The good old days --- a time when hard work, commitment, discipline and positive attitude were expected, not rewarded. Failure was not final and earning meant sacrifice. These lessons have stood the test of time. Growing up in Canada, I never played AAA hockey, I got cut from most of the teams I tried out for. I knew at an early age that hard work, desire, determination and discipline were the keys to success. My father never responded by formulating a new league, moving across town, getting involved in “politics” or buying me something to ease my self pitied state. By doing so, he taught me a very valuable lesson that would pay off later in life: In the real world NOT EVERYONE GETS A TROPHY.
In my opinion, it’s extremely important to understand the tools of the trade for various sports and their requisite performance underpinnings. In the world of hockey, perhaps no tool is as important as a player’s choice in both skates and sticks. The hockey skate consists of a hard-outer shell, a rigid toe box to withstand the velocity of flying pucks/sticks, a padded tongue, which may, or may not be manipulated for increased range of motion, an Achilles guard, heel counter and skate blade. Players traditionally choose a skate that provides the most comfort while ensuring performance needs. The balance of this so called “performance teeter-totter” typically resides in a personal choice between rigidity and range of motion (frontal plane stiffness and sagittal plane mobility). For example, defensemen may choose a stiffer boot due to the fact that backward skating (C-Cut) does not have a swing phase only a stance (foot is on the ice the whole time). In addition the trunk segmental angle (relative to the horizontal axis) in forward skating is significantly less than backward skating which indicates that players lean their bodies significantly forward during forward skating and not nearly as much in skating backwards [1]. More can be found here. This choice has direct impact on biomechanics, and foot contact within the skate [2].
When it comes to programming for ice hockey we must ask ourselves…what qualities matter most in sport competition? In other words, what qualities can we train off the ice, that make the most tangible differences on the ice? What abilities make great players great? In order to answer these questions, a good place to start is to look at some of the existing literature and attempt to see what correlates best with on-ice performance.
The hockey stride has been described by bio-mechanists as biphasic in nature consisting of alternating periods of single leg and double leg support. The single support phase corresponds to a period of glide, while the double support phase corresponds to the onset and preparation of propulsion (Marino, 1977). Ankle mobility may play a role at increasing stride efficiency. Increased range of motion, in particular dorsiflexion (think toes pointed up towards the sky), may aid the skater in assuming a lower skating position, thus reducing air resistance, while simultaneously increasing impulse, or the time the player has to produce force. In addition, pre-stretching the achilleas may increase kinetic energy thus increasing propulsion. Using electrogoniometers, researchers measured foot kinematics on the ice during a parallel start from defensive-zone face-off circle to offensive zone face-off circle. The acceleration phase occurred during the first 5 steps with steps 6-10 representing steady state. The following findings were recorded based on the average measurements of the sample size: (Pearsall et al., 2001)
In a study done by former NHL Coach George Kingston in 1976 he found that the average player in the Canadian system spent 17.6 minutes on the ice during a typical game and was in possession of the puck for an astonishingly low 41 seconds. Kingston concluded that in order to get one hour of quality work in the practicing of the basic skills of puck control, (that is, stick-handling, passing, and shooting) approximately 180 games would have to be played.
Welcome back! Last month we spoke in depth about how movement efficiency off the ice can tangibly aid in on-ice skating performance. We used basic physics to determine that if we increase impulse (the product of net force and the time the force is applied) we can improve our stride efficiency while using less energy to accomplish a given task. Let’s stay with basic physics as this helps elucidate just why strength training is important for the aspiring hockey player. First, we must proceed with an elementary understanding of force.
