NEXT LEVEL
TRAINING
The benefits of team training in hockey are far-reaching. From conditioning and strengthening to chemistry building and bonding, team training allows individuals to focus on themselves, while it also enables them to gel as part of a bigger unit.
Maximization of On-Ice Time
First, team training sessions allow for a better and more effective utilization of overall time. Coaches order team training sessions as part of their teams’ regimens because the sessions allow coaches to supplement on-ice conditioning with off-ice conditioning. By having their teams come to Next Level Training to train and condition, coaches do not need to use an excessive amount of their valuable on-ice practice time to focus on conditioning. Instead, on-ice practice time is freed up for coaches and teams to direct their attention to other equally-important tasks, such as determining game strategies.
Physical Benefits
The primary physical benefit of team training is its overall strengthening of the body. During team training sessions, athletes focus on their individual muscle groups, helping to make their bodies stronger and to reduce the chance of injury.
“Much of the benefit lies in injury prevention. The stronger and more conditioned the body is, the less of a chance there is of injury,” said Dave Zielinski, Next Level Training trainer.
Coaches immediately detect improvements in their players’ physical prowess, which translate into greater power, speed, and confidence on the ice.
“The players who have embraced the training sessions at Next Level are faster and more confident in their skating,” said Thomas Bishop, varsity ice hockey head coach of the Seton Hall Preparatory (SHP) Pirates. “The shooting and stick-handling can be harder to gauge, but you can tell when players are faster, stronger, and have more physical presence on the ice.”
January 17, 2014
Great Moments Are Born from Great Opportunities...to Team Train
SHP varsity forward Thomas Coyne credits the training sessions and equipment at Next Level for many improvements in his on-ice performance; specifically, he believes they have enhanced his on-ice strength, agility, speed, and stick-handling. Coyne has found that, personally, the “weight training [has been] very important and valuable”; his “skating has improved greatly over the last few months”; and, having been using weights on his upper body, he feels “more power in his shot and [in] passing.”
Similarly, Coyne’s teammate, Chris Wilkens, noted that, “as a goalie, the emphasis on legs and core has increased not only [his] flexibility, but also [his] speed.”
Benefits to Team Chemistry
Additionally, team training serves to facilitate team bonding and chemistry, as well as to build friendships and to encourage team spirit in an off-ice environment. The motivation factor is invaluable: teammates constantly inspire one another, push each other to do better, and urge their friends on when they are struggling.
According to Zielinski, “it’s as much of a team bonding activity as it is a physical training one”; Bishop noted that it creates “better team unity and synergy.”
“Not only do we gain strength and endurance, but we develop a greater sense of community being able to push each other,” said Coyne. “Working together off the ice is very beneficial.”
Team training not only builds camaraderie, but it also promotes a healthy amount of competition and helps to ensure that athletes are always pulling their own weight. The benefits of team training are thus multi-faceted: team training builds confidence in athletes, helps leadership skills to emerge, and makes certain that every player is contributing equally.
“Some of what they do is grueling, but they’re doing it as a team, so it builds a stronger tie between them,” added Scriffignano. “Teams are in here working together, so, if someone is slacking off, they’re doing it in front of their team.”
“It’s just like any other practice that requires team effort and focus,” said Sam Carroll, varsity forward for SHP. “I believe team training helps us build as a team, and not just in agility or strength skills.”
By Alexandra Gakos, Next Level Training
Additionally, at Next Level Training, our High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) consists of timed circuits at a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio. These circuits, typically 30 seconds-long apiece, not only simulate the real experience of an on-ice shift, but they also provide more cardiovascular benefit than average individual weight-lifting sessions.
“Team training circuits help increase the anaerobic threshold and help increase the response time in which your body gets rid of lactic acid, making it more likely that you will have energy at the end of your shift and at the end of the game,” said Bill Katinsky, Next Level Training trainer.
“In hockey games, you are going to take roughly thirty-second shifts,” added Katinsky. “We try to make it as real as possible and to train players to get the most out of themselves during that time.”
Players, too, understand why team training sessions are so valuable, and they realize that pushing themselves during sessions just may give them the edge over their competition.
“We have found that hard work in the gym pays off big time in the third period,” said Danny Ferguson, varsity defenseman for the Pirates.
On-Ice Benefits
The unique hockey-specific equipment Next Level Training offers comes into play as an important part of the team training circuits. During team sessions, trainers divide the athletes into three equal groups—one that uses the ramp, one that uses the shooting lanes, and one that uses the stick-handling machine—and then rotate the athletes between each station.
In addition to helping with core strength and conditioning, the equipment used in team training sessions “lets teams train in speed and agility in ways that they can’t train while they’re on the ice,” said PJ Scriffignano, Next Level Training trainer.
Each of the pieces of equipment is vital to honing specific hockey-related skills. The stick-handling machine sharpens hand-eye coordination, while the shooting lanes aid in refining shooting technique and increasing accuracy of shots. The skating ramp helps to cultivate speed and improve a skater’s explosiveness and quick starts.
The equipment also allows for very intensive and demanding, yet focused, training. For example, the shooting lanes, which dole out automatic passes, may provide players with an average of five times more touches on the puck than they ordinarily would have during an on-ice practice.
