Top 3 Reasons Hockey Players Don’t Strength Train:
Most Common Barriers Preventing Participation in a Strength Training Program
By Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
There are three common reasons that players don’t participate in strength training programs during the year. Players and parents believe that these programs cost too much time, travel and money.
Let’s look at each of these concerns in more detail.
1) Time
Hockey players, parents and coaches devote a great deal of time to the sport they love. On average, minor hockey teams are on the ice for between 100-200 games and practices during the season. Adding other necessary and time-consuming events to the equation, such as time traveling to and from the rink, weekend tournaments, power-skating lessons and team fundraisers, makes the time commitments even more staggering. Although players, parents and coaches recognize the important role strength training plays in a player’s development, they may be reluctant to commit even more time to the pursuit of hockey excellence. Players may not be overly eager to participate in strength training several times a week if it is going to take more time away from school, family and friends. An already tired and over-booked parent is unlikely to want to spend more of their time shuttling their child to and from the gym. Coaches may not have the time to research potential strength training options or attend educational seminars about how to teach proper strength training to their team. In the hockey world, time away from the rink is becoming as precious and scare as ice time for practice and players, parents and coaches alike are simply unable to devote any additional hours to pursue player and team development.
2) Travel
As mentioned above, hockey parents and players spend an inordinately large amount of time in the car traveling to and from hockey-related functions throughout the season. It is becoming increasingly rare that teams have all of their practices and games out of the same local rink. Players who do not play for their local association may be driving over one hour each way to attend practices and games. To further complicate things. in families where there are multiple children, all participating in their own extra-curricular activities, the parent often takes on the role of a busy chauffeur - dealing with constantly conflicting schedules. While it would be convenient for a reputable strength training facility with qualified trainers to be located in every single hockey rink, this is unrealistic. In most cases, in order to have access to the expertise of a professional strength coach, parents and players must drive to yet another facility. In some larger cities, this might only be an extra 20 minute drive in both directions. But in smaller communities, this commute might be close to an hour long - if a reputable athletic training facility even exists in the area! Hockey parents and players are looking for strength training to be accessible and convenient. In an ideal world, parents and players would have access to elite strength coaches with expertise in hockey-specific player development right at their fingertips - and never have to set foot in the car.
3) Money
Playing hockey is expensive. Parents must not only pay for all their player’s equipment, the gas for the car and the team registration fees, they quite often have to take time away from their jobs in order to ensure that their child can make it to all of their hockey commitments. With the prices of equipment, ice time and gas rising year after year, the prospect of spending a great deal more money on hockey-specific strength training is unrealistic for the majority of hockey parents and teams. Training one-on-one with a certified strength coach in a commercial gym will cost on average $50 per hour. Even the cheaper group rate for team training is cost prohibitive for vast majority of parents and teams. Getting a membership to a fitness facility or community center may be a much less expensive option, but will not include the price of having a program designed to address the specific needs of the athlete. Parents and coaches are always looking for cost-effective ways to maximize their player’s development - and participation in a safe and effective strength training program is no different.
Ultimately, coaches, parents and players are looking to put in a relatively small investment in terms of time, travel and money towards off-ice strength training in hopes that that investment will yield a relatively large return. In an ideal world, they would have access to professional-designed, safe and effective strength training programs that are:
• Time-effective:
Can be completed in the time it normally takes to get to the rink
• Easily accessible:
Can be done at home or in the rink with no equipment or travel required
• Cost-effective:
• Require a small initial investment but deliver a comprehensive program that is easy-to-understand, easy-to-use and highly effective.
Building strength is critical for all hockey players and can they can get amazing results using a body-weight only program that can be performed anywhere and anytime.
© The Young Athlete 2008
About The Author
Kim McCullough, M.Sc., YCS is a highly sought-after expert in the development of aspiring hockey players and has played at the highest level of women's hockey in the world for the last decade. Kim's player development website gives coaches and parents of aspiring young players access to programs, articles and advice on how to help their players take their game to the next level. To learn more about how to get stronger and have your best season ever, visit: http://www.besthockeyseasonever.com
