The punch turn is a must have in every players tool box and is the 8th fundamental mechanic in this series!

The difference between a “punch turn” and a regular turn is that your front foot outside edge slides (sprays snow) similar to a stop.

The punch turn can really be used in any situation where you need to create space or if you have a defender on your back!

The punch turn is a complex mechanic but worth every second of practice!
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🔑 Punch turn keys

1. Shave the ice (slide) - the first step is to shave the ice with your front foot outside edge. Similar to a stop.
You can think of shaving a millimeter off the ice

❓ Common question: Where should my weight be?
A good player can slide with their weight anywhere on their blade. BUT typically, near the mid blade to toe. As you get more advanced you can experiment with sliding near the heel

❌ Common mistake: Sliding on both edges! ONLY the front foot should slide, the back foot is riding the arc

2. Ankle collapse (bite) - There’s two components to the front foot 1. Slide 2. Bite

Once you’ve slid you need to establish the edge and ride the arc. That is, you need to get your edge to bite, you do this by collapsing your ankle

If you slow the McDavid clip you will see the change in his ankle positioning from the slide to the bite (ankle collapse)

❌ Common mistake: Sliding but never establishing the edge. Leads to a very slow and wide turn

3. Heel pressure - As your edge bites your weight moves to the heel

More on heel pressure ➡️    • MAXIMIZE Grip, agility and control wi...  

So the typically the rocker pattern would be
Slide (toe/mid blade) → bite (heel pressure) → Finish the crossunder at the (toe)
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The Punch turn is the 8th of this 9 part series on the fundamental mechanics

See the previous 7 fundamental mechanics ➡️    • Fundamental Mechanics  

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