By Peter Twist /
With the regular season in high gear, remaining injury free is critical to short- and long-term hockey success.
An injury during this time in the season affects everyone. The injured player misses games, falls off the practice-play routine, becomes disconnected from teammates and loses valuable tactical and strategic development along with baseline hockey conditioning. Teammates are forced to pick up extra ice time and while they gain a playing edge, they may also increase their potential for injury creating a disadvantage for the entire team.
Injury changes careers in an instant and for some players their game may never be the same when recovery requires hours of rehab off the ice.
Every coach, player and parent should have an injury prevention plan in place at all times because reducing the risk of injury is more desirable than rebuilding a physically and psychologically broken down player.
Hockey is a high-speed collision sport where the speed of the game, the size differences between opponents and the power of game makes all types of contact a potential for injury.
Driving hard to the net, angling a forward off to the boards or an open ice bodycheck all put players at risk. Skilled players push the boundaries of their physical abilities in every shift as they constantly battle for positional strength and control of the puck. Coaches love players that work hard, but this style of intense play puts a player closer to their training threshold making injury a reality.
Explosive stop and start game skills create intense muscle and joint stress. The combination of intense force production from skates at ice level along with powerful and repeated force absorption in the torso and upper body means every player is constantly challenged to play on the safe edge of body control.
The three most common injuries (and their cause) in hockey are: Groin Strain (stride leg recovery muscle imbalance or impact), Medial Collateral Ligament Sprain of the Knee (a blow to the outside of the knee and Shoulder Dislocation (impact and muscle weakness). To avoid the preventable causes of injury and to capture the best training methods to excel into the season, players should train their body to increase durability and to meet the demands of the game:
Be Strong: Focus on Whole Body, Multi Joint Lifts and Movement Training. Develop a more athletic body that reacts quickly to game changes by challenging the joints and muscles to work together in sequence with power production building from the floor to the fingertip. The movement patterns and load requirements drive the mind to command the muscles instantly creating Smart Muscle®. When play in your own end becomes chaotic, hockey skills intuitively prevail and the physicality for puck possession turns an intense situation into an advantage.
Where traditional machine and free weight training using isolated movements can build a well defined body, whole body multi – joint training creates the a responsive body that is instantly strong and powerful under pressure.
Balance Rules: As the game becomes faster and stronger, and size differences are significant, body awareness and body control help smaller players avoid injury potential situations. Players who train using dynamic balance challenges develop fast and efficient mind to muscle connections so that muscle and joint sensors are better able to regain, maintain or retain balance quickly in game circumstances. Dynamic balance exercises reduce weak links in the joints, reconnect nerve damage from past injuries and reduce muscle imbalances from sport specialization or positional preferences. A player with superior body control wins in collisions and puck battles.
Fast Feet Wins Battles: The majority of injuries occur during high speed braking, collisions and explosive stop – start mechanics. An explosive stop imposes hundreds of pounds of force on vulnerable hip, knee, ankle and shoulder joints. Players who challenge their deceleration skills with ladder and hurdle drills bring fast footwork, strong mechanics, better coordination and more durable joints with them on to the ice. On ice deception is created from linking agile movement with heads up play giving well trained players more evasive tactics combined with the confidence to accelerate out of one-on-one battles with the puck exposing a game breaking advantage.
Training for hockey injury prevention should be built into all parts of the year. Players should train whole body slow strength, basic stability, joint mobility and range of motion progressing to powerful strength development, foundational movement mechanics, deceleration drills, direction change skill improvement, balance challenges and eventually building into multi joint power lifts, high speed direction change and read and react skills and drills. In season conditioning continues to develop game and position specific skills and tactics to a competitive edge in every aspect of their game.
The key of course is to train with an athletic methodology which will prevent most injuries and optimize performance. In season training helps players continue to be their best, avoid injuries, enjoy the game and progress through the season.
Peter Twist, 11 year NHL Conditioning Coach, is President of Twist Conditioning Inc that provides franchised Sport Conditioning Centres, Smart Muscle™ Hockey training products and home study coach education. www.twistconditioning.com |