| Many girls' hockey players dream of playing like the | | | | watching on TV for years walked in at 7 a.m. ready to |
| 'pros' they idolize. They spend hours practicing the | | | | train. I expected to see these elite athletes perform |
| same moves as Olympians and NHLers and wear | | | | complex exercises and drills that I had never seen |
| their same numbers. If they are emulating their heros | | | | before. |
| on the ice, should they try to do the same off the ice? | | | | You could imagine my surprise when these |
| If a young female hockey player wants to 'play like a | | | | professional athletes began doing the EXACT SAME |
| pro', should she 'train like a pro' as well? | | | | WORKOUT that the group of 13 year olds would be |
| A few years back, when I was fresh out of university | | | | doing later that afternoon! Sure, the speed and |
| and still relatively new to training young athletes, my | | | | precision with which the exercises were executed |
| answer to that question would have been 'NO'. | | | | was greater by the pros, but the exercises were |
| Intuitively, it seemed like a bad idea to have girls doing | | | | fundamentally the same as those done by the young |
| the same workouts as elite players, as they lack the | | | | players! |
| athletic experience and lifestyle patterns conducive to | | | | Why were all the players doing the same exercises, |
| high-level training. | | | | irrespective of age and ability? |
| Although my first instinct used to be to say that girls' | | | | They were building and reinforcing a solid foundation of |
| hockey players should not train like the pros, my mind | | | | strength and stability. |
| has been changed. In fact, when talking about certain | | | | I have recently begun working with the Canada's |
| aspects of player development, my answer is | | | | Under-18 Program and have had the opportunity to |
| unequivocally 'YES'. | | | | train the best young female hockey players this |
| Coaches, parents and players in girls' hockey seem to | | | | country has to offer. These athletes have been |
| think that there is some 'mystery formula' that they | | | | hand-picked out of a pool of 12,000 as the 40 best |
| must follow in order to get to the highest levels of | | | | players in their age group. The training programs that |
| performance. And there is - you have to 'train like a | | | | we are using with these girls (most of whom have |
| pro'. | | | | never done any hockey-specific off-ice training before) |
| But training like a pro does NOT mean that you need | | | | are extremely similar to the ones being used by the |
| to lift huge weights or train until exhaustion. | | | | Senior National Team. Again, the weights and the |
| In fact, it often means lifting no weights at all and | | | | speed may be different, but the same fundamental |
| working smarter (instead of harder). | | | | principles apply. |
| I have had the opportunity to work with a number of | | | | I realize that every player is unique and has individual |
| world-renowned hockey strength and conditioning | | | | needs that must be specifically addressed in order to |
| gurus and hundreds of elite male and female hockey | | | | reach their full athletic potential on and off the ice. That |
| players over the last 10 years and I have seen a | | | | being said, all players must use the same muscles and |
| pattern emerge. | | | | movements to play hockey and will therefore have |
| It all started 6 years ago... | | | | very similar needs in terms of building a solid foundation |
| On the day after my college graduation, I started my | | | | of strength and stability. |
| internship with one of the world's leading experts on | | | | Every player must be strong and stable through their |
| the off-ice development of elite hockey players. In | | | | shoulders, core, knees and hips. Young female hockey |
| addition to having the chance to work with the young | | | | players must put that solid foundation in place in order |
| players for upwards of 10 hours a day, I had the | | | | to progress to elite levels of performance, and the |
| amazing opportunity to watch this guru train a group of | | | | 'pros' must constantly reinforce these strength and |
| professional players every morning. I not only got to | | | | stability needs throughout their careers in order to |
| learn about the advanced training techniques that | | | | maintain an elite level of performance. |
| allowed these athletes to reach the highest levels of | | | | If Olympians and NHL players are diligently performing |
| success in their sport, but I got to see a true strength | | | | the same basic fundamental exercises year after |
| and conditioning guru in action. | | | | year, shouldn't every aspiring player do the same? |
| On the first day that the summer training program | | | | Maybe 'training like the pros' isn't such a bad idea after |
| began, a group of professional players that I had been | | | | all. |