Hockey may be all about speed, agility and finesse but, as any good player will tell you, playing the game at the highest level requires strength and power too, and this is down to good training and dedication in the gym, on the ice and in the sports hall with the hockey ground game. While it’s important to learn how to skate, pass, shoot and stickhandle quickly, if you want to play at the highest level then you must also know how to use your body to its fullest potential when protecting your goal or when attacking your opponent’s net.
Stick Handling
In hockey, stick handling is a vital skill for both offense and defense. It is important to be able to control the puck with your stick and make quick movements as you defend against opponents. The ground game is all about using your body and your stick, but also using different parts of your feet. One part that often gets overlooked is kicking the puck away from an opponent who might have it pinned down in front of them on their skates, but you can’t kick the puck too hard or you will send it over the boards or out into open space. If you want to keep it close, sometimes the best way is to lift up their skate (but only if they are leaning forward) so they can’t get back into position.
A lot of times in hockey, when players are fighting for position, they’ll use two hands: one hand is holding onto their stick while the other hand grabs onto an opposing player’s arm or clothing – this is called ‘holding’ – and then they swing themselves around trying to knock each other off balance by stepping backwards with one foot while pushing forwards with the other foot. A lot of players do this because when someone falls down on the ice, it’s easy for someone else to come over and grab hold of them before they get back up again.
Skating
Every sport has a different approach to the game. The hockey ground game is played on an ice rink, meaning that each player must learn how to skate. Skating provides players with speed and agility, but it also helps them avoid falling. Skating can be a difficult skill to master at first, but after some practice and patience, most people are able to skate well enough to participate in hockey games. Each hockey team consists of six players: five skaters and one goalie. There are three positions: center (a forward), left wing (a forward), right wing (a forward), left defenseman (defender), right defensemen (defender). Players change positions when they lose possession or their position gets taken away by their opponent. It’s important for a player to know which position he or she should be playing in order to make sure the other team doesn’t score any points! To start the game, there is a faceoff in front of the opposing team’s goal line. When a player possesses the puck, his kampungbloggers.com teammates will work hard to get open so they can pass it back to him. A face-off occurs whenever two opposing players try to take control of the puck from each other; this forces both teams into specific areas called zones. Once the puck is won, either team has a few seconds to move it towards their opponent’s goal before taking a shot. If someone tries shooting while they are still in their zone, they may have to forfeit possession of the puck and allow their opponents to keep attacking them. Shots must be made on net (in front of the net) because goaltenders wear special equipment that makes shots close to them more difficult than those made near corners of the net. Although making shots near corners is easier for shooters, these shots usually result in slower goals and thus fewer points scored for each team. Making tough shots near corners could provide your team with great chances of scoring though!
Body Contact
In hockey, body contact is inevitable. The amount of contact that a player can withstand, however, varies and it’s key for players to know their limit so as to avoid injury. In order to do this, players need to know what type of contact they are likely to encounter on the ice. Players who frequently engage in physical play will find themselves in more body-to-body checks than those who play primarily by passing and shooting. The different types of body contact vary in intensity and force. A check or hit may involve some light bumping but usually not enough to knock the other person over. A slamming hit or checking from behind has much more impact and may result in an opponent being knocked off balance, but rarely sent flying out of control.
Bumping into an opponent may also be considered checking. As mentioned before, while both sides will experience some level of contact during a game, defensemen might face more body-to-body checks since they’re responsible for challenging opponents who carry the puck into their defensive zone. These body-on-body checks range in intensity depending on how hard the attacking player carries the puck into the opposing team’s zone and whether he turns his head or tries to run around a defenseman. There are two types of sliding checks: one where the skater leaves his feet entirely, such as if he gets tripped up coming down from a rush; and another where he leaves one foot planted on the ice surface and slides across with his skate blade open (also called an open-knee slide). It’s important for defenders to remember that even when going through large amounts of contact, they should keep playing physically without retaliating with violence against their opponents.