Off Ice / Off Rink Training

[JCon 6]

I was just curious to see what everyone does for improving their skills when they are away from the rink.

Last year I was able to improve my game a lot by completing the P90X program. Though this did improve my stamina, speed, and general well-being my strength was only moderately increased.

Though I play ~3 times a week and have a busy schedule, I am looking for ways to improve shot accuracy and release. Where I'm moving to there is a roller hockey rink right down the road. I'm planning on picking up some targets and firing a bunch of pucks once a week or so. I'd also like to pack on a few more pounds and inscrease leg strength. I'll no longer have gym membership so I'm thinking about picking up a cheap rack and a few more weights to do squats and deadlifts.

Suggestions are welcome!

[DField56 0]

from every athlete I have ever spoken to biggest tip is to strengthen your legs, squats and deadlifts are on point

[maxamillion 3]

I drink and eat terribly.

Seriously tho, before my leg injury last summer I was doing tons of squats with a bar and plates and that greatly improved my speed. As far as the shot goes, practice practice practice. Maybe go to a stick and puck that you know may be pretty empty with a bucket of pucks as well because nothing will compare to doing it on ice, obviously. I spent about 15 minutes after our pickup game ended this morning just buzzing around and firing shots until my arms felt like were going to fall off. I was just focusing on putting the puck in an area while moving and focusing down from there.

[farhanshak 1]

shot - practice shooting pucks on net in my backyard with shooter tutor on the net (turn it into a game points wise for corners or dont move till you get 5)

stick handling - weighted stick (ala datsyuk), ball hockey.

I try and do core work almost every day...(I split lower back (rear core) and abs (core?))

I do alot of leg work in the gym, coupled with speed, reaction, and agility drills. I train upperbody too.

I found spinning helped alot for leg conditioning, swimming is great exercise too for conditioning. Interval runs, and sprints helped as well. Soccer is good and fun, and so is ball hockey.

Taking all the above into consideration, I still suck and push myself to work harder everyday

[ktang 34]

from every athlete I have ever spoken to biggest tip is to strengthen your legs, squats and deadlifts are on point

Those and power cleans have worked for me. To the OP; if you're getting a power or squat rack, you might as well build a little plywood platform and get some bumper plates, too.

I need to learn a modern snap / wrist shot release, so I think I have to force myself to do it with video. My stickhandling needs help, too, ever since I lengthened my sticks: maybe weighted stick.

I'm doing HIIT with lightly weighted squats and deadlifts, depending on power rack availability at the gym.

[Quintin 16]

The foundation for all power athletes is base level of strength. Increase your base level of strength and you'll be quicker and stronger.

This article gives a good basic idea with what movements will benefit hockey players. Train safe, eat & supplement correctly and sleep!

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/hockey_player_movements.htm

If you want a good strength gaining program, Westside for Skinny Bastards 3 by Joe DeFranco is a GREAT weight lifting program. Train 4 days a week, 2 max effort days (lift as heavy as you can for 3-5 reps) plus a dynamic leg day to develop explosiveness and repetition day to increase muscle size. The larger the muscle, the more potential it has to become stronger.

[Vet88 674]

It all depends on your current skill level. Can you puck handle well whilst skating with your head up? If not I'd forget your strength training for now and spend more time on this core skill. A green biscuit, some inline skates, an ABS blade on an old stick and a smooth car park will do the trick. If you can find a smooth enough surface (multi story carparks using pre stressed concrete as the floor are often really good) then you might want to consider replicating ice as close as you can (same stick and curve as you use in a game, same boots but with a Sprung chassis on them, green biscuit and 3 fly pucks for mixed training drills). Train 4 times a week an hour each time and in 3 - 6 months you will see a massive increase in your puck handling ability, general game play (because your head is up) and your anerobic general fitness. It's amazing how much of a workout you can get when you are just practicing puck handling and skating on your own.

As for shooting, best way is to get hold of 20 - 30 pucks and shoot them into a net, minimum of 30 minutes each day. Standing on inline skates helps to replicate ice conditions a little bit. Practice shooting off your both legs, snap and wristers.

Some sobering stats - For every team practice you attend you will handle the puck for no more than 3 minutes, for every team game no more than 90 seconds. So you play 3 times a week, that's 4 and a half minutes of puck handling per week - big deal. To improve quickly in ice (or inline) requires you to put in the time on your own, there is no other way.....

However if you are beyond this level - ie verging on a minor league contract - then strength and explosive core work is what you are after. Plenty of info and training drills on the net for this.

[Vinny_R 1]

I live in Québec so no hockey in the summer for me (no summer league in Abitibi). The best workout I do is my boxing training. Not only it's helping my confidence and self-defense, it's all about intervals. Hockey is a fast sport, you do a 45-60 sec. shift then sit down for 1 min or so (only playing two lines teams). In boxing you do 2 minutes of work, then sit for 1 min. After that, 45 sec shift is nothing. It also help my stability and my footwork (I play defence). I started boxing to help me get in shape for hockey because I hate going at the gym and pushing iron.