Direction of recovery

[RedK]

Awhile ago the BB had a debate about which leg you should recover on. The majority felt you should recover on your trailing (or pushing) leg. The latest issue of FTC agrees, and so does Keeks' guide. I keep thinking about this, and I'm not sure it works as a blanket statement. I know I can trust you guys to tell me if I'm completely off base here, so at the risk of obsessing over details, here is what I'm thinking.

Issue 1: Why recover with the trailing leg? The only reason I can think of is so you can be ready to move laterally to deal with a rebound. i.e. you have perfomed a butterfly slide moving left (kicking off with your right foot). You are probably on the left side of the crease. If a rebound is going to be a problem, it will most likely be a problem that requires you to be move right in the crease. By getting up on your right foot, you can push off with your left foot as you rise and be immediately moving right. In other words, you recover on the trailing leg because that is the direction you are most likely to have to move. Recovering with the correct leg shaves off a few moments of movement and makes for a shorter shot risk.

Is this the reason to recover with the trailing leg? If it is not the main/only reason, why else should you recover on that leg?

Issue 2: If that is the main/only reason to recover on the trailing leg, then the rule doesn't hold for all save types because the direction of the rebound may require movement in the direction of your leading leg.

Example 1: a butterfly at the top center of the crease. First, there's no trailing leg if you just drop straight down, so which leg do you recover with? I think you recover with whatever leg is closest to the movement of the puck so that the other leg can push in that direction as you are getting up. If you have dropped straight down and the rebound is moving left, you recover with your left leg so you can push with your right foot as you stand, thus moving left to cover the short side, highest risk shot.

Example 2: You are hugging the right post. You make a butterfly slide to your left, ending up in the middle of the crease. If the rebound is moving left, you recover with the left leg so you can push with the right and be prepared to cover the left side of the crease. If the puck is moving right, you recover with the right leg so you can push with the right foot to cover the right side of the net.

Is this correct and if not, what am I missing?

Issue 3: Lastly, center-crease recoveries might also be affected by the type of save you've made. If you've made a half-pad save, it may be quicker to recover with the leg that is already extended. Is this correct, and if not, why? And what about if you've stacked the pads? When I think about which would be the correct leg to recover on with a stacked pad, all I can think is that you recover on whichever leg is on the ice because it will be the easiest to get under you when your arm has gotten you upright. Speed of lateral movement won't come into play because you aren't vertically balanced. Am I thinking right here?

Sorry to be so obsessively detailed. My explosive movement is about as powerful as dropping a cupcake on the floor, so any shred of time I can shave off my post-save movement can only help.

[Crazy Sean26]

The recovery using the trailing leg (or power leg) is much faster than using your other leg. Say you make a save at the top of the crease and the rebound is going to your right. If you're in the butterfly than you push your right lef under you, put your left leg up, the right leg now meets the left and you push with your left leg (looks like a t-push) to where you want to go. It may not seem faster at first but the whole motion is smooth and flows together more quickly. If you were to get up with your right leg, as I'm sure many do, you would have to raise your left leg THEN do a t-push. The power leg is really the best way to recover in that situation. It's hard to get used to at first, but it's worth it. Repetition is the only way to learn.

If I've confused you please forgive me

[WERNER 1]

Very good stuff here guys!

John has some very good video and pics of this very subject on his OD site, ......a must "check out" item.

After my ankle recovers, I'll check out how in the world I recover......I have no idea

[kevinthenet]

Werner: Seriously. That ankle thing never would've happened with double runner skates. Those who think I'm kidding are the same guys who thought they'd never see the "box" pad come back.
As far as the OD site... If you want to wear a sharp knife on the sides of your skates, (an ILLEGAL one at that) just keep in mind that the footage on the OD site is totally doctored.
An actor who skates like THAT?! As if.

[WERNER 1]

I know! I hate those overpaid actors that take their roll too seriously and then use every trick in the book just compensate for their lack of skill! If you look closely, you can even see the spider line pulling him accross the ice on those 10' b/f slides!



PS. I injured my ankle skating out, and I doubt that "dual" blades would have helped in that stuation......in fact it would have made it worse.

Here's a thought, if you don't mind having your skates sharpened a lot, or really like dull blades, use a set of inline skates with the frames still ON them.......just remove the wheels, and draw file each side of the frame to create whatever type of edge you need!

Good luck!