Kevin Neeld — Hockey Training, Sports Performance, & Sports Science

Velocity Based Training

In an effort to constantly improve, one phrase that I often repeat to myself is:

“If you want better answers, you have to ask better questions.”

With this in mind, I enjoy reading articles and listening to presentations that are more theoretical in nature and pose a lot of questions, but don’t necessarily provide the answers.

This, I suspect, is very frustrating for others as most people tend to take the “just give me the fish” option, when available. This isn’t always a bad thing, as having practical applications can often help a coach envision how they can manipulate their own programs for the better.

That said, blindly following another coach’s suggestions without a full understanding of their philosophy, supporting theory, rationale, etc. can be foolish, if not dangerous.

Last week I came across an article on velocity based training, that I enjoyed reading. For those of you that aren’t familiar, velocity based training, in this context, is simply tracking/manipulating the speed of bar movement in various exercises to elicit specific training responses (e.g. improved speed).

Kinetic-Performance

Image from: FreeLapUSA.com

This is becoming an increasingly pertinent subject, as technology is making tracking bar velocity much easier/less expensive. However, as with any technological advancement, the ease of use will quickly lead to a complication of interpretation.

This article from Carl Valle poses a lot of good questions about the transfer of this type of training to actual speed changes, and makes a few suggestions on how to make better use of the thought process, as well as the technology. Check it out at the link below!

Improve your programs >> Velocity Based Training

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
OptimizingMovement.com
HockeyTransformation.com
UltimateHockeyTraining.com

P.S. I’ve always said, before you do anything faster, under more load, or for greater duration, you must first learn to do things well. This is the system we use to create a broad foundation of functional movement in our athletes: Optimizing Movement

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Kevin Neeld

Kevin Neeld Knows Hockey

Kevin has rapidly established himself as a leader in the field of physical preparation and sports science for ice hockey. He is currently the Head Performance Coach for the Boston Bruins, where he oversees all aspects of designing and implementing the team’s performance training program, as well as monitoring the players’ performance, workload and recovery. Prior to Boston, Kevin spent 2 years as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Jose Sharks after serving as the Director of Performance at Endeavor Sports Performance in Pitman, NJ. He also spent 5 years as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with USA Hockey’s Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, and has been an invited speaker at conferences hosted by the NHL, NSCA, and USA Hockey.