Month: April 2022

Rotational Power Training

Rotational power is an essential physical quality to train in most team sports.

There are a few key layers to improving rotational power:

  • Does the athlete have the foundational capacity to effectively perform rotational patterns (i.e., do they have optimal hip and thoracic spine rotation)?
  • Can the athlete separate/dissociate lower/upper body rotation?
  • Can the athlete produce power in rotational patterns?

Once mobility of the hips and t-spine is established, separation can be developed through different warm-up and core exercises in parallel with introducing rotational power work.

Because power is expressed in different positions within sport, it’s helpful to integrate rotational patterns from different positions (side standing, front facing, staggered stance, etc.) and with different dynamic lead-ins.

This video is of Front Standing Med Ball Scoop w/ a Partner Pass, which is a progression from a traditional scoop.

The pass emphasizes rotational deceleration, which has applications to both improving rotational power, and transitional running patterns.

Typically performed for 3-4 sets of 3-5 reps/side.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in improving power as part of a comprehensive hockey-specific training program, check out Ultimate Hockey Transformation.

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Passive Coaching Strategies

Creating environments for an athlete to “self-organize” (e.g. try, fail, recognize failure, try a different way…) can be a powerful motor learning strategy.

Particularly in group settings, having strategies that allow the coach to teach without speaking frees up the coach to work with individuals/exercises that require a more hands on approach.

This is an example of one “passive coaching” strategy. The plate is not intended to load the movement; it’s meant to provide feedback to the athlete on how they’re controlling their hips/torso through the movement.

As the athlete gets better, you can UNLOAD or completely remove the weight to allow them to perform the movement WITHOUT an external cue.

Feel free to post any other comments/questions you have below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. For more information on in- and off-season program design, training and reconditioning for injured players, and integrating sports science into a comprehensive training process, check out Optimizing Adaptation & Performance

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Hockey Training: Year-Round Periodization

One of the big mistakes that the most committed youth athletes make is training the same way in-season that they do in the off-season.

These graphs are from a talk I gave at the @nscaofficial Training for Hockey Clinic several years ago and provide an overview of how the emphases on specific physical qualities should change throughout the year. They also highlight the changes in time spent in on-ice and off-ice work throughout the year.

A few key take-homes:

  • Still an emphasis on off-ice work in-season, but lower volume across all qualities compared to off-season
  • Minimal emphasis on additional lactic work and hypertrophy work in-season (helps control soreness and fatigue)
  • Early Off-Season: Major shift away from on-ice work, and focus on restoring range of motion, building muscle (if the player needs it), and developing strength.
  • Mid Off-Season: Still low volume of on-ice work and minimal emphasis on lactic work. Increased focus on speed and power.
  • Late Off-Season: Increased emphasis on on-ice work and lactic conditioning. Decreased emphasis on building muscle and strength with continued focus on speed and power.
  • A lot of ways to break-up the year depending on the needs of the player, but there should be clear shifts in focus throughout the year to maximize progress and minimize risk of over-training, excessive fatigue and soreness.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in how core training fits into a hockey-specific training program, check out Ultimate Hockey Transformation.

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Introducing Strength Training to Youth Athletes

When first introducing strength training to youth athletes (and everyone else for that matter), it’s important to teach the fundamentals. Basic movements, performed correctly.

One strategy to help speed up the learning process is to slow down the movement. This gives the athlete more time to feel different positions throughout the exercise and the coach more time to recognize opportunities for improvement.

This is a 3-0-2 Tempo DB Goblet Squat we’ve used as a teaching tool for kids in the past. The goal here is to start grooving an optimal squat pattern, so it can be loaded more at the appropriate time.

Typically performed for 2-3 sets of 5-8 reps.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in how core training fits into a hockey-specific training program, check out Ultimate Hockey Transformation.

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Core Training: Frozen Bear Rotations with Stability Ball

This is a core exercise I’ve used for years to help reinforce proper centering/alignment of the rib cage over the pelvis, and breathing through a braced core.

The goal here is to rotate as a unit, so the knees, hips, and shoulders all move together. Another way to think of it is that the nose, sternum, and sacrum should all rotate together.

It’s common to see people initiate the rotation with their knees to generate momentum, and to extend/arch through their low back as a result.

Set up with the ball between your forearms and inside/top of your knees. We’ll sometimes cue to “reach your hands away from your shoulder and knees away from your hips” at this stage.

Lightly push all 4 limbs into the ball just hard enough to feel your core engage.

Start with small rotations (think 6” to the side, then back to center) and extend out from rep to rep as far as you can control.

This is teaching basic qualities (rib/pelvis stacking, breathing), but is an extremely challenging exercise.

Typically performed for 3 sets of 5-8 reps/side.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in how core training fits into a hockey-specific training program, check out Ultimate Hockey Transformation.

Enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Sports Performance and Hockey Training Newsletter!