Hockey Agility – 3 Tips For Becoming Faster and More Agile on the Ice

In hockey agility is of the utmost importance. Speed is great, but it’s worthless if you’re only fast in a straight line. Being able to quickly change direction while maintaining speed and balance is something that every dominant player can do. Here are three great tips to help you become more agile on the ice.

1) Start slow but make speed the ultimate goal.

If you can’t do a drill properly there isn’t really any point in doing it. And rushing to do a drill at full speed if you haven’t mastered all the aspects of it will do you far more harm than good. Re-enforcing bad habits is not something you need. Start your drills at a speed where you can execute every aspect perfectly, but always be working to increase your speed from your last run.

2) Break drills down into multiple aspects.

It can be advantageous to work on certain aspects separately from one another at first. For instance, if you’re going to do a slalom style drill where you have to make a lot of tight turns, you might benefit from doing it without a puck until you nail the skating down. Then add the puck in once you’ve mastered the first aspect.

3) Work agility into every drill you can.

It isn’t hard to work agility training into drills, so try and add it in as much as you can. All it takes is adding in some fast stops and starts or some quick turns to a drill to get your agility working. Instead of just doing a straight lap of the ice, add in quick stops and starts at the lines. Small changes like this can make a noticeable difference over time.

These three tips will help you increase your agility on the ice, and constantly working on agility will have serious effects on your game. For the best results, consider investing in a good hockey training manual, or consult with coaches or trainers to help design full agility workouts. Hockey agility is a skill no player can afford to be without, so make sure not to ignore it!