The PoweringAthletics Story
by Ron C. Bulloch
(President of Powering Athletics)
(Inventor of the PowerSkater)

It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention, and as a businessman with a predilection toward engineering, I could not agree more. However, as a husband and father, I would add that the dreams of our family often provide as much fodder for ingenuity as does need. The creative stimulus for the PowerSkater arose from the hopes and aspirations of a young boy to play the game of hockey; it was borne from my desire, and perhaps my need, to foster the dreams of my son, and to help turn those dreams into a reality.

What follows is much more than just another business success story: it is a story about encouraging our children to dream, no matter how lofty; it is a story about overcoming challenges and obstacles in pursuit of those dreams; and above all, it is a story of how persistence and hard work may allow those dreams to be achieved.

PoweringAthletics™ had its beginning in an effort to help our son to learn proper skating technique for the "next level" of hockey skills. I am the inventor of the PowerSkater™, and owner of PoweringAthletics™. My belief is that skating is the fundamental skill requirement for hockey and that all other skills are built on that capability.

I was looking for a means of developing the motor skills and muscular strength needed to be a superior skater in an off ice environment, with particular emphasis on proper posture and technique. In-line skating mimics ice skating; but to be a good in-line skater also requires correct technique. Slide boards work well for strength and conditioning but offer little in teaching skating technique for they do not replicate the very same bio-mechanical movement of skating. I needed a way to over exaggerate skating mechanics in order to isolate specific movements. The result was the PowerSkater™, which was granted U.S. Letters Patent 6,042,511 in recognition of its unique functioning, and which has been recognized and adopted by personal trainers, players, and coaches, at the amateur and professional levels for its effectiveness.

I have been quizzed many times of how I came up with the PowerSkater. In order to explain how I thought up the concept, I must relate where the seed of the inspiration grew from. I have told this story many times in personal conversations with customers and friends. Every time I have repeated this story, people say "you should write it down and share it with others".

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