oha girl's Hockey
Ontario Hockey Academy
ELITE ACADEMICS
ELITE hockey
training at oha
The Ontario Hockey Academy helps student-athlete reach their athletic potential through a series of phases that enhance physical performance and hockey-specific training protocols. Working in small groups and supervised by Giles Lascelle, an Athletic Republic Level III-certified coach, committed athletes will improve their speed, conditioning, skating mechanics, agility and coordination skills.
“Most coaches train players by making them do long skating drills when the game demands short sprints. Do you think you will see a 100 yard dash sprinter run long distance to train? If you want to be agile, fast, and explosive, then train like a sprinter. Here at OHA we teach explosive power. You wont find this state-of-the-art hockey athletic training centre in any other preparatory school.”
Director of Hockey, Giles Lascelle
You can't always be motivated, so you must learn to be disciplined
PREPARE FOR the future
Training programs for athletes have changed over the last 20 years. Teenage athletes are demanding sport-specific training that matches the intensities of college or professional athletes. Hence the birth and success of the Ontario Hockey Academy.
University strength and conditioning coaches state that incoming freshman athletes lack physical and psychological preparedness for the rigours of collegiate training and sport competition. More specifically lack of lower extremity strength, overall flexibility, and core strength as well as proper lifting technique, have been identified as areas of concern. Strength and conditioning coaches also feel that athletes often lack the mental toughness to cope with collegiate sport training. it has also been noted that incoming athletes lack knowledge of correct nutrition and recovery principles.
1. TRAIN LIKE A PRO
In sports and especially in hockey, a tenth of a second, an eighth of an inch, or an additional burst of energy can make the difference between finishing first, winning the game, or even making the final cut for the team. Get that competitive edge and gain speed, power, agility, strength and stamina by training like a pro.
You’ll leave the Academy faster, fitter and more powerful. We will improve your skating mechanics, your stride, your knee drive, your leg turnover, even the way you carry your head. You’ll be fluid and efficient, more powerful, and able to sustain effort far longer than you ever thought possible.
2. Train at an advanced sports training facility
When a student-athlete walks through the OHA doors, they walk into a world where maximizing athletic potential is the anthem. Strengths and weaknesses are assessed and a training program is created - A program that is tailored specifically to the individual - delivered in an environment that is second to none. By creating a training environment that allows OHA coaches to push boundaries safely, development happens quickly, in a controlled manner, and improvements are solid and long lasting.
In sports, a tenth of a second, an eighth of an inch, or an additional burst of energy can make the difference between finishing first, winning the game or even making the final cut for the team. OHA strives to give student-athletes that competitive edge in speed, power, agility, strength and stamina by ensuring they train like a pro.
3. key training objectives
Take this quick self- evaluation: Are you faster and stronger than other players?; Are you aware of the science behind how you train and how well it will work for athletic performance? Do you have good speed, flexibility, and plyometric training?; Does your training program get you the physical conditioning you need to maintain peak performance during the entire game and breeze through practice? If you answered "no" to any of these points, often that is due to incomplete training approaches. In hockey, like many sports, there are plenty of myths and confusion about which exercises are best to improve athletic performance.
Ontario Hockey Academy will teach you to:
Increase: Acceleration, speed, explosive power
Improve Overall strength and power, footwork, eye-hand/eye-foot coordination
Enhance Cardiovascular condition, body positioning and power
Reduce Risk of injury
4. training and ON ICE DEVELOPMENT
AWARENESS & TEAM PLAY
Vision & Awareness
The hockey term is to “keep your head on a swivel.” Players must watch behind them, control the puck with their feet and know the whereabouts of other players on the ice. The more time players spend with their heads up and, the better. Establishing great visual awareness on the ice by keeping the head up and on a swivel is key.
Team Systems &Team Strategies
Defensive team play includes defensive zone coverage, backchecking and tracking through the neutral zone, forechecking in the offensive zone; offensive team play including breakout, moving through the neutral zone, attacking the offensive zone; entries; special team play including powerplay, penalty killing, face-offs; other strategies such as gap control, on-ice patience, creating open ice, situations in which to delay, on ice discipline, use of speed and quickness, use of the neutral zone trap, stretching etc.
Part of the program would include the players and coaches watching NCAA games as a group and then discussing team tactics in class sessions, addressing what was and wasn’t effective.
SKATING & PASSING
Skating
In this program skating is considered the cornerstone to all other skills. All possible skating movements are covered and with nine months to work this, there will be a tremendous amount of variety in the on-ice drills, learning to use all edges, balance, and agility. Players will be taught to improve their skating in areas like, agility, quickness, speed and power.
Passing
Passing is the most underrated skill in hockey. Ask any professional hockey player what is the difference between the minors and the pro levels and you will hear is how fast and accurate the puck is moved at the highest levels.
Our drills utilize repetition in order to ingrain changes in passing technique. Once the technique is well established, the focus will be on doing puck movements at speed in game-like situations. Each pass needs to be “laser guided” with authority and easy to control when it reaches a teammate’s stick. Passing is the most effective way to beat an opponents. After all, the puck can travel much faster than anyone can skate!
SHOOTING & STICKHANDLING
Shooting
Unleashing a great shot is one of the joys of the game, especially if it scores! Shooting well requires a complete understanding of the principles of each type of shot and practice, practice, practice.
Top players make shooting look easy, but it is actually a complicated art. A hockey team will get about 20 to 40 shots on net in a game. This means the average player will only get between two to four shots on net, so it is vital that every shot hits the net. The keys are accuracy and speed. Statistics show that 70% of goalies are scored on on their stick side. 20% of goals are scored on their glove side. 80% of goals are scored from 2% of the ice - specifically around the net - as a result of rebounds, deflections, etc.
Puckhandling
OHA promotes developing soft, quick hands, and all aspects of stickhandling: Narrow, wide, separating puck from body, in front, on the side, diagonal, protecting the puck, split vision, seeing the ice, all skating movements while handling the puck, puck in and out of skates, spin-o-rama, deception with the puck, giving and taking back the puck and dekes. We will also discuss with players different lengths of sticks, curves and lies.
SPEED TRAINING
Players will run/skate on Athletic Republic Generation III Super Treadmill. Reaching speeds up to 28 miles per hour and an incline grade of 40 degrees, it’s proven to increase speed and power. Players are also taught proper skating mechanics at high speeds. Stride efficiency and power make a faster, quicker skater.
Developing awareness of energy systems, aerobic and anaerobic (lactic and alactic), muscle strength in hockey specific muscles, and more importantly power (such as jump height) gives a better understanding of a player’s potential for speed. (General strength-testing doesn’t take into account the player’s size and weight.)
Players can also learn visually by seeing themselves in a mirror and by using Dartfish video motion analysis.
In a race for the puck, it is not necessarily the strongest legs that get a player there first, but the player who can recruit his maximum muscle strength the quickest. Each player in the program will be using this explosive weight training equipment on a weekly basis.
OHA uses specialized explosive training weight equipment to train athletes for strength and power, at ten times the speed they would train with free weights.
STRENGTH TRAINING
Power - the ability to exert maximum muscular contraction instantly in an explosive burst of movement (Jumping or sprint starting)
Every player will be involved in resistance training for strength and power, which will be very hockey specific. For the players in the program, the emphasis will improve flexibility, quickness, strength, power, balance and reaction time.
Players need incredible lower and upper body strength to shoot harder, defend better, move quicker and catch more easily. A sound weight-training program promotes stability and reduces the risk of injury.
Players utilize bodyweight, free-weights, medicine balls, and circuits to strengthen muscles, joints and connective tissues. The exercises are biomechanically specific to on-ice skills including muscle movements used in shooting and passing.
Strength training emphasizes lower body power in particular, with the development of hockey-specific gains to the hip region and explosive single-legged power. There will be a particular emphasis on muscles used in shooting and protecting the puck such as the triceps. A sound weight-training program promotes stability and reduces the risk of injury.
PLYOMETRIC TRAINING
Plyometric training is an effective form of power training ideally suited for all sports. Players perform specific plyometric drills for increased motor performance (coordination), explosive power, vertical jump height, lateral power and rotation, and landing strength.
With Plyometrics, athletes train once a week by doing a variety of footwork drills to improve balance, agility and vertical jump. Plyometrics builds body awareness and the ability to move quickly and explosively.
Plyometrics combines elements of both speed and strength in single movement patterns that include the Athletic Republic PlyoPress, cord technology, longitudinal and vertical jumps, box jumps and medicine ball drills for upper body and middle body torso power.
Plyometric training is a very effective form of power training ideally suited to hockey. Hockey players perform specific plyometric drills for increased motor performance (coordination), explosive power, vertical jump height, lateral power and rotation, and landing strength.