a few drills as the season wears one, and we'll end up somewhere north of 40 minutes. You can use an app like Impetus or Seconds to track the drill. I use seconds because it has a nice big font which means it's easy to check quickly. It also vibrates the phone when there are 3 seconds remaining, so you don't have to keep checking it. Potential drills are:

1. Holding skater position
2. Lunges, switching feet on each straightaway.
3. Lunges with a switch, start the straightaway lunging on one foot, then make a single quick switch at the halfway point of the straightaway without popping up.
4. Lunges with at least 4 switches in a straightaway.
5. Side lunges, drop into skater position on one foot with the other foot extended like its at the end of the stride. All your weight should be on the supporting foot from the point you start to go down into the lunge until the point you are standing straight up again.
6. Squats, at least 4 per straightaway.
7. Low, smooth skating, worrying about technique rather than speed (this isn't only on the straightaway).
8. Slaloms, imagine your own invisible cones.

Circle drills -- Meant to work on your cornering. Typically we have a circle which is no bigger than half the floor, but you can just roll the straightaways and do it on the corner.

1. Scooter pushing (not my typical terminology, but you obviously know this one).
2. Cross and hold, cross your foot over and hold that position for 2 seconds. Then step and and hold that position for 2 seconds. Repeat. This works one making sure you take the time to coordinate your entire body on each step instead of just pushing. It also checks that you move your weight to land over top the landing foot and keep everything in alignment.
3. Cross and pause, similar to cross and hold, but the pause happens mid stride when your feet are aligned with each other (one will be up in the air). Then if you want to generate any power you have to step, powering both legs, instead of just push because you've ruined the momentum of the stride. We tend to do one foot at a time, i.e. we pause the right foot on the crossover and step the left foot as normal for a minute, then switch.
4. Kick the ball, I'm not a fan of this one because so many people throw their hips out of alignment in the middle, but it's basically just crossing with keeping your feet on the ground. At the end of the cross you "kick" the left foot forward to exaggerate that the stride is sideways rather than backwards.

Duck walks. Good starts begin with good technique. A lot of people try to run with their feet turned out the whole time, which looks silly and is inefficient. Instead the knees and feet should point forward when they're moving forward, and only turn sideways when you place them down. Also, you should drive your knees forward just like running. Your arms should sync up with your feet. I don't think anyone in a session would have a problem if you practiced this at walking pace or slower, and it will help ingrain the technique for when you run faster.

For Blizzard77 I would make #8 one footed slaloms kind of like doing an outdoor double push on 1 foot. The GIFs on this page show it pretty well.

http://www.nettracing.com/pict/inst/step5.htm

[blizzard77]

Thanks so much, guys! This gives me a ton of stuff to work on. I do lots of squat variations, but I've never done any of the pause/hold drills; can see how those really help break down each stride & isolate each part.
(And I just realized why my current version of kick-the-ball may actually be contributing to my hip-is-out problem rather than fixing it. Oops! ; )

I don't think I'll get kicked out for any of the above--but my kids will probably temporarily disown me, LOL!