International coach and jump specialist Nick Perna discusses the reason to learn to run on the ice and shows how to do it properly. Nick explains that for skaters who are afraid of going fast on the ice and are particularly afraid of going fast into jumps, learning to run on the ice tends to reduce or remove this fear. He notes, “Running is fast. You really can’t run slowly.”
Some skaters seem to automatically have the ability to run on the ice, and run fast. But many/most skaters need some instruction and encouragement to master this skill. Nick begins the teaching process with simple walking on the ice, ensuring a heel-toe rock. He says, “This is not marching. This is actually [hitting the] heel [and] rolling through your toe… Once they get that concept down of walking heel-toe, they’ll start to want to run naturally because walking heel-toe makes you want to start running.” Nick explains that just like running in shoes, the heel will strike first and the foot will roll through the toe. He continues, “There becomes almost a feeling of not gliding when you’re doing it. It becomes like you’re running in shoes.” He even shows how to introduce walking and running at the wall.
Nick continues, “Once they are actually running on the ice and they glide, they can go into a jump.” This kind of jump entry is typically faster (and potentially scary) but it’s fun and it gets attention in the rink. He finishes by noting, “If you have a skater that’s really really scared of running on the ice at all, that skater’s probably going to have a hard time skating fast into jumps. It’s going to be something you really have to work with them on.”
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