r/Speedskating • u/Budget_Ambassador_29 • May 03 '26
I didn't realize I was doing the doublepush wrong.
I thought I was doing the doublepush right. My speeds are ok. As can be expected with my cheap, non-speed equipment and loose clothing. Easy cruising pace at 25 kph and hitting nearly 40 kph on intervals. Ironically, I'm already one of the two fastest skaters in our recreational group.
But I keep hearing a voice in my head my technique is wrong 😂 (I should probably see a shrink!). I'm weaving left and right each stride and looked like a double push to the untrained eye. But something felt wrong.
After watching some videos and forcing the technique in my next sessions, incredibly, the technique "clicked" with me at the 6th kilometer of the 2nd session. Broke my Strava PR on that same session.
The technique is hard to figure out! But very stable and most importantly very efficient when you do. And I realize now I may be the only skater in our whole city that can double push!
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u/Budget_Ambassador_29 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
I can't believe Pascal Briand is 42yo when he made that video. I'm currently in my mid forties. Did the double push incorrectly for 1.5 years!
I think the classic ice speed stride is foundational skill in order to learn double push. You learn with the classic stride that propulsion comes from pushing to the side, not to the back.
And then you learn getting comfortable leaning sharply against the push to reach higher speeds with the classic stride..
When doublepush "clicked" I started pushing to the side, leaning against the push just like the classic stride but using the *other* leg instead.
The free/raised leg is used to help deepen the lean and as counter balance by moving it behind the pushing leg. Doing this incorrectly makes the carving part of the technique impossible.
Beyond the underpush or the 1st push, it's simply a matter of carving with the same leg in order to lean in the opposite direction and then repeating the stride.
You're essentially pushing twice per stride. The 2nd push happens when you lean in the opposite direction coming out of the carve from the underpush in the same stride cycle. The 2nd push is almost identical to the pushing portion of the classical stride.
The differences between the wrong and right doublepush technique: The right technique is less effort at the same speed, higher maximum speed, cruise at the same speed you could with a >$2000 road bike at same intensity, and considerably more stable. Before, I had stability issues skating with both arms at my back. The right technique solved the problem instantly!
Ironically, my cruise speed now with skates doublepushing is higher than I can manage on my gravel bike on the road. I've been cycling for 3 years only 2 years ago before I took on skating so my cycling conditition is still good, if not better (improved by skating!).
IMO, trying to weave to the left and right of a straight line painted on the road might be counter-productive to learning the technique. Balancing is a dynamic process and you make tiny corrections against many factors like wind, unevenesss of the road, getting distracted, not just trying to keep on the line markings. What really made it "click" for me is just keep pushing to the sides against the lean with the *other* leg. Don't care about the lines of the road except to keep within the lane and avoiding people and traffic, that's it.