The quest for individual speed has become a primary focus for hockey players and coaches. Top-speed may not be as beneficial as most think.
The paradox of speed tells us that faster isn’t always better. Since the 2005 player lock-out, there has been a movement towards a high-paced game. This shift to increasing game-speed has led to a shift in development of individual speed. The paradox of speed in team sports applies because speed is contextual.
Top speed is not the same as optimal speed.
Imagine if on an odd-man rush, all offensive players skated to the net at top speed. Or if all offensive players moved at top speed on a power-play. These scenarios sound ridiculous, but show that speed is situational.
In Fergus Connolly’s book Game Changer, he describes how Hall of Fame athletes such as Larry Bird, Peyton Manning and Teddy Sheringham lacked physical speed yet excelled in their respective sports using higher-level reflexes and decision-making. Their abilities to read the game, make quick decisions and while using the physical speed they had turned them into Hall of Famers.
If most of your training focuses on increasing top-speed, you’re missing the mark. Players rarely reach top speed in-game.
Game-speed should be the target.
Game-speed training needs to have context.
Contextual speed training helps to train athlete’s reflexes, decision-making and top-speed all while keeping training fun. Use fun games and competitions like variations of tag and capture the flag to improve game-speed.
Within game-speed training, some key aspects should include:
#1: Tempo. Tempo is the ability to change pace. Can an athlete press an opponent into making a mistake and pounce on their misstep like a cheetah? The ability to go from slow to fast on a dime or vice versa is a bigger threat than top-speed itself.
#2: Rhythm. Rhythm is the ability of a group to move at a unified pace. An athletes ability to match the pace of the group will make them more valuable to the team than an athlete who is always outskating his own teammates and risks going off-side. Training rhythm works on an athletes ability to read his teammates actions and make quality decisions in-game. Like the snipers say, slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
#3: Game IQ. Learn when to use your top-speed. There is a time and a place for this. And when it happens, it’s always exciting to watch. But also learn when to slow things down, change the pace and execute intelligently. This is what makes players like Connor McDavid so dangerous.
If you’re of the mindset that “speed kills”, you might not be totally right.
Remember, speed is important but game-speed is the real killer.