There are few sports that challenge the physical and the mental prowess of its athletes like ice hockey, making the process of getting back into hockey quite demanding for any participants who have been away from the game for a while. Anyone interested in coming back to the game after an extended period of time needs to understand how best to cope with your body’s extended off-season in order to bring you back up to playing speed.
Work With Your Stick
Perhaps the most obvious aspect of hockey (besides the ice that it is played on) is the stick and puck that must be batted into the net in order to create a goal. Your skill with this stick will determine your skill as a hockey player. Those who were away from the game for awhile may find their shooting and passing skills return as quickly as riding a bike again, but others are not so lucky. Start by stickhandling around pucks scattered on the ice. Take shots on the corners of the net in order to find your release speed and accuracy.
Cardio Is King
Hockey demands a lot from the minute (or less) that players spend on the ice in each shift. For a full sixty minutes, every player is expected to go full bore. The good news is that endurance can be improved without stepping onto ice, by elevating your heart rate by running or cycling (or even rollerblading, to better help your balance). Start slow with cardio workouts at first, no more than once every other day, but try to work yourself up to doing cardio nearly every day of the week.
Blow by The Competition
Speed is the aspect that separates NHLers from the average guy skating on the local rink. An NHLer can get from one side of the rink to the other in less than three seconds. You do not need to go that fast, but you should improve your sprints over short distances (no more than twenty yards) to boost your acceleration in the short term in addition to your endurance over time.
Bulk Up For Better Results
An average NHL player weighs over 200 pounds, with very little of it fat. Both upper and lower body strength will increase your chances of a good performance once you return to the game. Try for squats and leg presses to boost legs while doing bench presses and upright rows in order to develop your shooting strength in your arms. When you are first Getting Back into Hockey, you can use the advice and input from our program and system to better give yourself the skills needed to compete as if you never took a single day off. We at HockeyOT offer the best online hockey training program that can customized to suit your needs. Call us on 1-888-588-0554 for more details.
