Why can i do shoot the duck easier on ice than on the ground??

Question

is it just me? i can do shoot the duck on the ice and get up sooo easyily, but off the ice i can hardly get up?

Is that normal? just wondering

Answer 1

It's just like when you're riding a bike . . . it's hard to balance on a bike at a stand still, but much easier when you're actually moving.  I think with shoot the ducks, moving helps to get you up.    

When you're doing a shoot the duck on the ice, your body is sort of steering to balance.  It's adjusting even when you're getting up from the position.  Aren't shoot the ducks much easier the faster you go?  And don't you feel compelled to come up just as you're slowing down?  When you do them off the ice, your body has no room to adjust as it's stuck in one position -  your body weight is planted in that foot - and that's all you have to work with.  

Maybe the heel in the skate boot has something to do with it too?  When I get up in shoot the ducks, I find that I'm putting a little more pressure on my heel.  But when I'm doing them on the floor either barefoot or with shoes, there is no heel, so I'm sitting back a bit more - making it harder to roll up from the heel.  

There is a whole physics answer to that I'm sure . . . but I can't explain it - wink!!  Here's a discussion about the whole bike balance thing which I think is somewhat similar to the shoot the duck "issue" (if that helps any!).

http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/ind...

Answer 2

i think that this may be because when we do shoot the duck on the ice, we aren't exactly pushing straight up from the flat of the blade.  it is likely that you are on a very slight edge and this gives your body something to push off of when you want to get back up.  

On the ice, your body also has some forward momentum, which helps you come back up.  It would be nearly impossible to do a standstill shoot the duck on the ice or off the ice.  give it a try--  do a stand still shoot the duck, on the ice, without pushing off first.  its much more challenging (if not impossible)

thats my theory!

Miche