Considerations for Agility Testing in Ice Hockey

One of the things I’ve heard coaches mention frequently over the years is that a player “doesn’t move well laterally.”

There are some key physical contributors to transitional patterns (e.g. range of motion, eccentric strength & rate of force development, effective use of range-specific stretch-reflex/stretch-shortening cycle), but skating technique and body control are also essential to consider.

As with every aspect of performance, if we’re going to say something is important, it’s helpful to have an objective way to measure it, to truly identify whether limitations in change of direction (COD) need to be addressed specifically, or if there are underlying qualities that should be targeted first.

Off the ice, it’s common to measure acceleration with 10-40 yard linear sprints, and COD ability with a 5-10-5 (among others).

On the ice, a goal to blue sprint is ~64-feet on a standard NHL rink and all face-off circles are standardized at a 10-yard diameter, so it’s easy to use the circles to perform on-ice 5-10-5s.

While it may seem logical to simply look at time in both tests as indicators of acceleration and COD ability, respectively, this paper from Dr. Sophia Nimphius and colleagues points out that COD time correlates to linear sprint time, meaning that the linear sprints in between direction changes may be clouding how we’re interpreting an athlete’s efficiency through the transition.

To account for this, an alternative way to interpret COD tests is to use the COD Deficit, which is the difference in time between a COD test, and a linear sprint test, ideally of the same distance.

For example, the 5-10-5 pro agility test is 20 yards, so it’d be ideal to compare it to a 20-yard linear sprint (the 64’ on-ice sprint isn’t perfect, but still appropriate).

In this table I have times in a linear sprint test, and 5-10-5 test ranked by color, and while there are some discrepancies, the majority of the colors are identical… meaning performance relative to the group in both tests are the same.

The last column has the COD Deficit time color coded, and there is much more divergence from the other two columns, which on the surface suggests that it’s providing different information.

Looking at the 6th row from the top, the linear sprint and on-ice pro agility times are both slow, but the COD deficit is among the better ones in the group. This implies that the athlete will benefit most from improving general speed qualities, and NOT focusing on COD ability, despite a slow COD time.
Looking at the 15th row, this player is fast in a straight line and in pro agility time, but had a middling COD deficit time, implying the player may benefit from a greater focus on agility and not need as much time dedicated to traditional speed training methods.
Lastly, the 4th and 9th rows from the bottom show clear examples of players that are fast in a straight line, but their COD ability is so bad that it overshadows their linear speed in the COD test.

The ability to efficiently transition is incredibly important to performance in ice hockey.

Simply…More valid assessments = more specific prescription = better results.

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 learning more about how to use testing to drive training prescription, check out my presentation “Performance Profiling as a Platform for Program Design” in the Optimizing Adaptation and Performance series I did with Mike Potenza and James LaValle.

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Best Off-Ice Training Exercises to Improve Speed

Last week I shared some research highlighting differences between acceleration and steady state skating, and between elite and sub-elite skaters through these two skating phases.

In response to those posts, I was asked if I had any favorite exercises to improve acceleration and top-end speed.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I typically approach the training process by first attempting to identify the major limiting factor to a player achieving their goal. Specific to speed training, these questions can help guide the program design process:

1.    Can the player get into the right positions?
2.    Can the player hold the right positions?
3.    Can the player push out of the deep positions?
4.    Can the player “explode” out of deep positions?
5.    Can the player create separation?

In each case, there are specific exercises and training strategies that can help address the limitation, most of which can be layered into a single training phase. I’ve listed several examples in the tables above, many of which are included in the programs in my book Speed Training for Hockey.

Because early acceleration relies on a more sagittal plane dominant strategy, ensuring the athlete has sufficient ankle dorsiflexion, and hip flexion/extension range of motion can be seen as more specific to this phase, whereas work to improve hip abduction is more specific to steady state/max speed skating.

This same thought process can be extended to strength and power work, with more lateral-dominant movement patterns transferring better to max speed skating.

There are significant differences in the motions, ground contact times, and muscular contributions to high-speed running and high speed skating. While all the strategies within the “create separation” section will positively impact maximum speed, the two most effective strategies are longer-distance accelerations and flying sprints ON the ice.

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

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Key Characteristics of Faster Skaters

There are notable differences in skating stride characteristics between elite and sub-elite skaters in both acceleration and steady-state phases of skating.

In the acceleration phase, elite skaters use a larger hip extension range of motion, and higher hip extension, hip abduction, and knee extension velocities.

In steady state skating, the elite skaters used a larger hip extension and hip abduction ROM, and greater hip abduction velocity.

In both phases of skating, the elite skaters push faster through a larger range of motion.

The key difference is that in the acceleration phase, the emphasis is on pushing “back”, and during steady state the emphasis is on pushing “out”.

Buckeridge et al. (2015) also noted that high caliber skates positioned their glide leg more under their body, whereas the low caliber group recovered to a wider stance.

While there are some nuances here, the two big take homes are that:

1) High caliber skaters adopt deeper skating positions, and push-off at higher velocities, resulting in longer, more powerful strides.

2) Initial acceleration is more of a sagittal plane dominant movement that relies on pushing back, while maximum speed skating relies on pushing out to the side.

From a training perspective, these simple concepts provide a framework to identify potential limiting factors to improving speed:

– Can the player get into the right positions to maximize acceleration and steady-state speed?

– Can the player create force (e.g. strength) and power out of deep positions (linearly for acceleration, laterally for maximum speed)?

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in effective off-ice training programs specifically designed to improve speed, check out my new book Speed Training for Hockey.

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Comparing Acceleration and Max Speed

There are two general ways to approach linear speed training:

1) Improving the rate at which a player approaches top speed (e.g. acceleration)

2) Improving top speed

It’s rare for a player to reach top speed with any regularity in hockey, whereas the ability to accelerate is integral to performance in every shift.

However, the top speed a player can reach creates a ceiling on how quickly they can accelerate, so training to improve max speed will positively impact acceleration ability.

With that in mind, it’s helpful to understand different characteristics of acceleration and steady state skating so training efforts can be either shifted to emphasize acceleration or max speed work to a greater extent, or to simply ensure that all of the necessary qualities are being addressed in a way that best transfers to the ice.

Summarizing work from Buckeridge et al (2015) and Stidwill et al. (2010)…

Acceleration, identified as the first 3 steps, is characterized by higher activity in the calves, a larger hip flexion/extension arc, and a single peak force-time curve.

This indicates a running-type pattern, with a more sagittal-plane dominant strategy.

Steady state skating is characterized by higher quad EMG, higher hip abduction ROM and velocity, a greater degree of knee flexion at weight acceptance and knee extension at toe off and therefore a greater knee ROM, and a bi-modal force-time curve. The bi-modal force-time curve is created by an initial peak at weight acceptance, a slight dip associated with loading the leg, and then a second peak for the push out.

These characteristics are indicative of a gliding push-off pattern, with more of a frontal plane emphasis.

Recognizing the differences in planes of movement, ranges of motion, and muscular contributions opens up a lot of possibilities for improving training specificity based on individual needs, and adjusting exercise selection and execution to maximize the on-ice transfer.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in effective off-ice training programs specifically designed to improve speed, check out my new book Speed Training for Hockey.

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Dissecting Skating Technique

One of the more consistent findings in determining what differentiates elite and sub-elite skaters is that elite skaters adopt a lower skating position.

This study from Upjohn et al (2008) found that high caliber skaters had a deeper skating position, which translated into longer/wider strides with more extension range of motion through the knee/ankle.

Ultimately, this allowed the players to skate faster, despite using the same stride rate.

Training to improve mobility or stability is typically referenced as a strategy to minimize injury risk. This study, along with several others, provides a rationale for including mobility/stability work to enhance skating performance.

Improving the ability to adopt and control deeper single-leg positions should be a foundational training goal in any speed training program for hockey.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. If you’re interested in learning more, check out my new book Speed Training for Hockey.

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