| One of the physical skills that makes hockey more | | | | When you're good at holding these single leg squats |
| unique than the rest of the majors out there is the | | | | with your eyes closed, try hopping from leg to leg - 30 |
| need to have excellent balance on skates. Whether it's | | | | seconds on one leg, 30 on the other. Go back and |
| carrying the puck in to the zone, working along the | | | | forth as long as you can hold the positions without |
| boards, or even skating back to get in to position to | | | | shaking or losing your balance. As you get better, |
| score, your effectiveness in the game depends largely | | | | extend the hold time. The longer you practice, the |
| on how well balanced you are on your skates (you | | | | better you'll find your balance on skates. |
| can't be all that effective if you're flopping around on | | | | Believe it or not, coaches who incorporate this |
| the blue line). | | | | exercise in to their team's workout regimen actually |
| A great exercise to help improve your balance can | | | | have their players wear their equipment when doing |
| actually be done outside of the rink. Start off by | | | | the reps on dry land so that they're more comfortable |
| standing on one foot with your eyes closed for as long | | | | and better balanced when wearing their gear. I would |
| as you can. Switch legs and try the other side. | | | | recommend trying this out, but I'm not sure how your |
| Comfortable? Great - now repeat and this time try | | | | neighbors would react should they happen to see you |
| and do single-leg squats, flexing your knee to 90 | | | | in a window hopping around with your eyes closed on |
| degrees. Hold the position for 30-seconds and then | | | | one leg while wearing hockey equipment. |
| switch sides. Once comfortable, extend to 60 seconds. | | | | |