Introduction
The offseason is an essential time for the development of hockey players. A
lot of these athletes may be relieved to not play hockey after a grueling season
has just finished. Others are itching for the next season to start. It really does not
matter where the athlete falls on the spectrum, the offseason is too important to
skip.
There are a few ways in which the offseason can be broken up, depending
on individual athletes. One method is to do nothing all spring and summer,
become out of shape come September, and try to make up for lost time once
school starts. Another method is to participate in a variety of sports and activities
throughout the summer, an awesome strategy for young hockey players. The last
method is to spend the offseason developing a variety of speed and strength skills
that will enhance the development of the athlete. This is done in a good strength
and conditioning or sports performance program.
Some of the old ideas about training for hockey are embedded in people’s
minds, but those that are ahead of the curve have a real advantage. No longer
does hockey specific training consist of long rides on the bike and playing more
hockey. There are plenty of very intelligent strength coaches out there that are
doing great things with their athletes, making hockey players faster and stronger
than ever. One tool that is utilized for this is the slideboard.
The slideboard provides a ton of benefits for athletes that are training in
the offseason. This versatile piece of equipment can be manipulated to increase
power production, strength, and conditioning. All of these qualities will result in
faster skaters, stronger players, and the stamina to excel in all 3 periods. That
sounds like something that a hockey coach at any level would love to have. A
player who maximizes those qualities will be armed with a competitive advantage
over their opponents.
The slideboard is a smooth piece of plastic that is anchored by two wooden
ends on either side. This surface allows the athlete to glide from side to side while
wearing slippers over their shoes. This piece of equipment is very versatile
because we can train for power production, strength, skating technique, and
conditioning. The intensity, duration, and focus of the slide can all be altered to
improve the specific quality we are trying to train. In the following pages I will be
presenting how to improve power development, strength, and conditioning
through means of using the slideboard. These improvements will transfer to the
skating stride, skating speed, strength on the ice, and endurance.
Power Development
Power can be defined in a number of ways but it is simply producing force
as quickly as possible. Some have defined it as the ability to display strength
quickly. Scientifically it is work/time. Pick whichever definition works for you, but
just know that there is a speed component when we are talking about power. An
example of this is a vertical jump is a display of power, while a 1RM back squat is
a display of strength. A lot of force may be produced in both, but the slow nature
of the squat does not make it powerful.
When it comes to the hockey stride, a powerful lower body will allow the
skater to put a ton of force into the ice. The result of this force production is
faster skating. I doubt there are any hockey players out there who do not want
more speed. The ability to develop force can also be utilized when shooting. In
order to shoot the puck hard, power needs to develop in the lower body and
transfer to the upper body. Increasing an athlete’s power development will help
them improve both shooting and skating.
The slideboard is adjustable in length and training for power requires the
longest length. This will provide more space to finish off the full movement. If the
ends are too close together then the athlete will hit the other end before a
complete push takes place. To effectively develop power, we need to load the
body and push as hard as we can across the slideboard. A good setup for an
explosive push off will require ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion, and hip flexion.
This set up simulates the ideal position for a powerful skating stride on the
ice. Once the body is properly loaded it allows us to extend the ankle, knee, and
hip to forcefully propel across the board. Power development will increase with a
harder push and getting to the other side of the slideboard quicker.
There are a couple of common mistakes that must be avoided when
training for power on the slideboard. The first is a poor loading of the body when
getting ready to push off. The taller the athlete is when they set up, the less
power they are going to produce. The same is true for athletes skating on the ice.
Getting into a good position requires the hips to bend past 90 degrees with the
knee approaching that number. The weight should also be balanced through the
whole foot. An athlete with weak hamstrings/glutes will try to get on the toes in
an effort to use the quads to drive the movement. This will disengage the
posterior chain. The quads extend the knee but they are inefficient at extending
the hip, however. In order to create the force needed for a good stride, the glutes
and hamstrings must work to extend the hip. The athlete also needs to stay low in
the movement. The tendency is to push off and then stand upright. This is a bad
habit to start because it will really slow an athlete down on the ice. Staying in that
good starting position with a good weight transfer is key to successful skating. The
most important take away with the slideboard is to avoid getting tall. The idea is
to push the body across the slideboard. If energy is wasted by extending towards
the ceiling, then the capacity to perform will be reduced.
A 4 week slideboard protocol for power development could look like this.
Week
Sets
Reps
Rest
1
4
4 each side
90-120 seconds
2
3
5 each side
90-120 seconds
3
5
5 each side
90-120 seconds
4
3
6 each side
90-120 seconds
Strength
One of the most important aspects of off-ice training is strength
development. With strength, a hockey player will be able to shoot harder, skate
faster, and win body position for the puck. Conversely, a weak athlete can have
perfect skating technique and still not move very fast. Without the ability to put
force into the ice, the stride will always suffer. The same idea goes for shooting
power and accuracy. The slideboard has some extremely beneficial uses for
strength development. It is by no means the only solution for building strength,
but it is a great complimentary piece.
Groin injuries are a serious issue for hockey players. A weakness in the hips
is a common cause of groin strains. Hockey players have strong glutes since that
muscle group gets a lot of use when skating. The groin, on the other hand, is not
exposed to such use and will become weak. When the outside of the hip is really
strong and the inside of the hip is not, muscle strain is common. Hip strength
must be a focus of a program in order to reduce the risk of injury from this muscle
imbalance, especially the groin. The slideboard comes in handy with 2 exercises in
particular. One is a reverse lunge which requires one foot sliding straight back on
the board and the other hinging on a solid surface.
The second exercise is a lateral lunge. This movement requires the leg to
slide out to the side of the body while the stable hip hinges back.
These exercises challenge hip strength and stability, in both the glutes and
the groin. Get familiar with these two exercises on solid ground first and then
advance onto the slideboard.
Another important muscle group for hockey players is the shoulders. It
might seem strange that hockey players need to take care of their shoulders
because they are not overhead athletes like baseball, tennis, or swimming.
Hockey players are susceptible to contact and the resulting injuries. For example, I
was working with a Junior hockey organization, 1 in 3 players had some history of
a shoulder injury. AC joint separations and dislocations were the most common.
These are injuries that need time to heal and that needs to be respected. After
the healing takes place the shoulder blades need to move correctly to avoid any
kind of dysfunction. Proper activation of the muscles required for scapula stability
becomes paramount. Pushup variations are great for this exact scenario. When
we do pushups they are closed chain, which means the hands are locked into the
ground. Closed chain exercises allow the shoulder blades to move freely to
stabilize the shoulder. Two pushup variations that can be done on the slideboard
are wrist-banded pushups and slideboard pushups. Wrist banded pushups train
the shoulder to stabilize and resist movement while performing a normal pushup.
The resistance of the band wants to pull the arms together.
A slideboard pushup involves one arm staying put and the other arm
reaching out on the board. This forces the shoulder to stabilize while moving the
arm.
Creating strong and stable shoulders is important in preventing further
shoulder injury. These two variations are some of the more difficult but most
effective ways to do it.
Last but not least we can train for core stability on the slideboard. The
slideboard body saw is one of my favorite core exercises, regardless of
equipment. Core stability is insanely important for hockey players because they
spend a lot of time in spinal extension. This hips back and chest up position
creates a larger curve in the low back and can lead to a number of injuries. In a
standing position we can replicate extension by leaning back and allowing the ribs
to flare up. When these athletes are complaining of tightness in the low back, this
position is usually the cause. Add in rotation from shooting and some serious
damage can be done. To counteract the extension of normal play, core control is
essential. One of the major roles of the core is anti-extension which can help
reduce low back pain. A body saw is one way to train this. To perform the body
saw the feet need to be on the board and forearms off the board. Assume a plank
position and move the entire body back and forth, while the arms stay put.
Another exercise to really get the core working on the slideboard is the
flutter. To perform the flutter get into a plank position with both arms on the
board and only move the arms back and forth, in opposition of each other.
Using the slideboard to train the core can be a difference maker. No longer
do situps and crunches get the job done. They do not train stability and put the
spine at risk. Instead, training for stability will make a player perform and resist
injury better.
Conditioning
Hockey is a sport that is based highly off of conditioning. A lot of hockey
conditioning is based on the idea that a shift may last from 30-45 seconds,
followed by a 2-3 minute rest. The only problem with this model is that the
athlete is not necessarily putting in a maximal effort for 45 seconds. A typical shift
involves sprinting, gliding, standing and everything in between. Training these
athletes to go all out for 30 seconds and then rest for 2 minutes is only one part of
the equation. There are three energy systems in the body. The ATP-PC system is
anaerobic in nature, which means it does not use oxygen. The main fuel source
for this system is ATP from creatine phosphate. Our body only has a limited
supply of creatine phosphate and it runs out very quickly. It also takes a long time
to regenerate. This is the main energy system used for short (about 6 seconds),
high intensity bouts of activity. A slap shot or a short sprint utilizes this system.
The second system is the Glycolytic system. This system primarily works from
about 30-120 seconds of moderate intensity. The main fuel source of this system
is lactic acid and it produces a moderate amount of ATP. An example of this is the
typical hockey shift. The last energy system is the Oxidative system, the only
aerobic system. This uses oxygen to burn fat in order to provide energy for the
system. This system provides a lot of ATP for the body, but does it very slowly.
This system allows us to make it through the entire hockey game.
1. Primary Energy Systems for Duration and Intensity
Duration
Intensity
Primary Energy System
0-6 seconds
Extremely High
ATP-PC
6-30 seconds
Very High
ATP- PC and Glycolytic
30-120 seconds
High
Glycolytic
2-3 minutes
Moderate
Glycolytic and Oxidative
>3 minutes
Low
Oxidative
All of the body’s energy systems must be developed to produce a well
conditioned hockey player. If any system is lacking, there will be a decrease in
performance. Using the slideboard, all three energy systems can be developed.
This is accomplished by changing the work bouts, rest intervals, and intensity of
the exercise. The different guidelines and qualities of each system allow one to be
the predominant system being used. At first it may seem like each energy system
works independent of the next one, but that is not the case. They are all working
together no matter what the activity is. When we are setting up the board, the
two ends should be closer together, in one of the middle positions. This will allow
quicker strides as opposed to longer, more powerful ones. The key to conditioning
on the board is to minimize the time spent sliding. This will make the athlete work
a lot harder and more similarly to game speed.
Hockey tends to have along off season, typically spanning from April to
September, in most cases. When it comes to conditioning, we do not want to start
the process right when the season ends. The first few weeks after the season are
for the athletes to recover. April and May would be a good time to hit the
weights and not worry about conditioning. The priority of the offseason for an
athlete should be to give them the best chance to succeed during the next
season. The best strategy for this is building strength and a base of conditioning.
Most hockey players are skating come September and that is the time when
hockey specific skills and conditioning will ramp up. No one gives out any
meaningful awards in the preseason. What follows is a conditioning program
designed to best prepare the athlete for the preseason. The goal is to train the
energy systems as best as possible during the summer in order to allow the
hockey specific stamina to return quickly in September.
See: 12 Weeks of Slideboard Conditioning Intervals
Conclusion
Summer ice time is expensive and hard to find, if available at all. On top of
that, playing hockey year round never gives the body a chance to recover and
develop other athletic skills. When the same movements are constantly
performed and practiced, overuse in the working muscles begins to take place.
Refine your skills in small doses, if necessary, but focus your attention on a variety
of different athletic qualities. The slideboard provides a unique opportunity to
maintain good stride mechanics but also expose the body to new training stimuli
to improve performance.