How to Skate Like McDavid: Downhill Skating Explained | Train 2.0 Blog

How to Skate Like McDavid: The Downhill Skating System Explained

Connor McDavid’s skating stride is effortless, fluid, and deceptive. The question every player asks is: how can I skate like McDavid?

The truth is, McDavid isn’t using brute power or endless conditioning drills. He’s using mechanics that unlock speed, higher cadence, and efficiency. At Train 2.0, we call this the Downhill Skating System, which is a science-based approach to skating that teaches you to move like the NHL’s best.

In this article, we’ll break down:

• 🔺The mechanics that make McDavid's stride different.
• 🔺The science of posture, blade pressure, and bounce.
• 🔺Common mistakes power skating creates.
• 🔺How to train the Downhill Skating System yourself.

Why McDavid’s Skating Is Different

Most players are taught “power skating”: long strides, pushing, and long edge holds. The problem with that is more tension creates more muscles strain making skating less efficient.

McDavid’s skating works differently:

• 🔺He uses his whole body to generate power through the inner spring.
• 🔺He leverages the stretch-shortening cycle for elastic, spring-like power.
• 🔺He creates speed with gravity, momentum and natural rotation mechanics.

This is why he sometimes can be smoother and faster with the puck than without it.

The Core Principles of Striding with the Downhill Skating System

1. Forward Lean and Center of Mass

McDavid’s forward lean and ability to drop the chest put him in a better force producing position to use the glutes, the powerhouse of the stride.

2. Blade Pressure: Riding the Rail

McDavid lands his blade flat and applies heel pressure, like riding a rail. Each stride feels less like a push and more like a controlled fall, similar to walking or running.

3. Full-Body Power: The Inner Spring

The shoulders, ribcage, and hips rotate together, creating a spring-like effect. This “inner spring” transfers power diagonally through the body, generating whip, counter rotation, and springiness of his muscles.

4. Bounce and Elasticity

Elite striding comes from using the stretch-shortening cycle which has the muscles reflexively contract after being stretched. This creates a natural bounce that feels automatic, requiring less energy freeing up brain power for reading the play.

Common Mistakes That Hold Players Back

• ❌ Sitting in a chair coaching cue: Knee bend is not the samething as shin angle. Players need to focus on getting their knees over their toes.
• ❌ Core stability obsession: Locking the core prevents the ribcage and hips from springing naturally.
• ❌ Pushing instead of falling: Power skating teaches tension; McDavid relies on the inner spring and bounce of his muscles.
• ❌ Wrong blade contact: Each stride hitting the ice taking away from the rocker, not compounding it.

Off Ice Drills to Start Skating Like McDavid

• 🔺Hip Swivel Drill: Practice rotating hips back and forth, keeping shoulders relaxed (corkscrew stance).
• 🔺Inner Spring Drill: Twist ribcage over pelvis to feel the spring and release letting your muscles naturally counter rotate.
• 🔺Wide Stance Twist/Tilt: In a wide stance with toes internally rotated, feel the difference of ranges as you twist and tilt your hips and see what is possible.
• 🔺Stutter Step -> Cross Awareness: Short stutter steps for cadence followed by a cross, one direction than the other.

Why Train 2.0+ Makes McDavid’s Skating Trainable

At Train 2.0, we study the magic mechanics of the pros and break them into cues and drills that any player can follow. The Downhill Skating System is our step-by-step blueprint for skating like exactly like Connor McDavid.

Inside Train 2.0+ Membership, you’ll get:

• 🔺 Video analysis of McDavid’s mechanics in slow-motion with explanations and breakdowns.
• 🔺 100's of on-ice drills to train these mechanics from the downhill skating system.
• 🔺 Off-ice training exercises to unlock the inner spring and bounce.
• 🔺 Green light indicators so you can measure real progress.