Acceleration Indiana

We all love the game of hockey. Particularly the excitement and anticipation that grows for players, parents, and coaches before every game! But, have you prepared properly for your game? Did you get 8 to 10 hours of sleep the night before your game? Do you pay attention to nutrition and hydration before, during, and after your game? Do you warm up properly before the game? Are you physically and mentally prepared to give a 100% effort for your coach and teammates? All of these elements are important in becoming a good hockey player. Assuming you’ve worked hard in your off season and pre season to build your strength, speed, quickness, agility, stamina, shooting and puck handling skills. You now have the opportunity to demonstrate your performance on game day. Let’s review the things you can do to ensure performing at your peak ability.

Before the game:

So you have a 7p.m. game Friday night and on the way to the rink you decide you need food. So, you stop and grab a burger, fries, and a soft drink. Not a good idea! Your digestive system needs 2-3 hours to digest solid food depending on the individual. If you only allowed one hour before playing hockey that food is going to lie in your stomach and not finish digesting. Hockey is an energy intense game and all the large muscle groups in your lower extremity are demanding blood flow to keep you moving quickly on the ice. That leads to dramatically reduced blood flow to the digestive system. In addition, sprinting on ice requires use of your anaerobic energy systems and a by product of that metabolism is lactic acid formation in your leg muscles. This combination if impaired digestion and build up of acids and enzymes in your legs may make you feel less than the 100% you desire, and as a result your hockey performance will be reduced. So what should you do before your game? First, consume solid food 2-3 hours before you’ll be on the ice. That will allow sufficient time for your food to be digested. Second, have a meal with a balance of roughly 60-70% complex carbohydrates, 15-20% protein and 15-20% fat. Fat is harder to digest so try something like lean turkey on whole grain bread, yogurt, and a banana. A peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread with fruit and yogurt also works well. If your schedule does not allow you to eat early, then you should consider having a liquid nutritional meal like, Boost at least one hour before your activity. Being a liquid it will be absorbed quickly by the stomach and allow you to perform at 100%. Try and avoid having carbonated beverages or citric juices before your game. Do have at least an 8 ounce glass of water a half hour before going on the ice.

Warm UP

Warm up before your game is essential for top performance. This is a real problem for youth hockey players who frequently have only 5 minutes of warm up on the ice before their games. Goalies in particular are at an increased risk of injury if not properly warmed up. In fact what you usually see are the goalies on the cold ice doing a series of stretches. Don’t do that. Let me tell you why. Research now shows that muscle tendon elasticity and power generation ability is a strong function of temperature. A cold muscle tendon is significantly stiffer and therefore more prone to injury with cold stretching or quick movements. We also know the muscle’s ability to contract rapidly is significantly reduced when cold. Data shows power generation can be reduced 25% to 40% with cold muscles. For a goalie not properly warmed up that means reduced quickness and increased injury potential.

The appropriate procedure for youth hockey players is to do some active dynamic warm up activities off ice for 8 to 10 minutes prior to going on the ice, especially the goalies. During the 5 minute warm up on ice the goalies should skate forward and backward sprints, between the blue lines with increasing intensity and do crossovers going through the turns. Then do some goalie movements in front of the net. To work on improving flexibility, goalies should stretch out after their on-ice practice session. Remember to hold the stretch for 15 to 30 seconds and don’t bounce or stretch to the point of pain.

During the game

Be sure and maintain your hydration by taking drinks of water or a sports drink when you are on the bench. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty. Your body needs 6-8 oz. of water every 15 minutes when sweating profusely during intense exercise.

After the game

Have 8 to 16 ounces of a sports drink such as Gatorade or PowerAde. We now know from research on athletes’ performance that recovery is enhanced by getting a shot of carbohydrates and electrolytes into your system within the first 30min. after your activity.

Practice

The same procedures discussed above apply to your practice sessions on ice. Pay attention to nutrition, not only what you eat but when you eat. Be sure and follow proper hydration guidelines.

Recognize a fact of life. You play how you practice. You need to give your coach 100% effort during practices. Many youth hockey players seem to feel that practice is a time to goof off, hassle one of your teammates, shoot on the goalie when he is not ready and not skate the drills as hard and as fast as you can. Practice should be all about game speed drills and intensity. Practice quick, crisp passes. Practice quick, hard shots and follow up for that rebound opportunity. Hustle back on defense, skate hard to get open for the pass.

Nutrition for Hockey Players – Some broad guidelines

You need to have a diet high in complex carbohydrates. Your plate should normally have 60/70% carbohydrates (whole grain bread, rice, pasta, cereal, veggies, and fruits) to properly fuel your muscles. Hockey players have crazy schedules. Practice at dinner time, weekend games at normal breakfast, lunch or dinner times. Therefore don’t strive to always have 3 sit down meals. Rather fuel your body four to six times during the day. Hockey is an energy intense sport so you’ll need to increase your calorie intake 50 to 100% compared to a normal school day without practice. This calorie need is best met with increasing your servings in the grain, fruit, and vegetable groups and a sports drink and/or energy bar immediately after practice or games.

Summary

Put 100% effort into your practice sessions. Get 8-10 hours of sleep before your game day. Pay attention to what you eat and when you eat. Maintain proper hydration. Do warm up exercises before going on ice. Follow these procedures and you will be rewarded with better on ice performance and personnel satisfaction of knowing you’ve tried your best.

Gary Nelson

Acceleration Indiana President

December 21, 2005