Ice Hockey Drills for the Ultimate in Speed and Power

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Karen_S_Musselman]Karen S Musselman
Ice hockey drills don't have to be practiced strictly on the ice. There are a lot of off-ice drills you can practice as well that focus primarily on fitness training and secondarily on skill training.
Sprint and Shoot
This is a great on-ice drill that will give coaches a good feel for which of his players has the strongest skating skills and those who could use more practice.
Begin with players on the boards in the corner and have them sprint one by one to the second of two cones, pivot and skate backwards to the first cone, do a cross-over turn, sprint to second cone, make a cross-over turn, pick-up the puck on the blue line and shoot no deeper than top of the circle. Follow-up the shot for the rebound. After five minutes, move the line to the other side of the cone and repeat drill.
The drill starts with the players positioned on the corner boards and cones are set up at the other end of the ice. From the boards each player sprints down the ice to the second cone, pivots and skates backwards to the first cone.
The player does a cross-over turn and sprints to the second cone, does another cross-over turn, picks up the puck on the blue line, shoots to the top of the circle and follows up with a rebound shot.
The Forehand Wrist Shot
One of the most important shots in ice hockey is the forehand wrist shot where weight transfer plays a crucial role. The skill needed to complete this type of shot depends on how you transfer the weight as you move the puck forward. Certain wrist action along with the height of the follow through will determine how high the puck goes.
The Backhand Wrist Shot
Although this technique is similar to the forehand wrist shot, most times the puck is too far out in front of the player when they go to make the shot. If the puck is too far out in front, you lose a lot of power in the shot. When you're doing ice hockey drills, this is a technique that needs to be practiced so the puck is in the right position so there's no loss of power in the shot.
The Slap Shot
This is one impressive looking shot - the slap shot. It doesn't have a fast release but since it's a good skill during power plays, it's a good technique to practice.
The Snap Shot
This shot uses a quick-release technique and it's great for scoring from a corner where the goalie might be hugging the opposite post of the net.
Ice Hockey Drills For Goalies
Your team's last line of defense is your goalie. And the fast moves they have to make on the ice require special skills and training in physical agility and speed before taking their position in front of the net.
Speed, power, agility, physical fitness and endurance skills should be built into all types of hockey training programs that need to be practiced consistently to make sure that every player is at their best when the season kicks off and the players take the ice. So it's best that all ice hockey drills incorporate techniques both off the ice and on the ice.
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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Ice-Hockey-Drills-for-the-Ultimate-in-Speed-and-Power&id=6527364] Ice Hockey Drills for the Ultimate in Speed and Power