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Three Simple Exercises for Wrist Strengthening:

1. The Statue Of Liberty:

Hold the stick with one hand as though it was the top hand on your stick when stickhandling. The blade of your stick is up in the air and the entire stick perpendicular to the ground. The whole point of the exercise is to move your wrist as quickly as possible so that the blade of the stick flips side to side as fast as possible while keeping the stick completely vertical. Start off by working your wrist for 10 seconds on one hand and then switch over to the other hand.

2. The Stick Flip:

Hold the stick with one hand as though it was the top hand on your stick when stickhandling with your arm straight out in front of your body. Your palm should be facing down towards the ground and the stick should be parallel to the ground. Without changing your arm position, slowly flip the stick over to the other side using only your wrist. Your palm should now be facing up and the stick should be parallel to the ground on the other side. Slowly bring the stick back to the starting position using the wrist only to complete one repetition. Do 10 repetitions with one hand and then switch over to the other side.

3. The Throwdown:

This is by far my favorite wrist strengthening exercise. Hold the stick with one hand as though it was the top hand on your stick when stickhandling. Straighten your arm up over your head with the stick pointing up towards the sky. Keeping your arm as straight as possible (with your elbow away from your body), throw the stick down towards the ground as fast as you can and stop it right before it hits the ground. Do not cheat by choking up on the top of your stick or by keeping your elbow tucked into your side and using it to help you slow the stick down. The key is to throw the stick down as hard as you can without letting the blade make contact with the ground. Do 10 repetitions with one hand and then switch over to the other side.

Do these exercises every day and I promise that your wrist strength will improve dramatically along with your passing, shooting and stick-handling ability. You can do them on the ice as a warm-up exercise or off the ice as part of your extra stick-handling sessions.

Bench Management

These hockey habits apply on the bench:

1)  Out Over Boards.  Go out onto the ice over the boards.  Give your teammates who are changing up room to get out over the boards.

2)  In Through Gate.  Come in through the gate.  Give players coming on to the ice the right of way.

3)  Sit With Linemates.  Sit with your linemates so that you can talk together and go back out together, so that the coaches can better track the lines.

4)  Ask Who Is Up.  If you are uncertain who is up next, ask.          

Overspeed Skill Training for Hockey

Below are links to an OUTSTANDING book written by Jack Blatherwick, Overspeed Skill Training for Hockey, Interval training on ice and the off ice building blocks. 

This is a MUST READ for anyone serious about developing their or their players overall skill level in hockey. 

i. Cover

ii. Table of Contents

1. Athleticism, synergism, developmental training, and informed hockey players.

2. Over-speed skill practice: the Soviet comfort zone