By Paul Osborne, Guelph Tribune

Matt Kennedy turned like he lacked power steering, Peter Holland didn't have any glide in his skating stride and Taylor Beck couldn't turn left.

These were some of the challenges that faced world champion figure skater Barbara Underhill when she began helping the Guelph Storm last season as a skating instructor.

"I am having a blast working with the players" said Underhill recently. "I've worked with younger kids before but the (Storm) players can do what I'm asking them to do and understand why it's important."

It all started with Storm Captain Matt Kennedy.

"(Then Storm coach) Dave Barr said, "Barb can you work with Matt, he turns like a battleship" she remembers with a laugh. "Now he turns on a dime and is the best on the team at it."

Underhill's secret weapon is a video software program called Dartfish. The very first session she takes video of each skater from several angles and loads it into the computer. Later she can shoot the video again and show the ‘before' and ‘after' footage side by side. She also uses footage she took of Hockey Hall of Fame member Mike Gartner, who still holds the record as the faster skater from the annual Skills Competition.

"I can put Peter Holland's video on the same screen next to Gartner and say look where Mike brings his leg under his body and look where you are bringing it" said Underhill who won her World Pairs title with partner Paul Martini in 1984. "It is an amazing tool because players can see concrete results. After a few months, Peter's video that had him skating blueline to blueline, showed him crossing one full stride sooner than when we started."

The players to a man have bought into the program.

"When you see her on the ice and realize she's a way better skater than any of us it doesn't take long to figure out that maybe you should listen to her" said Kennedy.

You know we often assume that because the players have made it to the OHL they pretty much have skating figured out. But that isn't always the case.

"Taylor Beck is going to kill me for saying this but (Storm coach) Jason (Brooks) came up to me early in the season and said, Taylor can't turn to his left" said Underhill who's husband Rick Gaetz is the team's governor. "So we broke down his turns and worked hard at correcting it. Then the very next game he came out afterwards and said "Barb, I turned to my left, I turned to my left!" That's what makes it so rewarding."

After spending his entire hockey life trying to hide his biggest weakness, Beck was on his way to making a correction that could open the doorway to playing in the NHL.

So does having been an elite figure skater give her an edge as a skating coach?

"The (two sports) are very different" said Underhill. "In figure skating you never skate in a straight line because of the toe picks and spend all your time trying to make it look effortless, even though there is so much power involved. You know in figure skating you spend hours and hours learning your edges, turns and stops - the technique of skating. In hockey they don't spend time on that. For the most part you just go and chase the puck. So for some of the players they have to relearn the entire technique."

Underhill can be found at the Sleeman Centre every Tuesday from 10am to 2:30pm working with two or three players at a time.

"She has been a great addition to our team" said coach Brooks. "She really has a way of getting the attention of the players with her use of video and the one-on-one time she spends with them. She can take her expertise as a skater and help our players greatly improve their ability."

But ask Underhill and she'll tell you she's the lucky one.

"I just love it. I feel so much a part of the team."