Off-Ice Slideboard Training Video

[FigureSpins]

Came across these videos on YouTube and found them very interesting.  I'm not sure what type of slideboard they're using since I haven't seen ones with built-in pedestals like these girls are using for the jump training.  (They look like hockey pucks, but I would think they're fixed in place somehow.)

I'm guessing these are specialty slideboards from "4DSkating" since they're referenced in all of the videos.

This shows three different jump training drills:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Zx3zboM_1GM&autoplay=1

The girl in the lower left is working on CW Loop entrances; maybe just a Falling Leaf.
The skater in the lower right is working on CCW Axel takeoff and axis changes.
The girl in the back does CW Double Salchow walkthroughs.


This is the 4DSkating channel with a lot of other off-ice exercises with this slideboard:
http://www.youtube.com/4dskating

[Query]

The company web site is remarkably uninformative. They mention injury prevention, but don't explain why the slide board would help. I bet falling on ice is safer.

The kids on the videos aren't doing anything real fancy - how odd.

In the videos, the disks don't slide. The over-the-shoe moccasin on the other foot slides.

Are they slippery enough to skate on (not with ice skates, of course), so we should all put them in our homes to practice on?

Are they more slippery than the sheets of white board material you see in home improvement stores?

Is a lubricant used, and is it liquid or solid?

It would be fun to cover an entire kitchen floor with white board material, and spread a little lubricant...

[kayskate]

Obviously you could not do the exercises on the back with glide discs, but the standing exercises you probably could. Glide discs are only $15/pair.
http://www.power-systems.com/p-4117-gliding-discs.aspx?gclid=CLDe3PnR6qUCFQWD5Qod602Enw

Kay

[FigureSpins]

As usual, the cheapskate in me is thinking about inexpensive alternatives, like the fuzzy chenille "spa" socks I saw in RiteAid today.  I think the kids' Crayola glow plastic would be slippery enough.  Things that make me go hmmm...

I like the exercises in the videos.  I've had students do similar things with a spin trainer, but I think the single-glide discs might be safer.

[Query]

I think that most experienced athletes will look at the extreme caution shown by the kids in the videos, and recognize that something is wrong - the slide boards probably aren't particularly safe.

I fear that some non-athletic parents and novice athletes may not recognize that potential problem.

In addition, the way you use your muscles when you are trying to slow things down to be that cautious is almost opposite to the way you use them when gliding and flowing through a move at full speed on the ice. It just doesn't make sense - to me.

But everybody is different - what do you see that looks useful in their training?

[FigureSpins]

I don't think these training tools are intended to substitute for ice or provide cross-training.  Experienced athletes will realize that the slow, methodical training can and will develop correct technique.  I didn't see caution in the students on the videos, I saw a focus on correctness, which is something that you can't get if the student can just fling and pray, lol.

Training tools aside, off-ice training is vital for figure skating, especially for jumps.  Slowing down the athlete and getting them to focus on careful, correct movement and position is vital.  I see too many kids doing off-ice where they race through the exercises with sloppy half-baked efforts.  These are the same ones that insist that they can land an axel if only the coach would use the harness.

These exercises, done slowly, build muscle memory and correct technique.  That's what I see as a coach.

[Query]

Maybe I mis-interpreted the slowness of the kid's motions. And I shouldn't have criticized without trying it.

And it would have been better for me to say that the web page would benefit by a clear explanation of why slide board training would improve skills mastery and reduces injury frequency better than just using similar on-ice training.

P.S. I hope no one took seriously my suggestions on making the kitchen floor slippery - obviously not a sane, safe idea.

[FigureSpins]

Slideboard videos for figure skating off-ice training:

http://www.g1slideboards.com/figure-skating-training-videos/

[rsk8d]

Slideboards have been around for a long time, and there are many useful exercises for skaters.  However, you don't need an expensive slideboard  to do the most beneficial exercises, unless you are using it for cardio training (which I love). You can use a simple sliding disc or furniture mover on a carpeted floor to accomplish the same things you do on a slideboard.  We actually incorporated some into our training programs.  In reference to  the above mentioned videos, I really have no comment on the horizontal based exercises......