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Hockey Skating Drills For Speed and Power – Tips For Getting Faster on the Ice

Any player who is trying to become a better player needs to be doing hockey skating drills to try and improve their speed and power. Powerful, fast, skaters dominate on the ice. A big player with speed is an unstoppable force, and for smaller players, speed is the absolute key to success. Here are some great tips on improving your speed and power on the ice.

First of all, do interval and ladder drills in your on-ice workouts. Intervals are simply series of high intensity bursts followed by low intensity rest. For example, skate at maximum speed as hard as you can for 45 seconds, and then skate lightly for a minute or two, and then repeat. Intervals do great things for developing speed, because at periods you’re working at maximum intensity, something you can’t sustain for long periods.

Another great option is to add extra resistance to your skating drills. As long as you can keep your form correct, adding resistance will force you to work harder and result in solid gains. A great way to do this is by attaching an exercise parachute. Elastic bands can also be used to add resistance, or you could simply have a coach hang on while you skate. When the resistance is removed, you’ll feel much lighter, and your power and speed will improve over time.

Finally, time everything. If you don’t time yourself, you’ll never know for sure that you’re improving, or at what rate. Time yourself doing different drills and always work to beat your best time. This simple tip can have some drastic results compared with players who don’t time themselves.

These tips will help you improve your speed and power on the ice, but these are only a few of the many different exercises and drills you can do to get faster and more powerful. Consider investing in a good hockey fitness and training manual, or consult a sport-specific trainer.

 

About the Author

For more great information on hockey training for maximum performance, from a former NHL’er and career pro, click here to check out the Hockey Speed and Power manual. Hockey Speed and Power was developed by an ex-pro for use by the Belleville Bulls of the OHL, Canada’s premier junior league. Now that same information is available to you!

how do i improve my speed in ice hockey? i need to know the best ways to develop my speed.?

hey im a 17 year old from australia who has just made the national ice hockey team and was wondering if anybody could help me with ways to improve my skating speed as much as possible,, thanks for any help

If you are talking about straight up power and foot speed, I would recommend using a little weight training as follows. Ankle weights while practicing. You only have to use 5lbs weights, but if you skate a half hour session with them strapped to your skates, you’ll find this greatly increases your foot speed. Do all your normal drills, take them off and you will see what I mean. BE CARE-FULL WHEN DOING THIS! ease into it, stretch out and be safe. It is way to easy to jump right into it and pull something or get hurt.

Also look into a power skating camp. It sounds like torture, and it is. However, they teach you all the little techniques that give you that little extra pop off the line, add a little extra to your stride and give you the edge over others. Oh, and sometimes they make you skate with a parachute on your back. . . . which is also torture.

Good luck, and as always, keep your head up.