Athletes the world over look for ways to improve their skills and become the best sports players they possibly can be. Whether they’re basketball players or hockey players, knowing what kind of training will bring you an edge when it’s time for a game is important.
One way that a lot of hockey players will attempt to accomplish this is through the use of hockey training aids. It makes a lot of sense considering the sheer number of tools available on the market as well as the convenience that these aids can bring.
That being said, not everyone is convinced that hockey training aids are actually as incredible as people would like you to believe. There are a lot of skeptics, which is entirely fair. It seems like almost everyone in this world is trying to sell you something and money doesn’t grow on trees.
We wrote today’s article specifically for people that are considering using training aids to help with their hockey skills but are on the fence about if these tools are actually worth the investment that is needed to get started on your path to training with aids.
Whether you’re a weekend warrior, professional hockey player, or just starting out, whether as an adult or a child, hopefully, by the time you’re done reading this article you’ll understand exactly why so many hockey players swear by the use of these training aids in their regular practice sessions both on and off the ice.
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Isolate Specific Skills
When you play hockey, there are a lot of skills that you need to be aware of. Some of those skills will be strengths, and some of them will be weaknesses. That is, of course, unless you’re some kind of phenom.
For the rest of us, we have to be aware of what skills our position will require us to be good at and which of those skills aren’t our strengths. If you haven’t been playing hockey for too long, you might not be aware of all of the skills that have to work in tandem. For example:
- Stickhandling.
- Accuracy.
- Ice skating.
- Balance.
- Strength.
- Speed.
- Passing.
- Making new plans on the fly.
- Situational awareness.
- Spacial awareness.
- Grip strength.
There are a lot more, but most positions on a hockey team have to have those eleven skills down to a science if they want to be a formidable ally and opponent on the ice. At the end of the day, that’s all any hockey player wants, isn’t it?
By using hockey training aids, you can ensure that you’re getting the best possible training in all of these specific areas. Pinpointing things that you’re good at and that you’re bad at can make a work of difference, and using the right tool for the skill you need to improve upon helps give you that much better training.
Hockey training aids can also be used to track your progress and make sure that you’re getting the most out of your time in the gym. Whether it’s measuring how many repetitions you’re completing or tracking your power output, there are a variety of tools on the market that can help keep you on track.
Once you’ve purchased your hockey training aids and have begun using them, be sure to keep a journal of your progress so that you can see exactly what you’re doing right and where you need to make more improvements.
Without a journal or tracking system, it can be difficult to determine where you’re making progress and where you need to focus your attention. By using hockey training aids, you can ensure that your time in the gym is well spent and that you are getting the most out of your development as an ice hockey player.
What Kinds of Training Aids Are There?
As we mentioned in short, there are a lot of different kinds of training aids available to help hockey players make the most out of their training time. Realistically, anything that you’re struggling with has a corresponding training aid.
Let’s take a look at a few of the training aids and how they can help you with your hockey skills. Keep in mind, not all of these will be hockey-specific, but they’ll all be able to help with your hockey skills:
Hockey stick weights.
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- Hockey stick weights are small weights that can be slid onto your hockey stick. These help with resistance training and make it easier to move your stick around when it’s unencumbered.
Hockey balls.
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- Hockey balls are pretty much what they sound like. Little balls that you can hit with your hockey stick. These are great for stickhandling drills when you’re not on the ice.
Puck passers.
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- There are few training aids as incredibly as the puck passer. It is a small metal triangle with rubber edges. All you have to do is hit the puck into the side and it will bounce back to you. This helps you with your passing skills.
Weight machines.
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- Now, hitting the gym is always a good idea, but did you ever consider that the machines at the gym are training aids themselves? These are good for helping with your strength.
Puck launchers.
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- Puck launchers are less common than the other items on the list because they’re expensive and can be replaced by having someone hit pucks at you, but any goalie that needs extra practice could use a puck launcher so they can try to defend against the pucks.
Synthetic ice
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- Unfortunately, you can’t be on the ice year-round. That’s where synthetic ice comes in. Using syntheticl ice will allow you all of the flexibility that you need to ensure that you’re getting the best possible training for what you do, regardless of the season.
As you can tell, there are a lot of different tools available that you can use to further your hockey skills and become an even better hockey player than you already are. You can find these aids at all sorts of sports stores, which makes them that much more convenient.
Are These Training Aids Worth the Cost?
One of the most important things that people think about when it comes to training aids for hockey players is the price. Nothing in this world is free, and spending money on tools that aren’t going to do what you need them to do isn’t going to be great for your pocketbook.
Even more so, some of these tools can be pretty expensive. That leaves a lot of people wondering if the investment is really worth it. At the end of the day, it really depends on how you feel about the price tag associated with this kind of thing. Do you feel like the training aids will be used as much as they would need to be to justify the price?
If the answer to that question is no, then you might not want to go out and spend a lot of money on tools that you aren’t going to use. On the other hand, if you feel like these training aids will be used extensively, then it may be worth putting in the extra money. It all comes down to what kind of person you are and how much value you place on training aids.
If you feel that these aids could be useful and possibly even worth the price, but you don’t think you could fit them into your budget, there are some things that you could try to make sure that you’re getting the most for your money.
One option is to look for training aids that are versatile. This means that they can be used for a variety of different purposes, and you won’t have to spend extra money on individual items just for training hyper-specific hockey skills.
Another thing you could do is shop around before making your purchase. There are a lot of different companies out there that make these kinds of tools, and it can be hard to know which one is the best deal if you don’t spend some time looking around first.
There are a ton of hockey training tools that you could easily use, and knowing how to find a good deal could mean fantastic things both for your hockey skills and for your wallet. Knowing what to look for when it comes to training aids is incredibly important so you can always get exactly what you’re looking for.
Get the Best Training For Your Money
Knowing how to find good tools to help with your training could very well make you a better hockey player. Whether you have major league aspirations or you just want to dominate during the next season, the right training can get you to where you want to go.
Training aids are incredibly important no matter what sport you play, and getting the most out of your training means that you’ll be able to improve your skills in a shorter amount of time than you would have been able to otherwise.