Mr Assist.com

Want TO Be QUICK, Get a HEAD START!!!!!

There are 3 ways to become quicker and therefore also faster.

Most strength and conditioning coaches will teach two. They include faster turnover rate and longer stride (or more powerful push off).

However there is one more way to become a faster and quicker athlete and that is by "getting a head start". If you were to run a race against someone but you were able to start 1second sooner would that give you an advantage? Of course it would.

So in a game of hockey, football or any other sport the first one to react to a play is going to have a head start.

When a puck goes into the corner the first one to know where that puck is going and react to it will usually have an advantage. I feel, therefore that it is extremely important to work on reaction time.

There are several exercises I like to use to help improve a player's reaction time. The two I mention below are described in detail and includes photos and explanations of how to perform the exercises. I have also enclosed my recommendation for training.

These exercises are fun and take very little time to work on. These exercises can be performed every day if you wish however I usually recommend 2-3 times per week. I perform one of these exercises with my team before every practice during warm-ups.

Turn and Touch 1: 3 sets of 30 seconds, as they become easier you can add a 360* turn every so often to make the exercise a little harder.

Gunslinger: 3 sets of 10 touches any hand. Then change up the exercise so that the opponent has to touch the hand with either opposite or same hand each time. This forces the opponent to think quickly as well as react quickly. 3 sets of 10 touches same or opposite hand.

With two people performing these exercises you will be able to do the above exercises in about 5 minutes. These can be performed at home one on one or in a team setting with each member of the team partnering up with a teammate.

Turn and Touch Reaction

Turn your back to your partner about two feet in front of him/her.

Your partner will now hold his/her hand out in front of him/herself. Partner will now say left or right. Turn in the direction your partner tells you to and touch his/her hand with that same hand (right/left).

For example; partner says left, you must turn to the left and touch your partners hand with your left hand. Immediately turn back to the front as soon as possible. Partner then moves placement of hand and once again says left or right at which time you will perform again.

Increase the speed at which this is performed. Partner controls the speed of the drill and should try to force you to move and think faster than normal.

Gunslinger

Two participants stand approximatley 2 feet away from each other facing each other.

Both participants will start with hands on hips. Choose which one will move first. That person will, on their own raise one hand palm down, to the level of his or her belly button. The other person must react and try to hit the top of the hand before the hand returns to the hip.

Make a game out of it by declaring one person the winner if they hit it 5 times. Switch after each turn.

To make the game more difficult you can say that the person reacting must touch the top of the hand with the opposite hand or same hand.

Dr. Clint Steele is founder of www.betterhockey.com and www.topdogathlete.com in conjunction with Doug McKenny of the Buffalo Sabres. Dr. Steele has trained hundreds of athletes worldwide and has been featured as a writer in several magazines including American Hockey.

These exercises and more than 500 pages of drills, articles, pictures and videos can be found at www.betterhockey.com in the members only section for only pennies a day. More pages are being added daily and membership includes discounts on over 100 products we carry, live phone conferences with NHL players and coaches and more. Also make sure to check out our magazine, Better Hockey The Magazine, plus our on-line training programs and more.