Practice drills

A drill is a pattern you skate again and again until an element stops needing thought. Each page says what the drill trains, what it is built from, and how it looks on the ice.

These are the drills that come up most often in coaches' public teaching and in the skating-skills tests of several countries. Coaches vary them, so take a drill's shape from here and its details from your own coach.

Stroking and power

Laps, circles and pulls that build speed from the knees and the edges.

• Cross strokes on a circleCross strokes round a circle in all four forms: forward outside, forward inside, back outside and back inside.
• Crossover figure eightCrossovers round one circle, a change of foot at the centre, and crossovers the other way round the second.
• Perimeter strokingStrokes down the sides of the rink and crossovers round each end, a lap forwards and a lap backwards.
• Power pulls down the rinkA run of power pulls on one foot, a crossover onto the other, and the same again down the length of the ice.
• Russian strokingA warm-up lap of strokes, crossovers, three turns and mohawks that gets harder each time round.

Edges

Lobes and circles that teach the lean and the push.

• Back crossovers to back outside edgesBack crossovers, then a held back outside edge on a half circle, then the same the other way, down the long axis.
• Back outside to forward outsideBack crossovers, a held back outside edge, and a step forward onto the other foot's forward outside edge, on a circle.
• Consecutive edgesHalf-circle lobes down the long axis on alternate feet, one edge to each lobe.
• Change-of-edge pulls on the diagonalsPower change-of-edge pulls from corner to corner, forwards on one diagonal and backwards on the other.
• Edge warm-upSlow swizzles, two-foot slaloms and two-foot pulls on a switching circle, the first minutes of many sessions.

Turns

Turns repeated until the check is automatic.

• Alternating three turnsForward outside three turns down the long axis, changing foot between lobes, until the check holds without thinking.
• Backward power three turnsA back outside three, a forward inside mohawk and a back crossover, repeated round each circle of a figure eight.
• Five-step mohawkForward strokes into an inside mohawk, a step down, a cross behind and a step forward, on alternating half circles.
• Forward power three turnsA forward outside three, a back crossover and a step forward, round a circle, to build speed from the turns.
• Three turns at the top of the lobeSlow three turns placed half way round each lobe, the feet together either side, then the same with a hop through the turn.
• Waltz eightA forward outside three, a step back and a step forward, in waltz time round each circle of a figure eight.

Jumps and spins

The patterns a jump or a spin is practised from.

• Spin entry from back crossoversBack crossovers on a circle, a step forward onto the entry edge with the skating arm in front, and an upright spin.
• Jump repeat patternsA short loop of entry, jump, landing and step forward, skated over and over so each take-off comes from the same place.
• Waltz jump into a back spinA forward take-off landed with the feet already crossed and turned straight into a back spin.