Figure skating strength and conditioning expert Matthew Blair Davis continues his series on jump power training. In the first video of the series, he demonstrated a fancy setup for gathering detailed data for monitoring a skater’s progress and providing motivation. In this video, Matthew shares a low tech off-ice drill to help develop jumping power.
All that’s needed for this drill is a 12 inch box or similar ledge, a stopwatch, and a weighted vest, in this case a 10 pound vest. The skater starts with one foot up on the box and the other on the floor with the opposite arm forward (opposite to leg that’s up). The skater then tries to jump very high as many times as possible in 20 seconds, switching legs throughout. The goal is to get 20 repetitions in 20 seconds, spending as little time as possible on the ground/box. If the skater get’s less than 20 reps, they are jumping a little too high. If they get more than 20, they need to jump higher.
This kind of power training or plyometric training works best when done in short (20 seconds) bursts at very high intensity. Matthew explains why the amount of time is important, as it keeps the skater’s body in the “phosphocreatine-based system that’s your power system.” Matthew also recommends at least a 3 to 1 work to rest ratio. So 20 seconds of the drill, followed by 60 seconds of rest, repeated by 20 seconds of the drill (just 2 sets!).
Matthew spends some time talking about the weighted vest. It’s not that expensive, and it’s a great off-ice training tool for skaters. Notice the trade-offs in choosing one for skaters. To finish the video, Matthew notes that he helped a skater with a consistent double axel to increase vertical jump by 7 inches in just 10 months. That additional jump height helped the skater get the triple axel.
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