Hockey Speed is Simple

Building your hockey speed is simple.

Speed development requires two key aspects:

You need to have tremendous single-leg balance and single-leg strength in order to be the fastest and most powerful player on the ice.

An article in today's sports section of the Toronto Star called to attention Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jamal Mayers' break-neck speed.

He attributes this new-found ability to a summer workout program that focused primarily on building strength and explosiveness in each leg individually.

Hockey is after all a single leg sport.

There are very few times during the course of play that a player on the ice will have their weight equally distributed over both legs.

Each skating stride starts and finishes predominantly on one leg and each shot requires the transfer of weight from the back leg to the front.

Even goalies must transition out of their two-legged stance in order to track the puck and make saves.

Almost every aspect of the game requires players to generate, transfer and control force from a single leg.

Single-leg strength and stability is the key to speed and power development.

The stronger and more stable a player is on each leg, the faster and more explosive they will be.


Until next time,


Kim