It is not possible to have a higher rate of improvement without finding more training time, and if ice time is scarce, fitness programs are always easier to organize.
Tudor Bompa, PhD, author of Total Hockey Conditioning: From Pee-wee to Pro
Unlike most sports that require, at minimum, a flat open grass field and some cones to practice, hockey requires the availability of ice. Typical ice rink facilities will have two rinks in the building, though I’m sure in your more “hockey town” areas of the world their could be more. With only two rinks available and several clubs consisting of several age levels, scheduling practice time is not easy. This is why hockey is notorious for having early a.m. practices, well before the sun comes up, because there is only so much time available on either end of a school/work day for every local club to skate. Teams are often left with limited practice time during a week, especially considered to most other sports that can practice up to five, six, or even seven days a week if they really wanted to. So how does a hockey team, particularly youth hockey, get in enough technical and tactical training on ice and still be able to develop the physical qualities required to play the game. The truth is most teams do not. Any conditioning that is done is often in the form of brutal “suicides” in the last few minutes of on-ice practice, or less-than-optimal running before or after practices. The truth is that hockey players require quality off-ice programs consisting of well-planned speed, strength, power, endurance, agility and flexibility training to further enhance their on-ice performance. Most sport coaches do not have the knowledge or training to implement these off-ice programs correctly so in many cases they are either not done, or done poorly.
At Athletic Lab, our expert coaches have experience working with teams of all different sports such as hockey, track and field, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, baseball, football, swimming, and have worked with all levels from youth sports to high school, D1 college teams, elite level clubs as well as professional teams.
For ice hockey, in particular, because most athletes have little exposure to strength & conditioning, we take an educational approach to training the team. Sessions are organized in a manor that allows the athletes to learn fundamentals while training to be a better player on the ice. In the end each athlete will understand the importance of quality off-ice training and be able to take those lessons with him or her to the next level whether it be college or professional level of play.
We have several available options for team training to fit your team’s needs. Contact Brian Guilmette for information on how you can get your team started and stay ahead of the competition.
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