Tag: hip strength

90-Degree MiniBand Step-Out (Shoulders Square)

This is a variation of the 90-Degree MiniBand Step-Out exercise I posted a couple weeks back.

 
 
 
 
 
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Similar to the previous variation, the goal here is to hold strong on the front knee position while the hips open up. The major difference here is that now the shoulders are staying square to the original direction.

This helps reinforce dissociation between the shoulders and hips that helps the player keep their eyes oriented to the play while repositioning in a different direction.

Typically performed for 2-3 sets of 6-8 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. For comprehensive hockey training programs to improve your speed AND repeat sprint ability, check out: Speed Training for Hockey

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Alternating MiniBand Elvis

The Alternating MiniBand Elvis is another exercise we integrate into our prep work.

 
 
 
 
 
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There are a couple things this exercise can help accomplish:

1️⃣ Help athletes learn to dissociate between hip and lumbar range of motion.

Keeping the pelvis stable while moving from the hip can help athletes create more power, while generally reducing unnecessary stress on the low back/lower ab areas.

2️⃣ Improve strength/control of the hip external rotators from an internally rotated position.

Many exercises designed to strengthen the hip rotators start with the hip in a neutral position of rotation and work into external rotation from here, so they miss ~1/2 the arc, which is particularly important since this is where most injuries occur.

A few quick coaching cues:

✅ Keep your hips level and facing forward throughout the exercise. Put your hands on your hips as a reference.
✅ Allow one knee to “fall” in as far as possible, pause, and then pull the knee out as far as possible to stretch the band.
✅ You can allow your feet to roll in and out as you move from the hip, but your foot should stay on the ground throughout.

Typically performed for 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps/side. Can progress by moving to thicker bands.

Give this a shot, and feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, tag a friend in the comments section below, and please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. For comprehensive hockey training programs to improve your speed AND repeat sprint ability, check out: Speed Training for Hockey

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

 

90-Degree MiniBand Step-Out

The 90-Degree MiniBand Step-Out is an exercise we’ll integrate into our prep work both in the off-season and during the year.

The goal here is to teach the player to “hold strong” on the front side knee as they open-up in the opposite direction.

It’s fairly common for players to take some form of contact while in these positions, and a failure to keep the knee posted outward can lead to injury. This helps reinforce a stronger base that may reduce injury risk, but will also help athletes maintain space/position while taking contact through a transitional pattern.

Keeping the band around the knees provides the most direct feedback to the player about their knee position (which is largely driven by hip control).

A few quick cues:

✅ Aggressively pull the front knee out to “stretch the band” while stepping back and around 90-degrees

✅ Keep hips centered between both feet at all times

✅ Head and shoulders should stay stacked over the hips throughout the motion

If the athlete is having a hard time grasping the pattern, I’ll set up next to them with my shin parallel to theirs and lightly push my knee into theirs, so they can feel the contact while resisting the pressure during the movement.

Typically performed for 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps/side.

Give this a shot, and feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, tag a friend in the comments section below, and please share/re-post it so others can benefit.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com

P.S. For comprehensive hockey training programs to improve your speed AND repeat sprint ability, check out: Speed Training for Hockey

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

Lateral MiniBand Skater Walk

This is an exercise we integrate into our warm-ups to help reinforce a low skating position and strong push-off.

A common problem you see in less efficient skaters is that they adopt a wider stance and their stance leg collapses inward slightly, which causes the player to ride their inside edge, and create more friction on the glide leg, which ultimately slows the player down.

Similarly, a lot of players will make the mistake of over-reaching with the front leg, when the emphasis should be on pushing the ground away through the back leg.

I’ll cue players to think of their front knee, hip, and shoulder pushing against a wall, while the back leg pushes.

The band creates a slight inward pull on the knee, which the player can actively pull against to reinforce the foot/knee/hip/shoulder alignment we want from a stance leg in skating, but the focus on keeping the knee straight also makes it feel less natural to reach with the foot compared to when the front band is around the ankle. If you reach with the foot with the band in this position here, the band rolls up the leg, which doesn’t feel great. Once the player understands the motion, the band can be slide down to the ankle.

Typically performed for 3 sets of 8-10 reps/side

Give this a shot, and 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. For comprehensive hockey training programs to improve your speed AND repeat sprint ability, check out: Speed Training for Hockey

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

Lateral Movement: Hip Stability & End Range Strength

One thing a lot of athletes struggle with is maintaining a stable pelvis while pushing laterally.

It’s common to see the torso bend back toward the pushing leg in exercises ranging from Lateral MiniBand Walks to Lateral Bounds and lateral cutting in transitional speed work.

While there’s a time and place for emphasizing this type of “bend”, more often than not it’s causing the athlete to lose time/speed by creating a lag between the push-off and the body moving laterally through space.

One simple way to start to address this is with the Lateral Wall Push exercise in this video.

The goal here is to keep the torso upright by maintaining wall contact with the hips and shoulders and to use the outside leg to “push the floor away” to generate maximum push-off force.

This set-up can be used in a couple different ways – either to: 1️⃣ emphasize push-off strength at different hip angles (more upright = less hip abduction) or to 2️⃣ focus on end-range strength, starting as deep as possible and shifting slightly deeper as range of motion opens up from rep to rep.

The feedback from the wall will help the athletes isolate motion at the hip while maintaining a level pelvis, which creates a foundation for them learning how to push laterally without folding over the back leg.

Typically performed for 4-8 reps of 5s holds.

Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please tag a friend in the comments below and 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 how to assess movement and integrate specific strategies to improve mobility and movement quality in training, check out Optimizing Movement. Don’t have a DVD player? Send me a note through the contact page after you checkout here Optimizing Movement and I’ll get you a digital copy of the videos!

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