High-speed agility is one of the strongest discriminators setting top elite players apart with game-breaking plays created from an explosive offensive tactic.
One-on-one confrontations are dominated by the quickest and most skilled players who excel in read-react-and-explode strategies.
Mobility for hockey refers to both the ease of movement across each joint and as the ability for players to control their whole body to shift directions and cover the ice efficiently.
Flexibility for mobility
Your body is constructed of over 600 muscles and 206 bones. The extensibility of the muscles and the resultant joint range of motion impacts freedom of movement. For smooth, coordinated movement on the ice, muscles should be able to move easily through all possible motions.
Stretch each muscle in the body up the kinetic chain beginning with the feet and finishing with shoulders, arms and hands.
Sustain a consistent, light tension for 30 to 60 seconds to elicit a full stretch along the length of the muscle including where the muscle blends into the tendon (which attaches the muscle to bone).
Focus preferentially on the hip region, which needs generous and equal flexibility to enable the hips to open for best agility mechanics.
1. Exercise: Lateral Rainbow Squat Holds
Mobile with agility
The ability to stop hard, quickly change direction, and cover a lot of ice in a few efficient strides is an agile, mobile player. Skating mobility is enhanced by joint range of motion, which can be harnessed by practising multi directional movement with bigger, more relaxed strides to cover greater ice.
2. Exercise: Big Lateral Jump
Stopping hard
Hockey players are not speed skaters. They more often draw upon the ability to change speeds, shift directions, stop, cut, turn and evade with multi-directional movement. Programming should prioritize deceleration training, which includes soft balanced vertical landings, lateral two-leg and single-leg deep pause-hold landings, and controlled braking from all movement skills.
3. Exercise: Jump-Up and Drop to Even Squat on Smart Muscle Board
Cutting sharp
When mobility becomes explosive to manage skilful one-on-one tactics, superior balance and core strength is needed. These permit skaters to use more aggressive body angles without breaking down. Train the core in a standing position beginning with a static hold to develop core stability before adding core rotation to build more diverse core strength.
Peter Twist, 11-year NHL Conditioning Coach, is President of Twist Conditioning Inc., a company that provides franchised Sport Conditioning Centres, Smart Muscle™ Hockey training products and home study coach education. www.twistconditioning.com |