If there's a skill everyone seems to forget over the course of a busy season, it's backward skating. Defense skate backward a lot, and forwards should too, but often default to skating forward. It's one of those skills we hope improves through repetition, but when you slow it down and get methodical about the process, it's actually a pretty fun way to spend time at practice.

Whether you're ramping up for the playoffs or taking it easy during spring and summer skates, backward skating skills like edges, balance, and posture are an efficient use of ice time.

Victor Kraatz is a master when it comes to the fundamentals of skating. He built a whole course around it. Once that foundation is in place, it becomes much easier to progress to more complicated routines or simply add pucks. That's the thing with Kraatz. He makes it look easy, and he makes it easier to make it look easy too, if you know what we're saying. It's all in the demos, coach. You’ve got this. Here's a practice plan inspired by one specific lesson in Building the Fundamentals of Skating that will get your players' feet and edges warmed up.