Skating mechanics can have great implications on a player’s performance. With the increased focus on speed, players are always looking for ways to improve their ability to skate to compliment their off-ice speed training. Research in skating biomechanics has demonstrated differences between high caliber and low caliber players skating mechanics (Renaud et al, 2017; Buckeridge […]
I often see people who lack hip internal rotation, which can play a factor in lots of issues. But I have always been apprehensive in prescribing hip internal rotation stretches. I think part of the reason is that I’ve struggled with hip IR myself, being a hockey player, as most do. I’ve tried stretching but […]
Hip issues in sports have become much more prevalent in recent years, along with an exponential increase in hip surgeries. We are seeing more athletes training around hip/groin injuries and rehabbing post hip arthroscopy. I recently read a systematic review that concluded that core strengthening was an integral part of management of FAI prior to […]
To me, the foot is one of the more important lower body areas that often can be a cause of dysfunction. Because the foot is typically the only body part interacting with the ground, if the foot isn’t function optimally, the same will occur up the kinetic chain. The foot has 2 main functions: A […]
Unfortunately, overuse hip labrum injuries are very common in cutting sports. The cause is generally unknown. However, I came across this flow chart recently that I felt did a very good job in describing the process of hip labrum overuse injuries. There are typically 2 mechanisms, abnormal morphology and repetitive low load on the hip, […]
This week’s post is actually a guest post I wrote for Dean Somerset’s blog. If you don’t follow Dean, you totally should. He is the master of hip training and he’s also Canadian! And the man can squat LOW!! Click the link here to check out the post, and make sure you check Dean out on […]
The change from stand up to butterfly style for goalies was revolutionary for the game of hockey. This allowed the goalie to cover the lower part of the net just by dropping down to both knees and flaring out their ankles (hip internal rotation) making it harder for players to get one past the netminders. […]
I recently finished reading Kevin Neelds book Ultimate Hockey Training. This book is a great resource for any coach, strength coach or parent/player looking to improve their off-ice training for hockey. It is full of great information on improving strength, power, speed and conditioning for hockey players. But I’m going to focus on one area, […]
A recent study by Kerbel et al (2018) looked at the epidemiology of hip and groin injuries in US college athletes. 1984 hip/groin injuries were reported across 25 NCAA sports over 5 seasons. The top 4 reported injuries were soft tissue injuries, with just over 40% being adductor/groin tear and hip flexor tear. The most […]
There has been some debate recently in the hockey science world on whether or not players should lace their skates through the top eyelet. I’ve actually experimented with both throughout my career and I’ve read some good and interesting opinions on the topic. Based on some of the research I’ve read, I’ve created my own […]
