I’m cheating today, by stealing content from my colleague Kim McCullough. I came across a couple videos she put together on hockey-specific speed and power training. She primarily targets female hockey players, but I assure you that these drills are equally as effective for hockey players of both genders (I’ll speculate that Kim would agree with me here).
I want you to focus on the 1-leg medial and lateral jumps, what Kim calls jumps “in” and jumps “out”. Rarely do hockey players skate in a straight line for any extended period of time. As a result, most of the explosive movements in hockey use the patterns that these exercises train. The benefit of performing these exercises up stairs is that it cuts down on the landing impact. Start on the stairs then start incorporating some flat ground jumps.
While I don’t have any gripe with any of the exercises, I tend to stay away from ladder drills. I actually bought two ladders about a year ago, and they haven’t left the trunk of my power-packed 4-door family sedan. I find that quick foot work can be trained by other means that don’t require staring at your feet. Although, Kim does an excellent job in this video of keeping her head up. But I’ll digress to the video…
And a follow-up on the single-leg movements:
As an aside, Kim put together a great product for youth hockey players and coaches, incorporating everything from off-ice training to nutrition to mental preparation. Since I also have a similar product out, you might be wondering why I mention it at all. My three top reasons:
Dig deep…Keep working hard.
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.