Rocket Man (and Asymmetrics)

In the event you didn’t yet see the following video, let me first introduce the so-called “Rocket Man”…

Well, you’re there now — at the described link, and I’m about to tell you more…

Now, I believe I came across the term “asymmetric” (as in movements) in something I read or heard from the late, great hockey analyst, Howie Meeker. It was sometime during the early 1970s, I believe, when he used that term to describe the reasoning behind a drill the old Soviets were doing during their on-ice warmups. I don’t think he was sure at first glance, but he came to understand there was some serious meaning behind the Soviet skaters moving down the ice and dribbling a puck while raising and lowering to one knee then the other and the other. Can you picture what it was that Meeker was seeing — and describing?

I don’t think Old Howie was much into the sciences, but he was nonetheless a pretty sharp cookie. And it was just a matter of time before he conveyed the idea of it being difficult for players to perform several movements at once. So again, I’m comparing a skater’s controlling the puck with his hands and moving the body up and down with that earlier described party game.

If you plug “asymmetric” into this site’s search box, you’ll find at least two pretty good posts with lots of ideas for dealing with the challenges at hand. For the sake of non-members, though, I’m not going to disappoint…

I hope you’ll agree that, it would be foolish to copy exactly the series of moves demonstrated by my so-called Rocket Man. Naw, no two situations are ever going to arise exactly the same. That being the case then, I much prefer to deal with the asymmetric challenge on a broader scale.

One aside here… Maybe because of my video and this article, you’re mindful of this asymmetric challenge, and maybe you’re also going to now recognize something I usually spot right off the bat. What I mean is, in a player’s first try at dribbling while moving up and down on the knees, that player will very frequently stop dribbling as the body moves. That’s because the player wants to deal with each of the movements separately. So, players have to challenge themselves by performing the several movements at once, and never allowing one of the movements to stop.

Okay, so I’m going to now suggest that performing almost any couple of physical challenges at the same time will do the trick. I mean, whether on or off the ice, one could dribble a puck or ball while moving up and down, he could hop on two feet while dribbling, hop on one foot then the other while dribbling, kick one leg and then the other while dribbling, and maybe jog in place while dribbling.

If you want to really up the challenge, I’ve had players step up and down on a box while dribbling, or even jump a long jumprope while dribbling.

Things can be made more challenging — and maybe more game related — by having a player perform any one of the above noted body movements while also passing a puck or ball with a teammate.

Okay, I think most folks reading this should have the picture, and be capable of designing their own drills to meet the asymmetric challenge. And, as always, I’m always here or over in the Ask The Coach area to help you further.