Champion Sports Advantage, LLC
Training In: Off-Ice Strength & Conditioning * On-Ice Freestyle
CSA Research
© Champion Sports Advantage, LLC 2005 - 2011
Last Updated: August 16, 2012
This article is to provide a recap of the baseline results attained on October 28, 2007, when Champion Sports Advantage put on its first Exercise Testing and Orthopedic Screening Seminar. The seminar’s goal was to gain more information into the typical figure skater’s physical condition and to determine how they can be better trained off the ice in a structured Strength Training Program. Accomplishing this will provide each skater with better resources to more easily attain the necessary attributes to achieve the on-ice skating skills required for their skating level. Before providing a summary of the results, first a little background information into the testing of the athletes must be provided.
The Exercise Testing portion, conducted by Garrett J. Krug, was where the skaters were evaluated in three separate sections: Muscular Strength and Power, Assessment of Exercise Technique and Speed-Agility-Quickness. For the Muscular Strength and Power section, the skaters were tested on their vertical jump in the following formats: double-legged, landing leg, axel take-off leg and 4-jump repetition (all tested by use of jumping mat to record data) along with the broad jump. For the Assessment of Exercise Technique the skater’s were evaluated on their technique of the following exercises: box jump, vertical jump (3-jump repetition), back squat and push-up under a moderately challenging situation so I could see what really happened with their technique under these circumstances. Finally for the Speed-Agility-Quickness, each skater was evaluated on his or her 40-yard run (electronically timed at 10, 20 and 40 yards), 20-yard shuttle and T-drill.
Lois Thompson, a renowned physical therapist and in her spare time also a competitive figure skater, administered the Orthopedic Screening. Those who participated were assessed for fine muscular relationships and imbalances (core and joint motion asymmetries), effects on body from repetitive falls, foot development and cervical and lower back concerns. The picture to the left is of Alyssa Vrodljak, Senior level skater, being assessed on foot strength by Lois Thompson.
For the testing, twenty-three athletes were tested, twenty female and three male, ranging from the Pre- Preliminary to Senior level one of which qualified for Sectionals and three skaters that qualified for Junior Nationals. Due to the number of athletes, all data was grouped into one big collection. However, it is our goal to continue testing more athletes to create a baseline-testing standard for each skater’s skating level. In the meantime we must first begin the process of gaining this data in order to accomplish this goal. When looking over this data, please remember this is not the standard by any means, but rather a starting point for further investigation that will take time to properly complete and administer.
Now that all of the groundwork in regards to the background information has been laid out, lets get into the data that was collected from the testing. Overall, all the skaters did very well with regards to all of the areas that were tested, however, as you will see numbers can be misleading at times. The most important area for the Muscular Strength and Power that I was looking at when testing all of the skaters was in regards to the vertical jump variations. Listed below are the highest score achieved and the mean score for each based on gender.
As you can see from the above data, there were some impressive results, however, there was something missing, which is when I came up with a way of looking at what I consider one’s “jumping efficiency.” What I did was take the vertical jumps of the landing leg, axel take-off leg and 4-jump repetition and compare each of them independently to the double-legged vertical jump. What I found was very interesting and something that I feel provides a glimpse into an actual account of each athlete’s strength and power. From the findings, this is what was found based on gender.
From these above numbers it all started to make sense. It gave me more information into the strengths and weaknesses of each athlete in terms of their jumping ability, but more importantly into each skater’s unilateral leg strength and force absorption capabilities. What I found, in my opinion was amazing. I discovered from the data that most of the skaters needed to improve their overall unilateral leg strength in one-way or another. Many of the skater’s had a slight to moderate difference between jumping heights for each leg where an ideal situation would have equal jumping height between legs.
The other area for improvement was in the ability to absorb their landing force. This was depicted by a female skater that was in the top-five in regards to vertical jump double-legged and 4-jump repetition, however, when compared against each other her jumping efficiency put her towards the bottom of the twenty skaters. So what does this mean? It means that a great deal of height in the 4-jump repetition test is being lost due to an inability to efficiently absorb the force upon landing and then immediately transfer the energy back into the take-off of the next jump.
For the Exercise Technique Assessment portion most of the skaters demonstrated an overall understanding of exercise technique. The picture to the left shows Jacqueline Han, Intermediate level skater, landing her box jump onto a 30-inch box. As a whole, the most common mistake for the box jump and vertical jump (3-jump repetitions) was their force absorption, sit into their hips at take-off and landing and utilization of arms at moment of take-off. For the back squat, it was commonly noted there was a need for a stronger position at the bottom of the squat position. For the push-up, most of the skater’s demonstrated this exercise with just a few minor errors including hip positioning to shoulders.
The last portion of the Exercise Testing was the Speed-Agility-Quickness in which I wanted to test the overall athleticism of each skater. At this time not much comparison has been put into this section, but I do feel there is a correlation between one’s skating speed and running ability, which will need to be looked at more closely as more data is collected. From the testing, this is what was found based on gender.
Overall, all of the skaters that participated did an excellent job overall for the Exercise Testing and Orthopedic Screening. However, as in anything, there is always room for improvement. One area for improvement, as mentioned before, is in jumping efficiency whether it is for increasing unilateral leg strength or for improving force absorption. Another area is exercise technique, due to the manifestation of the weight being lifted. Typically breakdowns in technique occur as the weight being lifted increases; leading to further development in technique. In regards to speed-agility-quickness, it is important for further development in running technique and the ability to change direction at a moments notice. Therefore from the results of the testing, it was very productive and will assist the skaters in becoming stronger athletes in order to increase their strength, power, mobility, flexibility and athleticism for improved potential in relation to their on-ice skating skills.
Look to our website, csadvantage.org, for more information and future articles on how to improve certain weak links from these findings as well as upcoming Seminars.
40-Yard Run (time in 10-yards)
40-Yard Run (time in 20-yards)
40-Yard Run (time in 40-yards)
20-Yard Shuttle
T-Drill
Highest Score
Female
2.03
3.32
5.81
5.12
10.14
Highest Score
Female
2.03
3.32
5.81
5.12
10.14
Highest Score
Male
2.07
3.41
5.98
4.93
10.44
Highest Score
Male
2.16
3.62
6.50
5.53
11.93
Vertical Jump (double-legged)
Vertical Jump (landing leg)
Vertical Jump (axel take-off leg)
Vertical Jump (4-jump reptition)
Broad Jump
Highest Score
Female
21.80
14.60
14.10
18.80
85.00
Highest Score
Female
16.51
10.89
10.94
14.58
65.55
Highest Score
Male
22.70
17.30
17.40
21.10
86.00
Highest Score
Male
18.37
12.57
12.63
16.57
73.00
**All results recorded in inches**
**All results recorded in seconds**
Landing Leg vs. Double-Legged
Axel Take-Off vs. Double-Legged
4-Jump Repetition vs. Double-Legged
Highest Score
Female
85.16%
78.06%
96.43%
Highest Score
Female
66.19%
66.35%
88.52%
Highest Score
Male
76.21%
76.76%
93.60%
Highest Score
Male
67.21%
67.73%
89.60%
**All results are based on first number divided by second number to determine percentage of**
“Exercise Testing & Orthopedic Screening Recapped”
By Garrett J. Krug
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