Many coaches wonder if there are different skating techniques that McDavid is using. 

Here's the thing, in reality, hockey is a funny sport. 

Why? Because clear video evidence of a skater like McDavid doing something different is ignored...then categorized as "unteachable". 

Usually, if you suggest that you can study the joint angles, and principles of McDavid's movement, it is met with mild skepticism at best, or pure derangement at worst. 

The truth is that if you look carefully at McDavid's skating mechanics, he consistently does things differently than players on the second, third, and fourth lines. Even other first liners. 

It's not just that he's faster. It's that he achieves this speed with less effort - coming from a mechanical advantage. 

Let's examine the mechanical advantages that he uses - then show how they fly in the face of common coaching cues.

Mechanical Advantage #1: Stretch Shortening Cycle

Rather than skating by pushing, using strictly concentric (shortening under load) muscle contractions, McDavid creates a pre stretch of his muscle before contracting. You can easily simulate the difference in feeling by testing...

• Concentric Test: Squat down - pause - then jump
• Stretch Shortening Test: Squat down & jump up immediately with no pause. Feel the bounce. 

You'll notice that one jump takes less effort AND achieves a higher jump. This is how McDavid skates. 

He achieves this in more movements than most players. This allows him to stay relaxed and hold less tension in more movements than most players. When you hold less tension in your muscles, your brain has more bandwidth freed up to observe its environment. 

Mechanical Advantage #2: Gravity

Rather than keeping his centre of mass and gravity centred, McDavid shifts it further forward and laterally than most players. 

To initiate any movement, humans naturally shift their centre of gravity, centre of mass, and ground pressure points to locomote. Babies walk with a wide base so that their centre of gravity and centre of mass doesn't go too far outside of their points of ground contact. As a baby matures into child who can walk like an adult, their centre of gravity and mass shifts more. An adult human skilled at movement will feel comfortable shifting their centre of mass and gravity dynamically over, in front, and beside their points of ground contact. Interestingly, as humans age and lose motor function, they revert to having a wide base of ground contact, with limited centre of gravity and centre of mass movement. 

Mechanical Advantage #3: Momentum

McDavid can keep the momentum of his body moving more smoothly, through more movements, than most players. It's not so much that his acceleration is that much more explosive than anyone elses - it's that he builds a baseline of speed, and then builds on it with each step. 

Specific things that McDavid does & how it relates to the three Mechanical Advantages

• Lateral Arm Swing: Activates the stretch shortening cycle of his entire body - creating a counter-rotation of his upper body to his lower body
• Precise Blade Rocker: By stepping and rockering on a specific part of his blade, McDavid can continue taking steps without needing to push. This allows him to continue "moving his feet" in tight areas. Really, this means that he's able to continue shifting his weight from foot to foot in small areas.
• Chest Dropped: Allows him to move his centre of mass further forward over his skates so that he's almost "falling" forward.
• More use of the outside edge at a steeper angle: We call this the Y-Angle. Because of his control over his outside edge, he can get his centre of mass outside of his point of ground contact, creating "free" energy because the lean creates movement.

If you'd like to learn these mechanics for yourself, including how to coach them, check out the Downhill Skating System - as part of Train 2.0.