subject: Hockey Drills - Off Ice Fitness and Skating Drills to Improve Speed and Power on the Ice [print this page] Hockey drills aren't something that you have to leave behind when you step off the ice. There are plenty of ways that players serious about improving their game can work themselves off of the ice to simulate on ice situations, and to make gains in the areas that really matter during games. Here are some great drills you can do off-ice to make your a more dominant player when you hit the rink.
Interval Running
Interval running (or stationary biking) is a great dryland exercise because it'll improve your speed and quickness, and also help condition you for games. You can do ladder drills where you change the duration of work and rest as you go, or you can do set period intervals. A great one to do is 45 seconds of hard work followed by about a minute and a half of lower intensity work. This simulates the real life intervals you experience in a game with shifts and bench rest.
Shooting Races
This one is great to do if you're training with a teammate that you can race against, but if you're by yourself you can just try and beat your own time. All you need is somewhere you have room to run and set up a net. Set up a net with four targets and a set of pucks (or balls). Then set a marker at least 100m away. The goal of the drill is to do four sprints to the 100m mark and back, hitting one of the targets each time. Keep track of times and always try and beat your last best time.
Inline Drills
One great way of conditioning yourself during the off-season is to strap on a good pair of inline skates and simulate your on-ice drills that way. The stride you'll use on inline skates is slightly different to that of ice skates, and you'll need a couple sessions to adjust, but the muscles you use for both is exactly the same. That means for fitness and conditioning purposes, inline skates are a perfect substitute for ice skate and will work all the same muscles you need for game time.
Hockey Drills - Off Ice Fitness and Skating Drills to Improve Speed and Power on the Ice
