The picture below is a throwback to (2012?) USA Hockey Women’s National Team Camp in Blaine, MN.
Great memories working with this group alongside @michael_boyle1959, @anthonydonskov, and @smcstrength.
Yesterday I shared a quote from the @hph_podcast discussing how testing can be used to both drive and assess a groups commitment and culture. You can check it out here >> Testing & Culture
The above picture is an excerpt from my book Speed Training for Hockey, and shows the progress one of the Women’s National Team players made through an Olympic cycle. Most notably – the player added 8″ to her vertical jump and substantially decreased her on-ice acceleration/sprint time.
Incremental gains made consistently over time leads to substantial, career-changing progress.
One of the key features of a winning culture is that the players are continuously pushing for the next level. When enough players adopt this mentality, it becomes the dominant voice in the room – the expectation for the group.
Performance testing certainly isn’t the only barometer for this type of commitment, but it is a simple, effective way of establishing standards, reinforcing expectations, and providing an opportunity for players to own an area of their performance that is COMPLETELY within their control.
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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