Yesterday was another dry winter's day (@ the climate change 'sceptics' out there, I find it strange that I feel I need to say this, in the middle of the first 'normal' winter in almost a couple of decades) so i took about seventy minutes to go down the local school on the inlines for some puck'n'stick practice.
For the shooting portion of my time on the school netball court, I shot the usual 4 sets of 25 shots, each set being a different type of shot, from a point on the 15' circle around the netball goal post, my target. The four shot types were the usual forehand snap, wristshot, forward facing snap and backhand. My results were a little better than usual - 11/9/9/5.
Looking back, it seems that I was a little more 'natural' and a little less 'analytical' in the manner in which I took my shots. At the time I felt that I was connecting a bit better, and stronger. There seemed some more power in the shots actually coming from the muscles (not just from the increase in skill). I found this surprising as I have only had three short sessions with the weights and a couple on the lower body and core. I mean this quite literally, the only such sessions in my whole life that I have done have been these sessions (hockey is indeed changing me).
The differences are quite subtle. I suspect that it is only my raised sense of body awareness, particularly having developed this over the past eighteen months, that has allowed me to perceive it. I've asked a couple fitness types about it. They agree it is quite possible that I am not imagining it. If so, that's quite exciting. Onwards ho with the off ice training!
Anyways...
I wound up my training with about a half hour of skate/puck handling. I made it up as I went along, but there was definitely a progression through skills and an accretion of complexity to it. It went something like this:
- Lay stick on ground. Skate tight figure eights around it, gliding around each end ideally on one skate and the only impetus coming from the crossover above the centre of the stick. Ten each way.
- Stand in hockey stance facing two pucks, maybe three feet apart on the ground and about three feet in front. Deke a puck in figure 8 pattern around the pucks in front concentrating on the cupping and control of the puck with stick's blade. Ten each way.
- Lay four pucks in a line between the blue lines (7'-8' between). Carry a puck down the line, completing a full tight circle around each puck in the line in alternating directions, concentrating on leading with the puck, stick, arms shoulders into the turns. Do extra half circuit around the puck at end of line and return down the sequence. Complete ten laps.
- Line up three pucks with same distance between, this time from the 'board' towards the top of the 15' circle. Put a puck about on the centre line on that wing that shares a 'board' with the line of pucks. Skate up from goal to collect puck, corner, deke it down the wing at moderate pace to puck that is furthest in line from centre, do circuit with leading puck in alternating directions across the three pucks, ending with a step and shot from top of 15' circle (going for rebound if there is one). Total of ten complete runs.
- Skate in with puck from centre to 30' line and shoot, coming in for possible rebound (only did about five of these, got three hits on the goal post and one 'double' (shot plus rebound)!).
- End the day with doing cool down skate of figure eights with transitions around the 'double centre' markings on the court, before donning street skating gear and heading home.
Really nice to pick up the 'strength effect'. Nice to be out skating on the weekend also!
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