Fitness for High Performance Hockey (Special Edition)

This book is written for young players from 13 to 15 years and 16 to 19 years of age and is an adaptation of my first book by the same title.
It is fundamentally important that kids have fun playing hockey and also have fun in acquiring the fitness levels to play the game to the best of their ability. Most would agree that you get more fun and enjoyment out of a game when you are skilled enough to play the game well. It is our belief that in order to learn many of the skills in hockey, you need to have sufficient fitness to do them well and to practice them regularly. For example, you need leg strength to use your skate edges for speed, to do outside drives, and to change direction. You need flexibility to stick handle or make a great pad save and you need upper body strength to establish position in front of the net, to battle for the puck in the corner, or cycle down low to keep possession of the puck. Good acceleration, braking, and agility are necessary to get open, to capture space, and to be effective in the transistion from offense to defence and vice-versa. And, along with all of this, you need good aerobic fitness for recovery between shifts, between periods, in back-to-back games, and over the long season. Coupled with all of these is the proper nutritional strategies so that you can have the fuel to work and lay hard, the nutrients to bild strength and faster muscles, fluids to replace sweat losses, and the proper balance to keep you healthy.
In my experience with Olympic teams, Canada Cup teams, NHL teams such as the New York Rangers for whom I presently work, and my experience as an educator and coach of young people, I have learned so much from teh coaches, trainers, management, and, especially the players. This book attempts to bring together this knowledge to help young players gain the fitness necessary to be the best they can be and have fun doing it.