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Lightning Quick Feet Drills

By Peter Twist, MSc, BPE, CSCS, SCS, PTS

The ability to wheel behind your own net and sprint up the ice, with an untouchable speed that produces an end-to-end rush has at one time been in everyone’s hockey dream. Speed can be improved, and certainly there are fast players and slow players. But very few actually possess the pure straightaway speed that allows them to be a threat end- to-end.

The majority of players can gain an edge on their competition by improving their foot speed. Fast feet drills lead to better first step quickness, more explosive changes in direction and enhanced agility. When a player sees a breakdown in the play, good reads and quick reaction skills are only one piece of the equation. They must be able to capitalize on the opportunity with fast feet.

In a game with tight 1-1 checking as well as team systems to back that up, it is the player who can fire their feet quickly, keep their feet moving, always in action, who will be successful. Coaches forever remind their players to ‘keep their feet moving’! Turning over your feet quickly creates space between you and the defender. It allows you to get to the net quickly, in position for a scoring chance before being checked. It makes you a threat even when in the corner. When opponents learn that you have fast feet and are difficult to contain in tight, they will make the mistake of backing off and give you space. For all levels of players, I prescribe drills that are pure fast feet drills – they are not specific to the skating movement pattern or leg movements needed to change direction. The purpose at this stage is to increase the minds ability to command the muscles to fire quickly. Pure fast feet drills are implemented to generate general improvement before specific patterns are introduced.

In-season, this faster footwork will be harnessed and transferred to the ice by implementing new abilities into practice drills. Coaches can also use the guidelines below to take dryland principles and integrate into on-ice development drills. Likewise, players can duplicate their dryland drills and fast feet style on the ice, during the few minutes of individual time right before practice begins or right after.

Key Training Guidelines for Fast Feet Drills

1. Introduce new drills at warm up pace, to safely learn proper technique and acclimate to new demands.

2. Always move through the first couple of drills with a controlled tempo to ensure the body is well warmed up and ready for explosive movement.

3. Stay in an athleticically advantageous position, with hips dropped, core set, and knees slightly flexed.

4. Minimize direction change. There is always a stop-start action between foot plant and push off, but keep the feet under your center of gravity and within the base of support. The less you have to absorb any lateral weight transfer, the greater you can achieve rapid foot movement.

5. Minimize vertical displacement. Keep your feet close to the ground, eliminate impact forces, and focus on turning over your foot position rapidly.

6. Stay up on the balls of your feet, be cat like, light on your feet.

7. Listen to the movement. Eliminate any loud pounding on the floor; modify your technique to ensure a soft landing.

8. ‘Pop’ your feet back off the floor as quickly as possible.

9. Perform each exercise for 10 seconds. Rest for 50 seconds. This is not a test of endurance. Between-set recovery time is required to allow you to attack each drill in a perfect condition to generate the fastest movement possible.

info: www.sportconditioning.ca , or call 888-214-4244.