Sep 11, 2016 | rdelaney | 899 views
Early Season Work Outs
Now that we have started the season I thought that we should remind players and their families that physical fitness on and off the ice is a critical component to being competitive as well as preventing injuries. Additionally, (as I mentioned in my article for the Atom Reps) in order for our teams to be competitive at all levels players need to practice their shot off the ice.
From the fitness perceptive I am certainly not a shining examples of it but having been fit in my younger years I can make a few suggestions. Spend some time throughout each week working on basic physical fitness, agility and stretching. Find a daily stretching routine that takes 15 to 20 minutes so that you remain flexible and your musculature is able to bear the stress of hockey games. try to find 30 minutes a day at least 3 days a week to do some aerobic fitness so that you keep your heart and lungs in peak physical performance and ready for games. Lastly try to find 30 minutes a day at least 3 days a week to do some push ups and core conditioning exercising. A strong chest, stomach and back will help to generate the power needed for skating, powering through checks and developing a great shot.
When it comes to a good shot players need to work on it every day if possible. The more they shoot the puck the more they will develop and perfect their shot. This includes fine tuning their shot to improve the mechanics of it, developing the muscles used in the shot and improving the accuracy and speed of their shot. repetitive practice will also develop muscle memory which will allow players to focus on where they are shooting, where they are moving and for those in contact levels keep their head up so that they are safe. To win games you have to put the puck in the net. We do not have enough time during our on ice practices to dedicate enough drills to shooting practice and that is why we need to ask for additional practice at home. Thank you and see you at the rink.