Challenging Hockey Balance
I was going to share this video with members, mainly because it demonstrates a cute way a trainer is challenging hockey balance in a player. I was also going to offer a few suggestions, which I still intend to do. That said, what got me rushing even faster to my keyboard were some comments added under that video where I posted it in social media. Grrrrr….
As I so often like to do, I’m going to have members view the video first, and then add my impressions after. You at least have some advanced notice here, about the gist of this being for challenging hockey balance…
Okay, up front, I’m not a big fan of the treadmill. Nor would I be all that much in favor of doing that drill on the treadmill. Still, I hope members notice the challenges that are taking place throughout that video when it comes to hockey balance. Ya, I kinda like that.
Still, when I went to the original post — in another area, I noticed the first comment was from a guy who wasn’t even paying attention to the balance drill, but instead focusing on the young skater’s stride.
Hmmmm… The guy said something to the effect that the boy’s arms should never move across his body, which sent me scrambling to find an article I’d done a while back on “The Hockey Skater’s Thrust and Shoulder Movements“. I’m hoping the guys in that stream use that link, and I hope readers here will, too.
Now, here’s the part that caused me to “Grrrrrr…” a little up in the introduction…
After a time, a guy started his string of comments with not liking the treadmill, but he quickly went on to suggest that the coach in that video is dangerously throwing the ball at the boy’s head. A few comments later, I finally realized that the guy was almost paranoid about the potential for concussions. He didn’t like that label, though, and instead suggested he was cautious. He went on to say that his girls’ team had recently won a big championship, and he then mentioned that two of his girls had sustained concussions during the past season.
Hmmmmm… Two girls playing in a non-body-checking league ended up with concussions? Well, I’d have to ask how those things came about. I mean, is it possible both players fell, thus hitting their heads on the ice or on the boards? Is there another way to hit the head hard, or in a way that might result in a concussion? If there is, I hope someone will please tell me.
What I’m getting at here is hockey balance — as in B-A-L-A-N-C-E. In other words, the reason a player falls or crashes into the boards is ultimately because of a lack of balance. I don’t care if he or she is tripped, charged at, or anything else either legal or illegal, the resulting spill has to do with balance.
Please picture this for a moment, if you would… I mean, picture a great player pulling a highlight reel rush up the ice. Dollars to donuts that player is going to need to deal with all sorts of challenges, from errant sticks to nasty opponents. And he is more likely than not to even be fouled or close to fouled on the way. The player I’m envisioning almost falls a number of times, but he always seems to right himself, so he can continue on.
With all that, can the reader understand why I might have suggested to the commenter in question, that his girls might not have been challenged enough in practice? Ya, that’s what I think, and that’s how I’ve always thought as I put my practices together. For sure I’m into safety. However, the only way I feel my players will be safe in their games is if I somehow find a way to provide near-game conditions or real challenges for them in their practices.
Thankfully, a more positive guy ultimately chimed in, telling me that he works at home on such challenges with his young player. As he told it, his little guy dribbles while balancing on a Bosu thingy (you know, an air filled pillow), and then the dad prods the boy with a tennis racquet. Sure, that would help his son’s balance, but I came back with something that might be more fun and even safer….
What my staff and I used for a lot of years were the long foam swimmingpool noodles that we could hold and handle a lot like hockey sticks. With those, we could nudge our students, hack at their sticks, legs and arms, and even do some slightly illegal things. The kids actually loved it — knowing they weren’t going to be hurt. All the while we were really challenging their hockey balance, and readying them well for what was ahead for them in competition.
With that, the Skating and Puckhandling sections of this site are loaded with more ideas for helping kids with their hockey balance. As a matter of fact, my practices and skills programs had kids dealing in off-balance postures as they made and caught passes, and as they ripped shots on-goal, those also covered in the Passing & Receiving section and the Shooting & Scoring section.
In closing, I hate it when someone attempts to hijack a good social media stream, as the earlier mentioned guy seemed to do. It wouldn’t take rocket science for anyone to realize that the big, soft ball the coach in the video was tossing couldn’t hurt a flea. Now, though, my real hope is that more guys will offer some good ideas to be shared with others. I’m also hoping viewers here will do the same below, and share some ideas others can use to improve their players’ hockey balance.
