“I don’t need to warm up before skating. I can do it on the ice!” Does that sound familiar? I thought so.
I estimate that up to 80% of young skaters don’t warm up before they step onto the ice. That is very worrisome because not doing so could have catastrophic consequences. It can lead to injuries that haunt an athlete for years to come. Is that little shortcut really worth an injury that you may feel for years to come? I don’t think so. Unfortunately, during my skating career I didn’t warm up every single time before stepping out to skate, and one of those few times that I took a shortcut in warming up, it happened. I tore my achilles tendon. It took over six months of healing and extensive physical therapy to get back on track. Here we are fifteen years later, and I still feel a lot of pain. To this day I use therapeutic exercises to strengthen my ankle.
All of that could have been avoided if I would have listened to my coach. It only takes one missed warm up to ruin your skating career!
So what I like to tell the coaches out there. If you are not doing so yet, start your kiddos early with off-ice warm up exercises. The sooner the better, because it will become part of their routine early on in life.
And to all the parents. I know you have a busy schedule and it is hard to get to the rink on time. I must want you to make sure you keep your kids safe and healthy. Is it really worth sleeping in that extra half hour in the morning and end up having your daughter or son injured because they didn’t have enough time to prepare themselves off the ice? Think safety first! This should become part of their daily routine.
