For hockey players, hip health is one of the key components to a successful career. The motion of skating, from a physical aspect, is not a natural movement. The knee bend, the 45-degree extension, the balance on the blade, and the ability to switch from one to another all correlates into unique patterns of movement for the human body.
Being able to have a quick recovery from extension to middle for a stride requires all three muscles in the hip area to be firing throughout the movement. Building strength in those areas will create quicker feet, faster transition, better skating, and less likelihood of injury.
But other than skating, how can we build those muscles and recreate those patterns of movements? For a long time, professional hockey players and speed skaters have used a trusted tool known as the slide board.
Benefits of the Slide Board for Hockey Training
The repeated motion of the lateral movement from using the slide board has proven benefits for skaters. It's low-impact and low-stress to help create a better and safer place to build cardiovascular health and fitness, as opposed to the high impact running/sprinting has on your joints.
Multi-tasking as you gain confidence also helps benefit hockey sense and overall ability. Working on stickhandling and ball/puck control while sliding helps your brain create separation between tasks, which helps improve skating and comprehending the game at higher rates.
Running can be a great way to build up your cardiovascular endurance, but it doesn’t have the same effect on the muscles used in a hockey stride. The slide board is able to properly simulate this movement at a high rate per minute, creating a wonderful way to improve your cardio.
History and Rise of the Slide Board
In the 1980s, slide board workouts took the world by storm, creating a low-impact and fun way to get fit. Now, with the emergence of the game of hockey on a global scale, a new market for the slide board has been created. There are many products options available, from roll-up slide boards to flat, heavy-duty slide boards designed to stay in place.
So which board is best?
In our experience the roll-up board options, while economical, feel flimsy and tend to bunch up with repetition. The best heavy-duty board for consumers we've seen is the Brrrn Board, which is made in the USA with quality wood to produce a special board with slick properties that will allow players to feel the ease of sliding, just like on ice!
For a hockey player, athlete, or general fitness buff, the slide board is beneficial to the body. It builds so many unique muscle groups and benefits cardio, strength, balance, and more. It’s a great tool to have as a staple to any workout regimen, has less impact on the joints than running – and it’s fun.
