In order to play hockey properly, you’ve got to have bad posture - but that doesn’t mean that you want to have bad posture away from the rink as well. In this video, I will show you why all girls hockey players need to have bad posture on the ice, but I am also going to show you 2 ways to fix it off the ice.

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Now that the hockey season is in full swing, most teams have at least a couple of games and practices per week. Coaches usually give their players a day off after a tough weekend to let their bodies have some rest.  But should girls hockey players actually be using that day as a full out “rest” day, or is there some sort of off-ice activity that they should be doing that will not burn them out, but will at the same time improve their fitness for the rest of the season?

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It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and I’m busy helping Team Ontario’s Under-18 teams with their final tune-up camp before they play in the National Championships in November. The teams have just one exhibition game and three on-ice practice sessions to get all of their systems and strategies in place before competing on the national stage.

It definitely isn’t ideal to have only a few practices to get everyone on the same page. But the toughest part is that all 3 of those prep practices are on the SAME DAY!

What can these coaches and players do to stay energized and focused for all three on-ice sessions?

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This weekend, I am going to be at one of the premiere hockey tournaments for elite girl’s hockey players just outside of Toronto.

40 midget-aged teams will be competing to take home the tournament title.

700 players will be looking to impress the many university scouts who will be on hand.

Some teams will play 6 or more games in a 3 day period.

That’s a lot of high-intensity playing in a short period of time and players need to make sure that they are doing everything they can to succeed.

Here are 4 keys to having your best tournament possible:

1) Warm-Up

In order to play your best in every game of the tournament, you have to do an off-ice warm-up. This could be as simple as doing 5 minutes of jogging, jumping jacks and lunges. It is easy to let this slide as the tournament wears on, but it will make a huge difference on how you feel when you step out on the ice.

2) Drink more water

Most hockey players don’t drink enough water. Although most players do a decent job of sipping on water bottles during the game, it is the amount of water that you drink in between games that is going to make the biggest difference in your performance. Make sure that you have a water bottle with you at all times and drink from it constantly. Even if you aren’t thirsty, drink more water.

3) Stay away from the snack bar

I usually refer to the rink snack bar as a “nutritional wasteland”. Typically, everything there is deep-fried or pre-packaged. The best solution to tournament nutrition is to bring healthy options with you — but if you need to go to the drive-thru in between games, at least make sure that you are making the healthiest choices possible.

4) Stretch more

Most hockey players don’t stretch enough. This can be a huge problem during tournament time because of the high volume of high-intensity games. It is unrealistic to expect players to go through a complete 20 minute stretching routine in between games, but performing a few hockey-specific stretches will go a long way to preventing soreness and maximizing performance.

Take the time to address these 4 key areas of performance and you will be well on your way to having your best tournament ever.

Until next time,

Kim

Groin “pulls” are extremely common in young hockey players, especially at the beginning of the season. I spent 2 hours doing off-ice training at my friend Dave’s hockey school yesterday, and 4 players complained that they had “pulled” their groin on the first day of training camp.

The truth is that what players think is a “pull” is usually just a case of their groin muscles being sore and tired.

With each and every stride a player takes, the groin muscles get stretched. But those same muscles are also partially responsible for stopping the leg at the end of the stride, so that the groin doesn’t stretch too far.

So when players start skating after a long summer layoff, with the high frequency and intensity demanded during the pre-season, it makes sense that they might experience both soreness and tightness in their groin.

It takes time for a player’s “hockey muscles” to get used to the high workload, and during the adaptation period, the soreness and tightness might persist.

So what can a player do to prevent the dreaded pre-season groin “pull”?

A Simple Groin Stretch

Here is a simple stretch that players can use to alleviate soreness and tightness in their groin muscles throughout the pre-season.

Start out on your hands and knees. Slowly move your knees as wide apart as possible while keeping your toes pointing out to the side. Use your hands to support yourself in this position and then push your body back towards your feet slightly to increase the stretch. If this bothers your knees, bring your feet closer together. Hold for 1 minute.

Remember - Stretching is NOT a competitive sport. You aren’t trying out for Cirque du Soleil. The goal is to get the best stretch you can on that given day, not to stretch further than you’ve ever gone before. Go to the point where you feel a comfortable stretch and hold it for between 1-2 minutes. If you find yourself breathing heavily, turning red in the face or straining after only 10 seconds, you need to back it off a little bit!

Hockey-specific stretches, like the one shown above, can go a long way towards preventing players from sustaining an actual groin “pull” and help them to alleviate the soreness and tightness that comes from using those muscles at a high intensity and frequency in the pre-season.

Don’t forget to stretch if you want to feel and perform your best this pre-season.

Until next time,

Kim

In over 10 years of training young hockey players, I have NEVER met a player who didn’t have tight hip flexors.

In the last month alone, I have worked with over 500 aspiring female players, and shown them a hockey-specific stretching routine.

500 out of 500 players had tight hip flexors.

Since the hip flexors are the main muscles you use to drive your knees forward while skating, they get tighter with every stride you take. Couple this with the fact that players spend the majority of their day sitting in school, in the car or in front of the computer and you can see why these muscles stay in a shortened position.

Why should you worry about hip flexor tightness?

Because they are the #1 cause of low back pain in young hockey players.

The hip flexor muscles attach on the front of the upper leg, but they originate from the lower back. So as the hip flexors become progressively more tight, they pull more and more on the lower back. This constant tension leads to irritation in the muscles and joints of the lower back and ultimately leads to back pain.

The solution to this problem is simple:

Stretch Your Hip Flexors!

You don’t need to wait until the season starts…

I guarantee you that your hip flexors could use a great stretch right now!

Two short minutes of hockey-specific stretching can help you avoid a season of back pain.

A pretty easy decision to make.

Until next time,

Kim

Most hockey players look relaxed and natural when they are jogging. But as soon as they have to break into a full-out sprint, the “true hockey player” inside of them comes out.

All of a sudden, their arms are swinging across the body and their stride is a mess. The tightness in their “hockey muscles” (specifically in their chest and hip flexors) is preventing them from sprinting properly.

Being able to sprint properly is a fundamental athletic skill. That doesn’t mean that you need to run out and join the track team, but running more efficiently will make you a better athlete and a better player.

Here are 2 simple “quick fixes” that players can keep in mind when running this summer:

(Warning: These 2 pointers are a little quirky - but trust me, players won’t forget them!)

1) Elbow Someone Behind You
To make sure my athletes are moving their arms forwards and backwards while sprinting (instead of across their body), I tell them to imagine that they are trying to elbow someone behind them as they run. It’s silly, simple and it works.

2) Squeeze Your Butt
Stay with me on this one.

The reason that most players have inefficient running strides is that their super-tight hip flexors prevent them from being able to fire their glute (butt) muscles. So instead of using their glutes to extend their leg behind their body, they arch their lower back. This causes a lot of stress to the lower back and is a major cause of back pain in young players.

The solution? Squeeze your butt. In addition to strengthening the legs and hips through training and lengthening the hip flexors through hockey-specific stretching, players must also consciously think about squeezing their butt in order to bring their leg behind their body when sprinting. This will take some getting used to - but it definitely works.

Hockey players may not be sprinters (in the true sense of the word), but they must be able to run efficiently in order to take their off-season training and on-ice performance to the next level.

Until next time,

Kim

You have started your new off-season training program - but do you get the sneaking suspicion that you are forgetting something?

Most players have no problem completing the warm-up, speed, strength and conditioning components of the program.

But the stretching program always seems to fall by the wayside.

There are a few reasons for this, but the most common one is that…

Most people tend to “forget” to do whatever comes last in their training program.

You see this all the time in commercial gyms. Most people leave their “ab” training for the end of their workout - and then never actually do the exercises! It is certainly no coincidence that most people are extremely weak and unstable through their core.

When it comes to stretching, young hockey players are even worse that adults and their “abs”.

You may not have had time to stretch after games and practices in-season. You may have had to run off to the next activity or get back home for bed. Like the majority of young players - you just didn’t stretch enough this winter.

But what about now???

Can you find an extra 15 minutes at the end of your workout or at the end of your day to stretch?

What about 10 minutes or even just 5 minutes?

What if I guaranteed you that spending a few minutes each day stretching the muscles that are most critical for young hockey players would not only make you feel better, but also allow you to perform better?

Can you find the time to stretch now?

Don’t forget!

See you on Friday,

Kim

Most young female hockey players stretch incorrectly and are making themselves tighter and more injury prone.

Players typically fall into 1 of 4 categories:

1) They don’t stretch.
Girls’ hockey players are naturally more flexible than boys. But this does not mean that they are exempt from stretching. Even the most flexible athletes in the world still stretch. Stretching is a critical component of all-around fitness and neglecting this component can lead to injuries in both the short and long term.

2) They do the stretches wrong
Most young players are never taught how to stretch properly.

Holding a stretch for only 10 or 15 seconds doesn’t actually relax the muscle - it actually makes it tighter!
Most players spend 10 seconds trying to force themselves into a uncomfortable position instead of relaxing into a proper stretch.

Stretching is NOT a competitive sport. You aren’t trying to outdo your teammate or stretch the farthest you’ve ever stretched each time. The goal is to maximize the effects for your body on that given day. You just want to go to the point where you feel a comfortable and sustainable stretch. A good guideline is that players should be able to hold the stretch comfortably for between 1-2 minutes. If they are straining and struggling after 20 seconds, they have gone too far.

3) They do the wrong stretches
Most young players spend the majority of their stretching time focusing on muscles that are already loose!

A player who has excellent flexibility in her hamstrings is more likely to spend time stretching these muscles rather than focusing on her tight quadriceps muscles.

Why would she do this?

Because it is easier.

Most players want to avoid pain. Players are much less likely to spend their stretching time performing more difficult and painful stretches. If she finds the hamstring stretch quite comfortable, she will likely stay away from the more ‘painful’ quadriceps stretches that she desperately needs.

4) They stretch at the wrong time
A great number of teams and players do static (stationary) stretching as part of their warm-up routines - and this is probably the worst time to static stretch! Players muscles’ need to be maximally activated before heading out on the ice - and static stretching relaxes the muscles. Static stretching is great, but it should be left for after the training session.

Now that the off-season is upon us, it is a terrific time for girls to address the tightness issues that are common to most players. There are 9 main muscle groups that young hockey players should stretch in order to maximize their performance and decrease their chance of injury.

Here is a list of the muscles players MUST stretch (in decreasing order of importance):

1) Hip Flexors
2) Glutes
3) Chest
4) Quadriceps
5) Groin
6) Low Back
7) Hamstrings
Forearms
9) Calves

That may seem like a lot. But if players devote 1 minute per day to stretching each of these muscles, they can be done in less than 20 minutes. And truth be told, even if they can only spend 5 minutes focusing on stretching the first three muscle groups in the list properly, they will be miles ahead of players who are not stretching at all!

Stretching is a key component of athletic performance and cannot be neglected. Any player looking to take their game to the next level must make proper and targeted stretching a part of their daily training routine.

In tomorrow’s entry, I will discuss another critical component of the off-season training program that is often neglected - fitness testing.

Until next time,

Kim