Single-leg balance is the key to being strong and stable on the ice. Without it, girls will be weaker, slower and more susceptible to injuries.

In order to be stronger, faster and more stable, players must get low to the ice by bending their knees, sitting their hips back and keeping their chest up. This low position will allow them to get maximum power from the larger muscles of the legs. Think of what Sidney Crosby looks like when he skates. He gets so low to the ice (while keeping his head and chest up) that it almost looks unnatural! He is also one of the hardest players in the world to knock off the puck.

In order to develop the ability to “get low”, young players must develop their ability to balance on one leg. Quite often, when girlsʼ hockey players are asked to balance on one foot, they stand up straight like a flamingo. This forces the small muscles of the foot, ankle and calf to do all of the work. These small muscles are quick to fatigue, which causes playersʼ to lose their balance quickly.

Check out this video to test your single leg balance

Getting and staying low is hard work. Players may complain that their legs start to burn or shake. This happens because they have not yet developed the endurance in those larger muscles of the leg (quads, hamstrings and glutes) to be able to sustain a low balanced position for a long period of time. These larger and more powerful muscles are much better suited to be used to maintain a low position than the smaller muscles of the foot, ankle and calf, but they need to be trained.

It can be hard for young players to focus on getting low while skating on the ice. It is much easier and much more effective to teach the principles of proper single-leg balance and train the muscles needed to sustain a low position off of the ice. This dryland balance training has a tremendous amount of transfer back on to the ice.

Young female players often struggle more with the concept of getting and staying low than male players do. For whatever reason, girls always seem to want to stand up straighter on the ice rather than getting low. They are also much more likely to bend over at the waist, instead of bending their knees, in order to get low.

It is therefore critical that the concepts of single-leg balance be taught and trained with young female players. The sooner girls develop the ability to get and stay low on the ice, the sooner they will be able to develop their speed and agility, which will allow them to separate themselves from their ʻflamingo-likeʼ peers.