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Hockey & Skating Tips

U16 Female - Nutrition Document

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Fred Hudson's Power Skating & Hockey Acedemy

If you want a good stride you have to be able to maximize the length of your stride by fully
extending the hip, knee and ankle joints through their full range of motion.
You need to lengthen your stride by bending at the knee. The more knee bend you have, the
longer your stride will be.
You must fully recover under your body.

3 Tips on playing safe:

Make sure your hockey gear is in good shape before you step on the ice.
Keep your head up - even incidental contact can put you out of the game or possibly the
season.
Work on your fitness level, especially your flexibility.

3 Tips on how to score more goals:

Utilize your teammates. "Give & Go" - This team tactic is used to create time & space.
Give the puck to a teammate and then go to open ice for a return pass.
Always be a threat to drive hard to the net - with and without the puck.
When going to the net without the puck, put your stick on the ice and call for a pass.
Learn to execute one on one moves. "Beating a player 1-on-1" is an acquired skill. You
have to learn to stick handle with your head up and learn to set your moves up. Fakes,
dekes, change of speed can all be used to beat a player 1-on-1.

3 Tips on Training:

Sport specific training at a young age is not recommended (younger than 14). When kids
and youths are developing their motor skills, it is a good idea to have them play many
sports. Every sport is different and requires participants to develop different motor skills. Try
enrolling your child in several different summer and winter sports.

The optimum time to refine sport specific motor skills is between the ages of 14-17. If you
want to become a great skater or stick-handler make sure you practice a lot of individual
skill development between the age of 14-17. However, after saying that, you can still
improve at any age. You need to work on skill development to do so. Over-competing and
under training (skill development) will hinder an athletes development. Watch the
average player (not the super star) and see how many times they actually touch the puck
during a game. If an average player is lucky, they will touch the puck for about 10 seconds
per period. Not much skill development there!

Competitive vs non-competitive - did you know that if you play hockey all year round you will
be considered a non-competitive player? Why would that be? The reason is simple, in
order to train and compete at a really high level, you have to train and compete at a super
high intensity level. It is impossible to maintain this type of intensity all year round.
Your body and your mind need a break. Try working on sport specific training (strength
training, power, speed (plyometrics training), balance and agility training, in the off-season.
Make sure that you are not lifting heavy weights at too young of an age; if you lift
heavy weights when your bones, muscles and ligaments are still growing and you risk
having a long-term injury. You should always consult your physician & a qualified
trainer before starting a new fitness program.

General Guidelines for developing fitness for hockey:

Develop a good aerobic base (aerobic capacity) - this can be achieved by running,
swimming, biking etc. at low intensity, higher volumes.
Develop good aerobic power - this can be achieved with the use of aerobic interval
training. Equal work to equal rest. Active rest is recommended. Aerobic power helps
with recovery between shifts during a game.
Develop strength, then power and then speed. It is not recommended that you
engage in plyometrics training until you can squat 1 1/2-2 times your body weight.
Plyometrics are very demanding on the body and a certain amount of strength and
fitness are required before using this training method. If you attempt plyometrics
training without a proper level of strength and fitness, injuries can occur very easily.
Anaerobic lactic and anaerobic alactic training are very sport specific and should
be the final phases of your dryland training. Sprints are a great exercise to use to
increase your first 3 skating strides. Length of work and rest cycles determine which
type of training, anaerobic lactic/alactic, you will be doing.

Make sure that you consult your physician and a qualified trainer before beginning
a new fitness program.

Tips on Nutrition & Energy Systems

You really can't talk about nutrition for hockey without talking about energy systems.
You have to eat to feed the energy system that you are using, in your sport. What
should a hockey player eat? Remember, on my home page, I said that hockey is
predominately an anaerobic lactic sport. I also said that we use the anaerobic alactic and
the aerobic energy systems, as well.
The anaerobic alactic system (alactic power) is the system that we use for explosive
power, quick starts etc. The fuel source for this system is creatine phosphate. You can
work at 100% of your maximum effort in this system. The problem is, is that the
anaerobic alactic system (alactic power) does not last long (5-8 seconds) and your body will
only store a limited amount of creatine phosphate. Where do we get creatine phosphate
from? If you eat red meat you will be getting creatine phosphate. Once your stored supply of
creatine phosphate is used up, your tank is empty! Your body automatically moves to the
next energy system that is available.
The anaerobic lactic system (lactic power) is our main system for hockey. When
working in this system you can work at 85-90% maximum effort, for 30-40 seconds. If
anyone has felt the "burn" after skating hard for 30 seconds, they were in the anaerobic
lactic system. The fuel source for this system is glycogen (carbohydrates).
The aerobic system (aerobic power) is the system that we use when we are playing at low
intensity or when we are recovering on the bench. We can work at 70-75% of our
maximum effort in this system, for 3-10 minutes - more than 10 minutes (aerobic
capacity) we are only capable of working at 50-60% maximum effort. The fuel sources
for this system are glycogen, protein (converted to glycogen), fat and your body can even
break muscle tissue down and convert it, if necessary.
Two things can cause you to change from one energy system to another:

Time - If your shift is too long and your body moves into the aerobic system you will
probably only be able to work at 50-60% of your maximum effort, especially later in the
game. You will be working really hard, your legs will be burning but you will be slow on
the ice. Keep your shifts short and go hard!
Lack of fuel - If there is no fuel stored for the anaerobic alactic system, your body
will move into the anaerobic lactic system and then to the aerobic system.

What difference does it make what energy system you are using? It comes down to
the amount of effort your body can put out in each energy system and the amount of time
that each system will last. For obvious reasons, we would like to play at the highest
maximum effort level that our body can sustain. Nobody should be trying to play at 50-
60% of their maximum effort, unless of course, they are recreational players and they don't
care if they win or lose.
Where can we find good food choices? The Canada Food Guide is an awesome place
to start. If you eat properly your game will improve!
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php
http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/H58-28-1999E.pdf

Now all you need to know is what to eat and when to eat it.

More on Nutrition for Hockey:

If you are a competitive player or even a recreational player and you want to reach your full
potential on the ice, you need to understand what to eat and when to eat it.
The predominant energy system for hockey is the anaerobic lactic system and as I
mentioned above, the fuel for this system is glycogen (carbohydrates).
There are two types of carbohydrates:
1) Simple Carbohydrates 2) Complex Carbohydrates
Simple carbs (fruits & most vegetables) are easily digested and should be eaten closer to
game/practice time.
Complex carbs (potatoes, pasta, rice, bread, grains etc.) take a long time to digest but
provide longer lasting glycogen stores.
Don't forget, there are two causes for your body changing from one energy system
to the next

Time
Lack of Fuel for the energy system that you are currently using.

We know that our predominant energy system requires glycogen as the fuel source so it is
important to make sure that you eat lots of carbohydrates, especially if you are playing in a
tournament.
Protein is important as well but most people get enough protein in their regular diet. If you
eat a protein bar after competing it will suppress your hunger mechanism and you will not
eat enough carbohydrates to top up your glycogen stores.
Fats. There are good fats and bad fats. Unfortunately, most North Americans eat way
too much bad fat. Fats take a long time to digest. If you want to compete at your best, stay
away from the bad fats. Over processed foods (Fast Foods, Junk Food etc.) are usually the
worst choices for "Bad Fats".
Good Fats are required to keep your body functioning properly. Good Fats are the
building blocks for amino acids. Without Good Fats, your body will have a tough time
converting the food you eat, into the fuel you need, for the energy systems that you are
using. Remember, if you do not have the fuel required for the anaerobic lactic system, which
allows you to play at 85-90% max effort, your body will automatically go to the next available
energy system (the aerobic system) and you will only be able to compete at about 50-60%
of your max effort (after 10 minutes of high intensity training).
Recovery - In order for your body to recover quickly, you should have some carbs and
protein within 15-20 minutes after the game/practice. The ideal ratio of carbs to protein is
3/4 carbs to 1/4 protein. That is why chocolate milk is the ideal recovery drink (unless
you are lactate intolerant). Chocolate milk also has a lot of calcium as well and as we
all know, calcium is good for our bones. As soon as possible you have to top up your
carbs for the next game. The rule of thumb is, "the closer to competition time, the simpler
the carbs". If you have four hours to competition time you need to eat as many comlex
carbs as possible.
Hydration - Think of hydration as the missing ingredient to your success. For example,
without proper hydration, it takes up to 10 times longer for your body to uptake creatine
phosphate for use in the anaerobic alactic system. When you are looking for explosive
power, you want it now! Not 10 seconds from now.
Hydration should be started a couple of hours before getting to the rink. Water is always a
good choice before a game/practice but your body also needs to resupply the electrolytes
and carbohydrates that are lost while sweating a lot. Sport drinks (Gaterade, Powerade)
are a good choice as a drink for between periods and games.
There are several drinks that are marketed as sports drinks (Energy Drinks) that are
considered by many professionals, to be extremely dangerous when consumed
before high intensity exercise. THESE TYPES OF DRINKS SHOULD NOT BE USED,
ESPECIALLY BY KIDS! THEY HAVE VERY HIGH LEVELS OF CAFFEINE AND
OTHER INGREDIENTS THAT CAN OVER-STIMULATE THE ATHLETES HEART,
POSSIBLY LEADING TO HEART FAILURE.
References: Lynneth Wolski, PHD - NCI - Level 4 Energy Systems
Susan Crawford, PHD - NCI - Level 4 Nutrition