Knee Bending Drills for Hockey Players

Hockey drills help players learn and fine tune their technique. Skating with bent knees is important for better balance, stability and to generate more power and speed with each stride. Teaching players to skate with bent knees can be challenging, so it is good to have a full arsenal of drills ready to use.

  1. Skate Under the Stick

    • Station four coaches around the rink-- one on each end and one on each side. The coach should stand a sticks-length away from the boards and rest the handle of the stick on the ledge of the boards while holding the foot of the stick in his hand. The skaters should skate single file around the edge of the rink with their knees bent and should glide underneath the sticks as they come to each one. Encourage skaters to stay low as they stride, rather than bobbing up and down. This will encourage your players to skate with bent knees and to stay low while in motion.

    Two Foot Skate and Glide With a Knee Bend

    • Keeping the same low stance as in the first drill, have your team take several strides then glide on both feet. The hockey players should ensure they can't see the toes of their skates when looking down while gliding. This ensures the player's knees are bent at least 90-degrees. Line the players up close to the boards and have them form a bridge by leaning forward and resting their hands on the ledge of the boards. The person at the end skates around the rink, then performs a low, two-foot glide through the tunnel of his teammates. Continue this pattern until everyone takes a turn.

    One-Leg Push

    • Similar to the two foot skate and glide, the one-leg push requires the player to push off using the right leg while skating on the left foot, then repeating on the opposite side. This encourages a deep knee bend because the player should be focusing on his gliding foot while in motion. He should ensure his knee covers his toe while skating. When he switches feet, this same stance should be in effect. This ensures he will skate with a deep knee bend on both sides.

    Knee to Ice

    • This is a good drill for warm-ups as it stretches the legs and groin. The players skate around the outside of the rink, then drop one knee to the ice while gliding on the opposite skate between the blue lines. Once they reach the second blue line, they should return to standing and resume skating until they reach the blue line on the opposite side where they will repeat the drill. This drill encourages balance, stability and practice deeply bending the knees.