Hockey players need to skate faster to be more effective. Improving at hockey is all about being faster to the puck, faster to start, faster to stop and faster to anticipate where the puck is going. While you also have to make good decisions once you get to where the puck is going, you won't be in a position to make those choices if you don't get there first. Skating faster depends on both on-ice and off-ice workouts.
Function
To become a more effective hockey player, drills and exercises that can increase speed and explosiveness are vital. Coaches give their hockey players drills that will improve their speed from one end of the ice to the other, their quickness when it comes to stopping and starting and their endurance. Players need to be explosive in the first period to get off to a good start, but they must also maintain that speed in the late stages of the game or the opponent will gain a strategic advantage. The skating drills build strength and improve skating technique.
Types
Drills that players will do include Herbies, which were named by members of the gold-medal winning 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team after head coach Herb Brooks, who started all his practices with this demanding exercise. Start off at the goalline and skate to the near blue line and back, the center ice red line and back, the far blue line and back and the opposite end line and back. Do this drill twice before the start of practice at full speed to build skating power and endurance.
A key off-ice drill includes box jumping--jumping over a 15 inch box, side to side. This helps improve explosive power. Sprinting with a resistance parachute can also help hockey players increase speed.
Time Frame
To improve your skating speed, function and efficiency, work on your skating form daily. Normally, the best time to concentrate on skating is at the start of practice. Coaches and players should devote 15 minutes of practice towards skating improvement at every practice before going into shooting, passing and defensive drills.
Impact
Skating speed and efficiency are at the core of everything hockey players do. A fast skate is a greater offensive and defensive force. When the team is on the attack, a player who is faster can outrace his opponent to the puck or a key spot on the ice and get off a powerful shot that a slower skater would not be able to attempt. It also helps on the defensive end because a powerful skater can break up an odd-man rush--2-on-1 or 3-on-2--and prevent the opponent from getting a scoring opportunity.
Expert Insight
One of the most important aspects of a hockey player's development is spending time practicing the game in general and skating in particular. Many youth programs involve long schedules that include multiple tournaments that force players to play many more games. According to power skating instructor Laura Stamm, whose services have been engaged by more than 100 NHL players, playing extra games at the expense of practice can have a negative impact on skating. She believes player must practice skating technique before they can work on speed and they must then work on speed before putting it to the test in games. "In the old days, children learned fundamentals on rinks and ponds away from organized hockey," Stamm said. "But in today's game-oriented system, there is no place for unstructured activity, and the practice time children receive is inadequate."
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