Hockey Coach’s Best Friend – Building a Better Bag Skate

Bag skating can take many effective and creative forms, but basically players skate to the point of exhaustion, vomiting, or submission, whichever comes first. Some may argue that exercise should not be used as a punishment for athletes and I do not intend to debate the philosophy of training in this article. Personally, I think we can build better bag skates and turn them into something a little more productive while still getting all the attention of hockey players.

Picture your players after 20 minutes of sack skating. Do they look like the type of player you’d like to have on the ice during a game? Probably not, their hips are bent forward, their knees are barely bent, their steps are short and limp, it’s a mess! Now imagine your athletes 20 minutes in a skate bag still low-legged and taking powerful steps. The key is to give them rest! Don’t think I’m crazy, I know the point is to exhaust and torture your players. Stay with me a little longer.

What is harder skating slowly, without bending the knees, with light strides or skating with little force? Once an athlete reaches a certain point (lactate threshold), he physiologically cannot continue working above that level for more than 60 seconds. Even if the athlete wants to go fast, his body cannot meet the demand for energy production. So here’s what you can do: torture the legs for 30-45 seconds and then torture the arms and core for 60-90 seconds; repeat until you get the desired effect. Here are some sample workouts:

Best Bag Skate #1

o Blue line to blue line for 45 s

o Push-ups for 45s

o Core plank from push-up position 45s (has athletes engage their core muscles while breathing hard – great game-specific core activation as well as working the shoulder stabilizers, which will help prevent injuries in the upper the future)

Best Bag Skate #2

o Partner side planks for 90 seconds (one partner runs from side to side while the other partner rests and then the next partner goes)

o Partner Core Stabilization for 45-60 seconds: Partners face each other holding the same hockey stick at approximately chest level. One player will try to hold the hockey stick using their core muscles to stabilize themselves while the other player will try to twist or rotate the stick to challenge their partner. Switch roles as stabilizer after about 20-30 seconds.

You hockey coaches can still tire out your players while keeping them moving at the speed of the game, which will improve their performance on the ice. Add in some upper body and core training to build better athletes by building a better bag skate.