🏒 The Real Formula for Hockey Speed

The 3 overlooked elements that separate fast skaters from everyone else.

Scott Rutherford
April 14, 2025

Ever wonder why some players just seem to fly across the ice?

I'll tell you the secret: it's not just about skating harder.

If you want to actually become faster, you need to focus on the three building blocks of speed that we teach at Pro Performance Hockey Lab:

What's holding you back from reaching top speed?

Let’s break it down.

(If you prefer to watch instead of read, check out the video newsletter above)

And don’t forget to Subscribe.

Speed starts with the ability to bend.

Proper knee bend - what we call the loaded position - puts you in the power zone.

Every elite stride starts at a 90-degree knee angle, and you must return to that position after every push.

Once loaded, you must fully unload by extending through the hip, knee, and ankle.

Most players leave speed on the table by failing to finish their stride or skipping one of those joints.

Your stride won’t be powerful unless every joint does its job.

At PPH, we start every clinic with double and single-leg squats.

If you can’t feel and repeat that 90-degree bend, your stride is leaking power.

The second pillar of speed is how fast you can cycle your legs.

If stride length is power, stride frequency is tempo.

Fast skaters return their skate to the ice in a low and level path, almost scraping it back under their body.

Slower skaters tend to swing their leg in an arc, wasting time and losing power.

Speed lives in the transition.

As soon as one leg finishes the stride, the other must be back in position to go.

If your return path is off, your turnover will be slow.

Last week’s PPH lesson leads into this one, be sure to check it out - Master Starts and Stops.

Technique is essential, but speed isn’t just physical. It’s mental.

Before every speed drill at our clinics, we tell players:

“Today, you’re going to skate faster than you ever have in your life.”

That mindset matters.

If you want to be fast, you need to train fast. You need to believe you can be faster.

And you need a coach who gives you the "why" behind the drill.

Because when a player knows the reason, and feels respected, they try harder.

They push deeper. And they get better, faster.

Speed is a skill. You can build it, sharpen it, and make it your weapon.

Bend better. Extend fully. Return fast. And train with a mindset that demands more.

Do the common thing uncommonly well.

That’s how you separate yourself.

When you’re ready to elevate your game, here’s how I can help you:

See you on the ice,

Coach Scott Rutherford
(716) 912-4465