How to Stop on a Frozen Rink Without Running Into The Boards

I don’t know how many times I’ve needed to explain this to people: Running into the boards at the rink to cease forward momentum does NOT count as a proper stop.  Also, in the absence of the boards, if you run into somebody else, that could really make them mad.  So what you need is proper directions on how to accomplish this without falling flat on your face. 

For starters, the basic half-snowplow stop is the same on both hockey and figure skates, so you don’t need to worry about that.  What you budding hockey guys out there DO need to worry about is that your blade is shaped pretty much like a banana, which means that if you drop your head down and look at your feet too much, you will probably lose your balance and fall forwards because your body weight is shifting towards the front of the blade.  As for all you skaters aspiring to be Sasha Cohen, if you look down, you’ll start scraping on, or pushing off, your toe picks, not to mention seriously undermining the aesthetic aspect of your skating.  Therefore, the first rule of thumb for both styles of skates is to keep your head up.

Assuming you’ve got a bit of momentum going, which most people don’t have many problems with, here are the steps to doing a half-snowplow (the easiest and most utilitarian kind of stop)

1. Stop moving your feet and just glide, with your weight centered in the middle of your blades.
2. Bend your knees and look ahead of you
3. Depending on whether you’re right-handed or a left-handed, your best stopping foot will either be your right or your left.  Your objective eventually is to be able to stop equally well on both feet, but for now, pick your best one (right if you’re right-handed, left if you’re left-handed)  This will be the foot that pushes against the ice to brake.
4. Take the good foot from step 3) and push it into and across the ice at a 45 degree angle from your non-moving foot, scraping the blade across the ice like a cheese grater.  Remember to bend that knee, since if the knee is straight, it’ll act like a catapult and you’ll go flying head over heels. 

If you’re having trouble doing this with speed, try standing still somewhere where you won’t be in anybody’s way and practice scraping your blade sideways, back and forth, while at a standstill.  If you’re doing it correctly, you should end up with a nice little pile of snow.  Once you’ve become adept at that, try the stop again.  Apply constant, medium pressure during the stop; don’t just jam your blade sideways into the ice to try and stop fast…that takes a little practice.  When you’re pretty sure you’ve got the trick, you can start accelerating a bit, skating faster into it and making the actual movement of braking faster.

OK, now it’s time to get out there…good luck, and remember: No running into the boards!!!