Another awesome guest post from Coach Tyler today. I love the idea of individual practice within a team practice. Check out this simple strategy that will boost your speed.
Hockey Speed Strategies
With most of your seasons well under way, I thought now would be a great time to post some tips on hockey speed training during practice. Many of you will have from 1-4 practices per week with your team, during that time your coach is going to be working on things to help improve the weaknesses of your team eg. D-zone coverage, line rushes, power play and penalty kill to name a few.
Their is not much time available during practice for young hockey players to work on individual things. That is why you have to take it upon yourself to find ways to work on hockey speed strategies during practice.
You can work on your speed and explosiveness during any drill that is presented in your team practices. From a simple give and go shooting drill to 3-on-3 down low defensive zone coverage. Consistently working on your first 2-3 strides being quick and explosive is something you can do every time you start from a stand still. Striving to get to top speed as quickly as possible will only benefit you in the long run. It will help you in various situations during your games eg. Shaking off a defender in the corner as you drive to the net or on the flip side, making up a few feet on a foot race where you got caught flat footed. Remember, speed is a skill and like any skill repetition is the key to mastery.
Each and every drill you should test yourself to get to top speed as quickly as you can. It is a lot easier to work when you are challenged by another player, but much tougher when you have no obstacles in your way. Approach each drill with the mindset that you are trying to reach that break-a-way speed or chasing someone down on the back check (don’t just go through the motions because that will not get it done when you are in a puck battle). Doing this consistently during practice and paying special attention to it will develop the habit of being explosive- a lot better than the habit of being slow isn’t it?
Many of you are going to have very structured and beneficial practices prepared for you on a daily basis. Everything you do and learn in practice is going to help you be a better team player. Take it upon yourself to be a better player individually in practice. It’s things like working on hockey speed strategies during practice that will slowly set you apart from other players. Don’t settle for just being on the same level as everyone else, practicing within each practice will give you a better chance at moving onto the next level.
T