"Ken Roberts" wrote in message :

Skate power is mainly through the heel.

Off topic. Maybe this is a topic for rsn, but...
From what I've gathered through various sources as I was learning to skate
is that the skate push is through the whole foot. The APU website (of Jim
Galanes... ex-US ski team, 4 athletes in 2002 Olympics) before they updated
it, used to have a technique page where he said that the push is through the
whole foot, with the greatest pressure in the forefoot. When I was
learning, I didn't pay attention to this advice because I was just trying to
get down the trail without falling, but as I've gotten faster (to about 2:30
for hilly 50K in three self taught seasons), it's helped a lot as a
visualization technique to get my weight forward into a proper position. If
you agree that a balanced weight forward position is good, how is that going
to work with more weight in the heel than the forefoot? Stand up, bend your
ankles, get your torso to about the same angle as your shins... where is
your weight? In the forefoot area. If it's mostly on your heels, you are
in a "sitting in a bucket" position, no?

Peter Clinch wrote
But it's a lot easier to put skate power through the ball
of your foot than via a hinge in front of it. Otherwise the
track skaters would be using rigid boots now.

Focus on toe-push is a well-known pitfall for beginner skaters. The move
that leads to advanced skating (for touring or racing, not tricks) is to
learn to focus on pushing thru the heel, together with learning to push
directly out toward the side (not toward the back). That's true whether
skating on ice, pavement, or snow.


What I am describing is not a toe push because the whole foot includes the
heel. Maybe you mean "heel down", rather than "heel push"? If I get the
rolling over the toes feel when pushing off, that is a beginner-like muff
and pushing "back" too much. I concentrate on getting my ankle flexed
enough at the start of the push and directing the push directly to the side
of my FOOT (I visually a spot at the back of the ball of my foot), not body.
All of the race videos I see with side views (and all the skiers in person
in town, where everyone seems to have great technique), the push is more to
the side of the body than the back, but not directly to the side... more
like perpendicular to the ski. In uphills (V1), the skis are V'ed out more
and the push is more to the back than on fast terrain when the skis have a
smaller angle between them. Since you are pushing off to the other ski and
that other ski is generally "stepped" forward (though you should push/fall
to it rather than stepping to it), isn't your push is angled off towards the
back by roughly arcsin("step" length/push length) from directly to the side?
That's what I see in the videos anyway and my skating has improved a lot
since I have starting watching race videos (of past 4 Olympics, Janne's
shorter downloads). Of the technique advice that I see in publications and
internet I've found some good, some bad, but even some of the good advice is
not technically accurate (pushing to the side) but more useful as
visualization help.