How Land Sprint Training Can Help Improve Skate Speed In Youth Hockey Players

 


As a sports performance specialist, I have covered a lot of sports that needed help with speed. In 2008, I had a hockey player come to me, it raised my eyebrow.  He was only 11 years old, tall and lanky.  The main thing his dad wanted was to work on his skate speed.  This was the first hockey player I ever had to train so obviously I wanted to do a great job.  I knew I had to work on his balance, and his strength, but how would I really make an impact on his speed?  And then it hit me, SPRINTING!


The Art of Sprinting

Many wouldn't think that land sprinting can help with skate speed, but I am here to tell you that it can.  Sprinting takes three things:  the ability to produce force, absorb force, and then immediately reproduce force.  Skating is a similar movement, and to increase speed you will definitely need those three things.  The second thing I noticed was the muscles involved.  The hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core are essential for sprinting, and the same for skating.  


The Recipe

To pair with the strength training he was receiving, I spent the second day outside working on sprints.  First, I worked on sprint mechanics to make sure the athlete's foot was striking underneath his hip to immediately create a force on contact.  Then I made sure the athlete would push as hard as possible, getting a full extension of his leg, to create maximum power.  This teaches the glutes how to fire, and to fire fast. When this is taught properly, it will translate over skating.

Second, I worked on the athlete's ability to jump.  Plyometrics is a great way to get athletes to learn how to create maximum power as well as how to absorb and reproduce that power.  I had the athlete, perform a single broad jump to work on max power.  Then I had the athlete perform consecutive broad jumps, to work on force absorption and reproduction.  After the athlete performed these jumps he would perform a sprint for 10 yards.


THE RESULT

After two months of consistent training, it was the moment of truth.  He had tryouts, and so desperately wanted to beat the guys down the rink when they raced in practice.  The result, he came in second.  He had previously would come in the middle of the pack.  However, the biggest improvement was when he was time skating the length of the rink.  He dropped 2 tenths of a second off his skate time!  Mission accomplished!  


FINAL THOUGHT

Hockey players require land training, but it's not the "what", it's about the "how" and "why". Working on sprint training on land will help increase skate speed if taught correctly and with great detail.  Teaching the hockey player where and how to strike the ground when sprinting greatly affects the improvement of their skate speed.  So make sure you hockey player learns how to sprint. 

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