| Hockey drills aren't something that you have to leave | | | | teammate that you can race against, but if you're by |
| behind when you step off the ice. There are plenty of | | | | yourself you can just try and beat your own time. All |
| ways that players serious about improving their game | | | | you need is somewhere you have room to run and |
| can work themselves off of the ice to simulate on ice | | | | set up a net. Set up a net with four targets and a set |
| situations, and to make gains in the areas that really | | | | of pucks (or balls). Then set a marker at least 100m |
| matter during games. Here are some great drills you | | | | away. The goal of the drill is to do four sprints to the |
| can do off-ice to make your a more dominant player | | | | 100m mark and back, hitting one of the targets each |
| when you hit the rink. | | | | time. Keep track of times and always try and beat |
| Interval Running | | | | your last best time. |
| Interval running (or stationary biking) is a great dryland | | | | Inline Drills |
| exercise because it'll improve your speed and | | | | One great way of conditioning yourself during the |
| quickness, and also help condition you for games. You | | | | off-season is to strap on a good pair of inline skates |
| can do ladder drills where you change the duration of | | | | and simulate your on-ice drills that way. The stride you'll |
| work and rest as you go, or you can do set period | | | | use on inline skates is slightly different to that of ice |
| intervals. A great one to do is 45 seconds of hard | | | | skates, and you'll need a couple sessions to adjust, but |
| work followed by about a minute and a half of lower | | | | the muscles you use for both is exactly the same. |
| intensity work. This simulates the real life intervals you | | | | That means for fitness and conditioning purposes, inline |
| experience in a game with shifts and bench rest. | | | | skates are a perfect substitute for ice skate and will |
| Shooting Races | | | | work all the same muscles you need for game time. |
| This one is great to do if you're training with a | | | | |