The week before Christmas Jeff Reuter was in Germany for some job training and attended a practice with Speed Team Stuttgart.
Skating in Stuttgart Germany
In the week before Christmas I had to go to Stuttgart Germany for some job training. Due to the timing of the training, I was in Stuttgart over a weekend. So I decided to investigate if there was any way I would be able to do some skating while I was there.
First I posted a question on a Deutsche skating forum to enquire about any speed teams in the Stuttgart region, and if they held practices. I received a response from Thilo Harich, a member of Speed Team Stuttgart (www.speed-team.de). He told me that Speed Team Stuttgart held skating practices indoors on Saturday afternoons. He also directed me to two other speed teams in the area. I checked into those other speed teams, but their winter training was all off-skates. The weather in Stuttgart is very similar to the weather here in the Detroit area - so this time of year it is too cold to really do any skate training outdoors.
I also received info from Dirk Mahnkopf, a native of the Stuttgart area who was here in the metro area for his job. Dirk had been attending practices with the Wolverines and when I told him that I would be in the Stuttgart area for a week, he told me all about the skating scene in that part of Germany. So with that information and a map to the training site for Speed Team Stuttgart, I took my skates with me on my trip.
On the Saturday afternoon that I was there, I found my way to the village of Waiblingen, which was north and east of Stuttgart. The practice was held in a gymnasium at a sporting complex. Several people told me that there are very few roller rinks in all of Germany, and none in the Stuttgart area. The gym had a resilient vinyl floor, which was slippery even under the softest, grippiest outdoor wheels I own.
The practice was unlike any I have ever attended. I was told when I got there that the practice that day was mostly for fun, as it was a week before Christmas. Another major difference is that in Europe most speed skating is done outdoors, and most of it is marathon style racing. So even though they were training indoors, the practice was not what I might have expected for an indoor, short-track style practice. The practice started off with some drills that were done with only one skate on, including a relay race! It was not the kind of relays that we are accustomed to, they were simply skate one fast lap, then hand tag the next team member to send them out. But it was a challenge to do with only one skate on! It was similar to skateboarding, as you would propel yourself with your shoe, and just glide along on your skate. I thought it was an interesting drill for balance on one skate. After doing a couple drills on one skate, then we switched skates and did the drills again, with only one skate on the other foot!
There was one drill that was a serious training drill, repeat intervals. The entire group was divided up into two groups, and we did a 1-2-3-2-1 interval skating as fast as you could. While one group skated their interval, the other group skated around in the center of the floor.
The practice was fun, and a different experience for me. I'm very glad that I took my skates and went to the practice! Everyone there was very kind to me, someone would always explain the drills to me in English, as I do not understand the spoken Deutsche language.
