23 Jun
As an Ice Hockey player, you will need to improve your skills in order to make a difference to your team. Improving you speed, reaction times, strength and perception is imperative. However, there is one very crucial factor that forms the basis of all those skills – Balance.
It may seem obvious that any player will need balance, but this is about improving balance to a level where it helps you in the most difficult of circumstances. Just by doing a few simple exercises you can soon improve your balance to a very advanced level.
Start off on the ice. Stand still and slowly raise your left foot off the ground. Hold this position for 30 seconds. Now repeat the same procedure for your other foot. Seems simple enough? Close your eyes and repeat this exercise. At first 30 seconds may seem like a long time, but if you keep doing this regularly as part of your training it will soon become easy. Once you find that time limit easy, increase it by 15 second periods, until you can perform it for long periods of time.
Next, do one legged squats where you bend your knee up to 90 degrees. When you are comfortable with this process, do the same thing as before and close your eyes. This is a little advanced, so make sure you have mastered the earlier technique before you move on to this one. Use the same time intervals for this one as you did earlier.