What does it mean to be effective in training?
Hard Work
Such a cliche but so important.
For anything in life it is almost guaranteed that hard work will be needed to progress. Ice hockey is close to the epitome of this. For one, skating is totally different from walking/running. Combine this with shooting, passing, dangling, checking, game sense, etc. and you end up with a sport of high skill, strength and mental dexterity. To become a good if not great player you must effectively train each skill set.
Practice Makes Perfect...
Most of us (unless you live in a cave) have heard the phrase “Practice makes Perfect”. People attribute this to the 1500’s and John Adams even wrote of it in his personal diary.1 However ancient, this phrase is incomplete. What’s really needed is “Effective Training”. To Xenopucks this means “Practicing a skill in a method and intensity that positively impacts said skill”. The very fact that Ice hockey is played on ice creates many limiting conditions to effectively train.
For example, roller skating is very different than ice skating. Same goes for shooting, stickhandling, or passing an ice puck as opposed to most roller hockey pucks. This causes issues for any training regiment, but fortunately there is a solution. That solution lies in isolating your skills training.
Tools for Training
Certain tools and methods have come about over time to help in effective training. Skating treadmills can help with endurance. Strength training in the gym can improve explosiveness, fine motor skills, and general strength. Roller hockey skates can allow you to learn the game from a different perspective. Finally, Off ice pucks like the Xenopuck can give a realistic ice puck feel on smooth surfaces. These tools however are not the whole picture, as you must use them in the proper way.
Using the Xenopuck as an example. If all you did was stickhandle and mess around with friends, then you will likely improve as an ice hockey player. Alternatively, if you were to set up drills for stickhandling or shot Xenopucks with a focus on form, then you will see a much greater improvement on the ice. So the idea here is that effective training needs the right tool used in the right way. Focus on form, start slow, and work your way outwards towards more advanced methods and tools.
In totality, the perfect place to effectively work on ice hockey skills is the ice of course. However, most of us do not have much ice time. As a result, we must isolate our skills and use the proper tools. Lots of off ice tools exist and there is a need to utilize them properly. So when training, make sure to focus on form first and then move to higher intensity more advanced skills.
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