Skating up the ice backwards is similar to the forward motion. From the hockey stance, the weight is in the back third and inside edge of the blade and the player shifts their centre of gravity to the right while they straighten their left leg straight to the side. When the player has full leg extension in the backward stride, the player does not push all the way to the toe as they would in the forward stride. Instead, the leg comes to full extension with the flexing of the calf muscle and the weight on the blade is pushed from around the front third of the blade.

If the player were to push through the toe, the tip of the blade would dig into the ice causing excess friction that would reduce their speed. In full leg extension, the player's weight is over the gliding leg on the inside edge of the back third of the blade. As the leg begins to retract, it becomes the gliding leg and the opposing leg begins to push. The centre of gravity begins to transfer over the gliding leg.