Ice hockey is a popular winter sport, and one of the most important skills in ice hockey is skating. Forward and backward skating may appear to be similar, but the body joint movements may be substantially different. The mechanics of backward skating is not well understood in comparison to the forward skating. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the kinematic differences between forward and backward skating. Seven male collegiate ice hockey players participated in the study, and they skated both forward and backward (C-cut) four times each on the ice at their highest intensity from one end of the goal line to the other end of the goal line on the ice. A standard two-dimensional kinematic analysis was conducted to examine the lower body extremity and trunk at the instants of weight acceptance and propulsion. No significant differences in the joint angles were found at the weight acceptance. At propulsion, significant differences were found in the joint angles of hip, knee, ankle and trunk between forward and backward skating. Additionally, the hip angular velocity was significantly different in both the weight acceptance and the propulsion phases. Hence, these findings indicate the importance of understanding mechanical difference between forward and backward skating for developing coaching instruction and prescribe strength and conditioning programs. Future studies are warranted to examine the mechanics of forward and backward skating using a 3D analysis and also on different positional players.
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