I met my Russian friend and fellow coach, Alex, within another mutual friend's awesome Facebook group, the Hockey Coaches & Players Drills Forum. There, we and a host of other hockey coaches often share articles, drills, tips, and videos (like the one below).
-- Dennis Chighisola
An Unbelievable Hockey Workout -- Russian Style
To begin, let me advise my fellow coaches that much of what you'll see in Alex's video is pretty stressful, some of the drills are liable to be dangerous, and the entire workout is mainly geared for older players -- I'd say at least Bantams and older. I wanted to show you this videos for a couple of reasons, though. First, I think it will give the head coach of an older team some interesting -- and maybe even fun -- ideas to mix with the same old, same old hockey drilling (I think my players have gotten a whole lot more from exercises that were different, and from ones that maybe even caused them to laugh as they busted their buns). Secondly, although your first impression might be that you can't afford the gear being used in this video, guess again. Most of it can be made at little to no cost. Third, while Alex offers some great clips within the video, I think I might be able to help you further by suggesting ways you can actually administer the various drills. So, with that, let's take a look at some awesome footage, before I offer my two cents worth... 1) In the first exercise, we saw individual players swinging what appear to be sandbags (I'm sure they are). That there would be some slight strength gain -- and some good core work -- should be obvious. But to me the main idea is for a player to learn to deal with external forces in/from many different directions. I mean, on the latter, there are going to be jolting movements as each swing of the sandbag ends, and the player has to deal with those, just as he would during game action. If you noticed, the players had to wrestle with their balance on their skates, as well, both in place and while on the move. Again, the external weight is moving, which causes the player to have to constantly adjust. (Man, can you feel those core muscles wrenching?) 2) In just a brief segment, pairs of players are shown tossing and catching what appears to be a smaller sandbag or medicine ball. This is a common plyometric and core exercise, with separate benefits in generating force to toss the bag and then receive it. 3) Although bungee cords have always been a staple in my hockey schools and team practices, incorporating the shooting motion as shown in this video is new to me. I kinda like that one. For sure, there's more core work going on here. My guess is that a player also has to generate quite a bit of force -- and he has to do it quickly -- while he's simultaneously wrestling with the rope. However, what I really like is the way dealing with the bungee rope sort of simulates the difficulties of shooting during real game action. In other words, players seldom get to stand prettily and shoot during a game, but more often have to pull the trigger quickly under all sorts of conditions. 4) In another short segment, we see a player skating away from the boards against the resistance of a bungee rope. I've used this one plenty, oftentimes to help a player build leg strength as he works against the rope. If you watch that sequence again, though, you ought to notice a number of added benefits. Appreciate that any time a player is being aided by that large elastic -- in this case being pulled backward, there is a brief over-speed training effect. In other words, the rope is giving the player the sensation of going faster than he would without assistance. I'm not saying that there's much over-speed work going on in this particular exercise -- I don't think that's the point. But I do want to let you know that I've turned my players around in the bungees on occasion, whereby they skate forward while getting kinda sling-shotted out at a faster than normal speed. As I mentioned in some of the other exercises, the player is also being jerked a bit at times as he changes directions. I've heard that old Soviet coaches used to have some control over the ropes in a similar exercise, and they'd exert a really forceful jerking motion on a player so as to simulate his taking a body-check. Lastly, although I've never done it before, I'd be inclined to use an exercise like this one for conditioning. Watching it again, I see how stressful it is, and imagine that having a player keep doing those movements for a good 20-seconds or so would really prepare him well for the game. 5) Once again, a player is attached to a bungee, this time quickly demonstrating his agility and touching one post, another, and another. What you can't see (and might not be able to replicate) are computer run lights that are going off at the top of each post. In other words, the player is watching a given light go off, he reacts and tags it, and then reacts again to tag the next light. With that, the computer is able to read how quickly the player is able to react within that course. (I saw a similar computerized device in Moscow many years ago, but it was being used to test basketball player reactions.) 6) In yet another brief clip, we see two players reacting to the computerized lights while also playing tag. I mentioned the benefits of playing tag in another recent post, but let me reaffirm that here. For, as far as I'm concerned, that simple game is the closest we can come to simulating all the crazy movements and reactions a player has to do during a game. 7) Aaaah, I love it that the next segment shows pairs of players reacting to the computerized lights and then executing a body-check any chance they get. If you think about it, situations like the dodging and weaving shown in the earlier drill, and the body contact shown in this one, happen in a blink of any eye. So, while you might not have access to the computer device shown here, it might do some good to think long and hard about somehow recreating similar conditions. I mean, have a pair of players slightly distracted by one challenge, while at the same time offering an opportunity for the two to body-check one another (or to avoid the other's attempts at a hit). 8) Yet another clip shows using the computerized lights to time players doing rink-long sprints and other skating maneuvers. And again, trying to think of a way to get by without the expensive gear, I'd probably suggest the coach use a whistle to have players quickly react in various ways. 9) Once again the computer is used, this time for timing players over the length of the ice. Of course, there is some human error in using a stopwatch to time such an event. However, I've actually used the stopwatch feature on one of my video cameras to get exact measurements. And, with the video, I can later even count the number of strides a player used over the distance, and -- knowing the distance covered, I can compute his stride length and stride frequency. 10) I don't blame my friend for showing off his computerized system once again. However, with a little more work, we could measure our player's quickness through a similar zig-zag agility course.
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Okay, not every coach is going to have access to my friend's Fitlight, but we can make a number of the training aids shown in his video, and quite likely wow both our players and their parents...
I've made many of my own sandbags, and in numerous ways...
A few years ago, I ordered a huge quantity of vinyl, woven bags on-line, these sold to be filled with sand and used for damming flood areas, what have you. If there's a problem with these bags, the mesh fabric allows the sand to escape rather easily. So, I filled small plastic bags with sand first, and then stuffed those inside the larger sandbag. I kept a scale close by, so that I could make bags in various weights (with the weight written on the outside of each bag). Once a bag was sealed, I used Duct Tape to strengthen the ends.
I actually filled a couple of bags a little differently...
In one arrangement, I'd leave lots of extra room inside the larger bag, so that the smaller bags of sand could actually shift around as the player moved. Picture that challenge, if you will, in that the player had to additionally deal with surprise shifts in the load as he was concentrating on the main exercise.
I also made some closer to a tube shape, this so a player could drape the bag around his neck (or more specifically, across his shoulders). Care must be taken so as not to place a load on the spine, meaning that jumping or performing some other movements could be dangerous using a loaded barbell. Sometimes I'd have my players wear weighted vests for such exercises, but I felt the tube type bag was also fairly safe.
Believe it or not, I also made bags that looked an awful lot like those shown in the earliest drills. For this, I cut an auto tire inner tube in half, I threaded some nylon rope through it, filled the inside of the half-tube with sand, and then fastened the ends with automotive hose clamps. Once again, I secured the outside ends with Duct Tape. And, like the bags shown in that video, the rope through the tube formed a loop that could be held like a handle.
Medicine balls aren't as expensive as one might think. The problem is in having enough on hand to satisfy what needs to get done. So, while I had quite a few of these in different weights in The Motion Lab back in MA, I think I'd make my own this next time around here in Florida -- and I'd make them similar to the above one, but fatter, and minus the ropes.
Aaaaah, the bungee ropes...
The very first ones I owned were purchased for A LOT OF MONEY from a local marine supply store. As I'd learned, elasticized ropes -- of all different thicknesses and strengths -- are used often on boats.
A number of years later, I caught my good friend, the late John Cunniff, giving a presentation on dryland training. What John had his young demonstrators using were homemade bungees, composed of bicycle tubes tied together in whatever length he needed. Since then, that's all I've used. In fact, I kept of tub of old tubes on hand in The Motion Lab, so that I could quickly make any kind of new bungee type device that came to mind.
In closing, one of my many favorite mottoes is, "Where there's a will, there's a way." Of course, that begins with the premise that, "A coach has to really care in order to give his or her players the very best training possible."
A number of years ago, I did a post here jokingly titled, "We Recycle!" What that was really about was the way I'd often build some awesome training aids from materials that would otherwise be thrown out. And, trust me on this one, in that your local auto mechanic will be thrilled if you'll take a bunch of used tubes or tires off his hands. So would the local bike shop owner be glad to give you all the tires and tubes he has on hand. In most instances, such establishments now have to pay to have such materials removed from their premises.
