Hockey Skills: Transition Skating

Transition skating is what happens between forward and backward, between offence and defence. It's the skill that determines how fast a team can switch from attacking to defending and back again.

The Forward-to-Backward Pivot

Open your hips, drop your inside shoulder slightly, and rotate on the balls of your feet. Your weight never goes flat-footed — stay on the front half of the blade through the entire turn. The pivot should take one stride's worth of ice, not three.

Backward-to-Forward

This is where defencemen live and die. You're skating backward, the forward crosses the blueline, and you need to pivot and accelerate. The key: don't stand up during the turn. Keep your knees bent through the whole transition. Standing up kills your first step.

Mohawk Turns

Named after the figure skating move. One foot stays forward, the other opens to backward. You're briefly skating in both directions simultaneously. It sounds complicated but kids who practice it for twenty minutes a session pick it up within a week. It's the fastest way to change direction without losing speed.

Game Application

Watch any WHL defenceman during a 2-on-1. They're pivoting, opening up, closing down — four or five transitions in ten seconds. That agility comes from thousands of reps in practice. There's no shortcut. Do the reps.