Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 October 2014 15:04
By Diane Ness
As defined by the dictionary, “agility” is a rapid, whole body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus. To put it in hockey terms, it’s the ability to change the body’s position efficiently and to move quickly in any direction. Much like a running back in football, it’s basically the skaters ability to be “shifty” and “nimble.”
The interesting thing about agility is there is really no way to test or measure how agile a skater is, yet it is one of the most important and under-looked skills a skater can possess. People can try to measure by dot or cone drills, but again these are set patterns that really do not apply to a game situation. Watching a skater’s ability to cut in and out is more of a natural reaction than a set pattern. If you’ve ever watched Nathan MacKinnon’s highlight videos, you can appreciate how agile and nimble he is on his skates.
How can we work on becoming more agile? In the photos you will see the skater with a puck behind the net using quick cross-overs side to side, from one direction to another. The skater should focus on quick change of direction by using stops and starts. The skater can also try a combination of doing one, two or three crossovers each way, again focusing on moving laterally quickly.
One of the best drills to help with this is a simple yet very effective drill. The coach can scatter about 15 pucks throughout the entire zone. Two skaters will go, one skater will be the leader, the other will be the follower. On the coach’s whistle, the leader will take off full speed, weaving in and out of the pucks with no set pattern. This will keep the follower guessing which direction he/she is going. The follower will have to match the leader’s speed while keeping his/her head up at the same time. The coach should let both skaters go for about 20 seconds, blow the whistle and let the next pair go. The great thing about not having a set pattern is to make the drill more game-like for both skaters to read and react which direction they are going to go.
Finally, overspeed is a great way to improve agility as well. However, mechanics must come first. Getting quicker is the overall goal, but be careful not to practice something quickly with poor technique. This may just reinforce bad technique. The overall goal is to be more agile while keeping your technique sharp so good luck and keep working!
Diane Ness has been a full-time professional skating coach for over 35 years. She has coached both figure skaters and hockey players alike and is a former U.S. gold medalist in figure skating. She is the Director for the Pro Edge Power hockey camps and the Learn to Skate program at Highland Park Arena. Ness is the skating coach for the New Jersey Devils, the University of Minnesota men’s and women’s hockey teams and the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. She has trained players in the NHL, AHL, NCAA, USHL and NAHL.
