A common inefficiency in many hockey players is what is known as the “heel kick,” where the skate rises behind the body during the recovery of the stride leg back under the shoulders. A creative exercise to remedy this is the Foot Stomp Drill, in which you physically stomp your skate aggressively into the ice when recovering your stride leg. Try to create a loud foot stomp into the ice.

The goal of the drill is to train the hip flexor muscles to initiate the stride recovery instead of recruiting the hamstrings to flex the knee. By prioritizing hip flexion, you can increase the efficiency of the movement, resulting in greater stride frequency and overall speed improvement.

You can progress and evolve the drill by eliminating the foot stomp and attempting to touch your skate down as quietly as possible. As you increase the efficiency of your stride recovery, you should notice a substantial increase in your glide potential, speed, and power.