When players achieve the ideal Power Position, they become impressive on the ice.
This is the second in this series of articles on checking skills and it is the starting point when teaching checking. The first skill set, an individual skill, is where development coaches and instructors’ teaching checking should begin. This is because it is the most fundamental, but most important skill we can teach our players! It is also the poorest executed and therefore leads to many critical errors in the game.
It is the skating stance or skating posture known as the Power Position.
When a player achieves this ideal Power Position, they become impressive on the ice. They are solid on their skates, difficult to knock from the puck and resilient in the face of all checking pressure. By getting and staying low they can evade checkers, protect the puck and get their bodily segments into good positions to perform important skills and tactics like puck handling, dekes and feints, lane drives, acceleration, decelerations, tight turns etc.
Additionally, they can get their neck and head up and in the best position to see the ice. Scanning the ice and remaining in control suggests competence and confidence. A player demonstrating this has their upper extremity, shoulders, elbows, and hands in the best possible positions – up and away from the body – to grasp and correctly position the stick and their chest and midsection. The midsection or core of the body then becomes activated and engaged, ready to enable optimal potential to the lower extremity.
In collisions and checking events on the ice it is only the player with a solid base of support that is successful. In today’s game remaining on your feet is an advantage. Furthermore, when a player can maintain their Power Position while stick handling and controlling the puck the opponent is reticent to check assertively i.e., the risk vs reward ratio goes up. Of course, the ability to maintain the “power position” along the boards, in open ice, and in high(er) traffic areas presents a highly effective, resilient, safe, and valuable player. These players enjoy power play, penalty kill and even strength play, and it all comes from the Power Position.
On the ice, stability can therefore be described as the antecedent to all the fundamental skills in hockey and on the ice. It is most vital however during close checking situations and those repeating 50/50 loose puck battles. When players do not know the Power Position, they often get themselves into poor positions on the wall and in open ice checking themselves.
Understanding the Power Position
It can be said that even on ice agility, balance, and all coordination activity begin with the grounded element, Power Position. Similarly, a player’s proprioception -their understanding and feel for where their bodily segments are while on the ice is positively influenced by improvements to the Power Position. And when it comes to the fundamental movements in skating like stride length, stride force-generating capacity and stride frequency they too are profoundly affected by skating stance.
Therefore, to be “strong on the skates” and “solid on your feet” hockey players must understand how to lower their centre of mass (balance point – at approximately the belly button). They must also experience how to maintain correct flexion while skating. Flexion in the hips, knees and ankles when standing; then skating must be understood, practiced, and refined. Players must also be taught and given time in practice to rehearse both the bilateral Power Position (two-legged) and unilateral Power Positions (single-leg). By creating skating constraints, by either command or by creating varied and open-ended situations, random practice (RP) progressions and/or play simulations are created and learning can result.
Start with the bilateral stance/Power Position basics. Players can be challenged to find their ideal skating position by lowering their hips and bending their knees and their ankles. Use short cues like “get low”, “sit down”, “knees” and of course “Power Position” as useful signals for improvement. This type of specific or critical feedback should also be interwoven with general feedback and encouragement rewarding effort when players go outside their comfort zones. This is because players will find this type of practice work. It is physically taxing.
Also, keep in mind that the Power Position will look different from player to player. For shorter-statured players, with lesser limb length the distance to the ice will be relatively small. But, for the taller athlete, the distance into flexion will, at least, feel (for them) large. You will note as a coach that individuality, height, and limb length variability suggest no optimal prescription for angles at the joints. I would not suggest going old school and prescribing ideal angles and/or placing a number on the ice or bodily segments of the player in video replay or pictures. It is doubtful that your younger athletes understand these values and older athletes will be unable to disassemble optimal joint angles in real-time play and apply the instruction. Research suggests that providing elite performers with that level of detail and that type of instruction slows them down and erodes skill acquisition. Instead, use the toe cap check. It is the easiest and provides the greatest kinesthetic feedback to the player (see video clips).
As described the power position demands tremendous muscular effort to maintain. Because of this players will resist it and get into a straightened ankle, knee, and hip (tall) skating position to rest. Both concentric and isometric demands will be great on the quadriceps (the lower leg muscles), hip flexors (front and upper leg), glutes (backside), and low back musculature. Additionally, players will report feeling more forward pressure on the balls of the feel and a stretch at the Achilles tendon at the heels. This is all good. And with time a conditioning effect will be realized by the player. But constant cueing and reminders will be required in the beginning stages or during skating refinement work.
Developing the Power Position
When developing the Power Position all stride, glide, edge and change of speed and direction variables can and should be manipulated. Adding falls and recovery, pulling and pushing (especially pulling activity) implicitly creates the power position and demands players engage the large muscles of the legs correctly while skating. Skill Development Coaches have been known to use a variety of equipment to work on this skill. For example, pulling straps and bungees placed at the waist of the player. But partner pulls and variable resistance work using a partner are equally effective modalities.
Also vital in teaching Power Position is creating games, activities, races, tag and keep-away games. Even obstacle courses (cone and net drills) that demand on-the-fly adjustments to foot positions, rapid changes of direction and curved path skating with and without pucks and with and without chasers or checking pressure reinforce the importance of the Power Position (1vs1, 2vs2, 1vs2, 3vs2).
Furthermore, changing on-ice locations and parameters, available space and more or less time will also test the power position of players and will begin to morph into complex skill sets and individual tactics like puck protection, evasive skating, defensive tracking, defensive surfing, gap control as well as dealing with player proximity (offensive and defensive support), on-ice collisions, body contact and in age permissible play, body checks.
Dealing with unbalancing forces, bumps and maneuvering on the ice at speed are important variables to add for players. When players can avoid collisions with obstacles, cones, pads/bumpers and/or bumps by other players they will be getting good and stable on ice. These activities sit toward the end of the progression of teaching for Power Position as players begin to acquire and demonstrate competency in these varied situations on the ice.
It is also recommended that the reinforcement and refinement of the Power Position skill not only be employed in learn-to-play programs but straight into high-performance programs. This is because growth and development will alter a player’s bodily posture. They will need to re-establish their Power Position as they grow. In addition, as greater competitive demands present themselves in games a higher level of competence in this skill is required.
Practice the Power Position in your next practice session.
