Sports Realm

End of practice, it’s time for “bag skating”. Coaches want to instill a strong work ethic in their players to develop a season-long conditioning. Developing proper endurance will be crucial for late-season playoff games. So we have our players skate ladders: red line to red line, blue line to blue. Back and forth. No breaks. Breaks are for weak players, right? Better to skate them until they can barely move.

The problem is that “bag skating” doesn’t actually help your players as much as you think. If you want to help them develop explosive speed and not just long-term endurance, it’s important for players to practice like they’re going to play in the game. Endurance Conditioning sessions must be planned out, just as skill sessions are, if you want your team to play at peak performance.

The end of each practice is the perfect opportunity for coaches to focus on increasing the endurance levels of his/her players. However, the coach must remember the foundation of hockey training: intervals.

Interval Training: The Key To Developing Game-Winning Conditioning

Interval Training is foundation on which we build game-winning stamina and endurance. Understanding the concept of the work-to-rest ratio is critical to developing an optimal conditioning program.

Hockey games are characterized by two distinct periods: high-intensity “work” and low-intensity “rest”. It’s not like track or cross country where we run almost constantly. We’re not training for a marathon here. A typical hockey shift is 45 seconds in length. If the player then rests for 1 minute and 30 seconds for the other two lines, then the work-to-rest interval is 1:2 – the rest period is double the work period. Interval training is based on appropriate work-to-rest ratios. Designing a proper hockey conditioning program means that coaches must first understand how to gradually develop their players’ work-to-rest ratios.

The problem found with skating ladders or “bag skating” is that these workouts don’t represent the activity level encountered in games. Typically, the team is split into two groups. The two groups alternate skating and resting, meaning the work-to-rest ratio is 1:1. These intervals are too short – especially when they are used in the preseason.

Most teams have very little time on the ice prior to their first game. Consequently, coaches take an aggressive approach to conditioning and quickly try to “whip” their players into shape. This is a mistake. By doing too much too soon, the high-intensity skates before a solid foundation of conditioning has been developed makes players more prone in injury.

You start your season-long conditioning program with the ‘higher’ ratios (such as 1:3) and work your way back to the ‘lower’ ratios (1:1) as the season progresses. This ‘top-down’ approach allows players to develop their conditioning in a safe and effective way and helps the team to peak in time for crucial late-season games.

Learn more about Interval Training and Hockey Conditioning.