Hockey players use hip flexor muscles to fire them around the ice, making stellar play after play. The importance of one legged actions has been noted by several hockey conditioning coaches as a key factor in the development of several on-ice actions.
While one legged strength movements such as squats and lunges are fantastic, agility and quickness dry land skills on one leg also reap fantastic dividends.
Planting on one foot, then changing direction is a key athletic action. More specific, moving laterally, then planting and reversing directing, helps increase balance, stability, and single leg strength. Here are some training tips to follow to make planting work for you:
- Step over multiple barriers (such as hurdles) laterally that requires your to raise your knee to work a lot of hip action
- Always land on your 'power pads' (toes), not flat footed
- When making the plant to change directions, make it light (NOT hard!)
- Experiment with planting to change directions at different speeds, from a quick pause (touch, and change directions fast) to a delayed pause (touch, balance on one foot monetarily, and change directions)
Add these simple tips to your training arsenal to help increase your on ice ability!
