Recently, I was talking to an old friend and client, Mauro Simonetti (www.tmscoutingservices.com), about how hockey has evolved (training AND coaching wise) everywhere except here, in Québec. The fact of the matter is that a coach wants to win, often putting aside the fact that what they are really doing is developing young kids and teenagers in the sport of hockey. They will use their best players, setting aside players that needs to get in the game and get experience. For sure, they don’t have the same resources as a professional team, but what they should do is networking. Refer to other professionals like Mauro does. If you see that Jimmy boy lacks starting power, you refer them to a qualified strength coach that could help them with their given weaknesses. If you see that your child’s coach lacks competency and/or resources, don’t wait until your kid gets discouraged. Now the question is what and who to look for. I’ll give you a couple of examples so you could be better armed the next time you interview a strength and conditioning coach/trainer/therapist/nutritionist....
Let’s start with nutrition. This is one of the most important factors of the game! 75% of your results come from your nutrition. If no attention is given on nutrition, especially on young athletes, you’ll have bigger problems in the long run. While training Martin Brodeur this past season, he told me that even in the NHL, not too much attention is given on nutrition and supplementation. Players are on their own, concerning food choices, caloric needs.....He had to suggest to head coach Brent Sutter that something has to change in the post practice/game buffet offered in the lockers. Change they did, no more pastries, more healthy food choices like veggies, meat and healthy sandwiches. When it comes to Hockey, Brodeur is a great leader and is the best of best. He knew that he had to change his habits in order to play better, and for everyone on his team to stay focused and to be at their best. Needless to say that everyone should make sure that their caloric needs are answered, a balance of the right kind of Protein, Carbohydrates (I’m not talking about pasta after a game) and fat are essential for recovery after hard practices, off ice training, and games. If a trainer does not speak about food choices, or give a nutrition plan, I suggest that you find yourself someone with better qualifications.
Then there is the strength and conditioning part. My approach when I greet a client for the first time is to evaluate extensively for muscular imbalances, alignment and flexibility, Bio signature and nutritional status. This will prevent further injuries and pinpoint the weaknesses I have to work on before moving to the other objective. For example, food intolerance or allergies can impair the athlete’s performance a great deal. They are found immediately to make sure the athlete performs at his best from the get go. By doing an evaluation, I make sure that my programs are safe and effective and are tailored to the athletes needs. When you consult a strength coach, make sure that the program is individualized, specific to your needs and goals. Now days, the trend is to get them in groups and divide them in speed groups, strength groups and stability groups. So whoever needs to work on their strength, are grouped up together...and so on. The problem with that is no one is built the same, coordination, muscle maturity and experience is influenced by the age of the trainee. So they have greater risk of injuries, and your investment could go down the drain in a matter of minutes, one bad move and it’s over.
Let’s take a look at the most common and the most difficult to manage injury in hockey, the groin pull or strain. The abductors (muscle on the side of the leg) and the hip extensors (glutes and hamstrings) work together on the push off phase and the hip flexors (psoas and adductors) when you come back from the push off. A groin strain usually involves muscles of the hip flexors or the adductors. These muscle groups are all involved in the skating stride, but any imbalance in strength and/or flexibility could possibly and most often will result in an injury. That is when the evaluation comes in handy. Proper off-season conditioning can help address those muscular imbalances.
There is also a trend going on around the speed, agility and quickness (SAQ) training. I want to show you some false claims on popular hockey training.
Reaction time drills; in gifted individuals, it is improvable by a mere 10% and if lucky, 20% in motor morons. So trying to sell parents that they will greatly improve their reaction time (I’ve seen some coach’s state as much as 150%) is a complete fraud. There are 3 types of reaction drills, audio, visual and kinaesthetic. One popular drill in the hockey training circle is the reaction bands, which is kinaesthetic. But the definition of Kinaesthetic is the reaction time it takes to react after being hit. Does it improve your ability to move a puck around....?
Speed ladders and hurdles; any specialist in psychomotor learning will agree with this one, Coordination is 95 % established by age 12. So promising more than 10% improvement is downright fraud. ‘’ Getting better at a skill only means getting better at this particular skill.’’ Quoted by world renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin, ‘’ Does this skill transfer to another skill? Probably not, even in a very similar skill. This is why great boxers don’t necessarily make great karate fighters and vice versa. How many skilled badminton players are great at tennis? Training on speed ladder does nothing to improve quick feet for anything else than the speed ladder.’’
Another common mistake coaches make is a lack of a good individualized flexibility program; in hockey a player spends most of the time bent forward. This position tightens up all the hip flexors and makes the upper body postural muscles very weak. This results in an anterior pelvis rotation and a bad posture. In other words, forward rotation of the pelvis will reduce speed, power and acceleration. With these postural problems, I also see tight gluts and hamstrings involved in the push off phase of the skating stride. A combination of strengthening, stretching and myofascial release techniques will help resolve those problems.
Those are a few common structural problems that I see in hockey players. An experienced talent evaluator and a certified strength coach will help you find those weaknesses. I know it’s hard to realize the importance of fixing those issues but the results are dramatic when it comes to building speed, power, coordination and acceleration. In addition to a good nutrition, strength and conditioning program, the whole package will start to show quickly, the athlete becomes stronger, will have more confidence, better skills and improve performance. Just take a serious look at what a good strength training program will do to help your child, physically and mentally. If your child is not strong and flexible, no matter what skating and agility program they try to do, the skating stride will be affected and they won’t absorb the full potential of those skating lessons. Contact us today and see how we can help your child or even yourself be a better hockey player.
Eric Falstrault is a Montreal based strength and conditioning coach, Naturopath, Sport Therapist and founder of BODHI Fit. Certified level 3 in the PICP (Poliquin International Certification Program) a high level certification program that has proved its grounds on every aspects of the iron game. With numerous internships done with Charles Poliquin (founder of the PICP and world renown Strength Coach) and Nelson Ayotte (strength and conditioning coach of the St-Louis Blues) to name a few. Eric has worked with athletes of all levels, from youth sports to professionals in the NHL such as Martin Brodeur from the New Jersey devils. To have a private consultation or have personalized program, you can reach him by Email: falstrault@gmail.com or he can be reached at the Leonardo Da Vinci Center 514-955-8370
No comments:
Post a Comment