Puck on the hook: what does a hockey player’s training consist of?

What does it take to get around defenders like Pavel Datsyuk and put the puck under the crossbar from the circle of opportunity like Alexander Ovechkin? Of course training! No, you can’t do without a certain amount of talent, but training is paramount. Especially since only in practice you can elegantly and Datsyukov-style evade defenseman imitators and powerfully, Ovechkin-style shoot an empty net. But how to train properly? Let’s get to the bottom of it.

Warm-up

Everything starts with warming up. No warm-up – no athlete. Again: only the coach knows how to do it right; including how to warm up properly. But we can give a couple of tips. First, you should do a series of track and field exercises – running with a high hip raise, with an overlap and so on; do a set of stretching exercises – the TRX machine is ideal for this. These are elastic loops with which you can stretch your limbs; for example, lying on your back and putting your legs through these loops, bend them and maximize the approach to the buttocks.

In the warm-up with TRX loops can be useful and a regular hockey stick: you need to take it in the middle with both hands and on outstretched arms to perform rotations in all directions, another variant of the exercise – hold the stick on straight arms and reach for the floor.

There is also a special set of exercises for physical fitness, which will help in practicing skating technique. You should check with your coach, but BeLikePro training center, for example, includes lunges (you can do it with a stick, you can do it with twists), jumping with one foot on a hemisphere (jump sideways), diagonal steps in a crouch with a stick, skate step, running through barriers, imitation of skating at the bollard (for this purpose you need to lean on the bollard and, similar to ballerinas at the machine, imitate pushing off the ice), exercises on the slider (a simulator on which you need to push from one edge to the other on a sliding horizontal surface). More details in the video.

You can watch the video on the official Be like pro channel on YouTube.

Training on puck possession technique

Okay, you’ve warmed up; you want to shoot already, right? No, first we need to do a couple of puck-handling drills. The main thing is to start by picking up the stick correctly. The working (i.e. strong) hand is not pressed against the body and holds the stick from above, slightly in front of you; the other hand holds the stick from below; shoulders relaxed, legs bent, back straightened.

The upper hand is responsible for all the movements of the stick, it twists, turns, moves back and forth; the lower hand only supports the stick.

To develop the feeling of the puck, you need to gently and slowly move the stick left and right and listen to your sensations; then you will understand where the puck is: on the toe, on the heel or in the center of the hook. Over time, you should move the puck left-to-right faster and without looking at it. At the same time you need to rotate the hook, as if covering the puck – if you do not do so during the lead on the game, you very quickly on this lead the puck and knocked out. It is necessary to work out and narrow leading, and medium, and wide; and not only in front of yourself, but also a little behind, to the left of yourself and to the right of yourself – in short, during training you need to cover as much territory as possible and be able to lead the puck wherever you can.

You can watch the video on the official Be like pro YouTube channel.

If you are leading the puck sideways – turn your body slightly and cover the puck sideways. If you release the puck further away from you – move your lower arm closer to your upper arm.

You can drive the puck through various obstacles – for example, through a snake. By the way, instead of a puck, you can use a special wooden training ball, which has much more mobility. Leading through the snake, long and short shifts of the puck/training ball through the snake, leading through the snake with back to front, leading on the side of the snake, leading with quick shifts away from the snake.

You can watch the video on the official Be like pro YouTube channel.

Throwing practice

Of all the possible skills that can be practiced, beginners and pros alike love practicing throws the most. And really: what could be better than machine-gunning an empty goal with pucks?

You can watch the video on the official Be like pro YouTube channel.

The main exercise for practicing the shot is the shot itself. You can just shoot at the goal, or you can simulate game situations. For this purpose there is a defender simulator – a simulator that imitates two legs and a stick. You can bypass the imitator and throw from under him, you can remove the puck from him gracefully shifting and throw, you can pull the puck aside from him and throw – in short, a lot of things can be invented, pretending that you are prevented from throwing the opponent.

The main thing is to execute the shot correctly. There are several types of throws, but each of them implies bent legs, straight back, arms not pressed against the body, extended slightly forward.

Training on the technique of passing the puck

It is important to work on the technique of receiving and passing the puck. Just like with shooting and leading, the main thing is to pass the puck correctly.

If you want to make a pass down low, you need to stand facing your partner, bend your legs, straighten your back, close the hook. The puck at this time is in the middle of the hook, goes to the heel and is sent to pass to the partner. If on top, then exactly the same, only the hook is open, and the puck before the direct sending goes from the heel of the hook to its toe. The hook is closed at the end.

You can watch the video on the official Be like pro YouTube channel.

Skating practice

Training for skating should be done in direct contact with the trainer. The trainer will suggest a complex of the right exercises, interesting and energy-consuming. As for something basic, you can differently bypass the cones placed on the ice by different figures, then face, then back and throw at the goal. You can do acceleration (as an option – from the knees), sharp braking, do them on the whistle (sharp braking and acceleration in the opposite direction when the signal sounds). Cross-step, flashlight, half-light, figure eights around cones, twirls with slips (you can do it on one leg), snails; all this can be done with cones, and you can do it with a club. More details in the video.

You can watch the video on the official Be like pro channel on YouTube.

It is very important to imitate game situations in practice. Dribbling can’t be perfected just by driving around cones; the familiar defender simulators will help. You can also perform a whole set of exercises that are as close to game action as possible. For example, a short lead through the imitator defender, go under himself and shoot; or receiving the puck from the passer, shifting it under himself, shot or rolling past the board, bypassing the cone, “wall” with the passer, more rolling, shot.