Two Moves Almost Every Coach Skips (outside Edge + Soft Drag)

Author: Coach Rox

Posted on: August 30, 2026

Summary

Two Moves Almost Every Coach Skips (Outside Edge + Soft Drag)

The first ten minutes of most practices are gone before anyone notices. Laps, a whistle, some stretching at the blue line, and a group of players who are now warm but no better than when they walked in. That block is worth a lot more than it is being used for.

In this video I go through exactly how I would restructure it: where the warm-up actually belongs, how to run it so nobody is standing in a line, why every player should have a puck from the very first rep, and the two mechanics I would put ahead of everything else. They are the two almost no team trains, which is exactly why they create such a gap for the players who do.

Watch the full walkthrough to see how the block is built and what to run inside it.

The Downhill Skating System is the mechanics-first approach that unlocks effortless, controlled speed on the ice without extra conditioning, pushing or “trying harder.” Inspired by the movement signatures of players like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and other elite NHL skaters, this system teaches you how to move on the ice with gravity, using your body's own stretch shortening cycles mixed with the most efficient footwork patterns and various skating mechanics.

Most players skate “uphill”: stiff, blocky, pushing hard, creating tension and burning energy like we were always taught in traditional powerskating. Downhill skating flips that model. By using counter rotation, proper joint angles, and natural gravitational momentum, we teach you move faster with less effort.

Inside the Downhill Skating System, players learn to:

1) Unlock the inner spring for better acceleration. 2)Use different footwork patterns to add options, deception and effortlessness. 3)Proper joint alignment for efficiency and balance instead of creating tension with push strides.

Apply NHL-base mechanics like shin angle, Y-angle, rhythm and cadence. Generate speed using the rocker, with heel pressure and subtle weight transfers.

This system is not what players would learn in traditional, outdated power skating methods. It’s a biomechanics-based operating system designed to match your body type and natural movement patterns.

Whether you’re trying to improve the forward stride, lateral movements, deception, or posture, Downhill Skating reveals the hidden mechanics the NHL’s best rely on, and shows you how to plug them into your game step by step.

If you’re ready to skate faster with less effort, flow through transitions, and move with the smoothness of the world’s best players, the Downhill Skating System is your blueprint to faster player development.

👉 Drills, breakdowns, progressions, and full mechanics playbook (100's of videos) all available in Train 2.0+ here:

https://train2point0.com/membership

About Train 2.0: Train 2.0 is an online hockey development platform founded by Jason Yee: kinesiologist, former professional player, and UBC honors graduate. We give players and coaches a mechanical advantage by reverse-engineering elite NHL movements and making them available to players at every level.

👉 Start your Train 2.0 Free Training and learn the Downhill Skating System pillars here: https://train2point0.com/free-training

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