The specificity of motor learning tasks for skating development in older school-age children has not been sufficiently explored. The main objective was to compare the effects of training programs using change-of-direction (COD) speed exercises and partial skating task (SeqT) training on speed and agility performance in U12 ice hockey players. Thirteen young ice hockey males (13 ± 0.35 years, 41.92 ± 9.76 kg, 152.23 ± 9.41 cm) underwent three straight speed (4 and 30 m with and without a puck) and agility testing sessions before and after six weeks of COD training and then after a six-week intervention involving partial skating task (SeqT) training. The statistics were performed using magnitude-based decision (MBD) analysis to calculate the probability of the performance change achieved by the interventions. The MBD analysis showed that COD training had a large effect (11.7 ± 2.4% time decrease) on skating start improvement (straight sprint 4 m) and a small effect (-2.2 ± 2.4%) on improvement in agility with a puck. Partial skating task (SeqT) training had a large effect (5.4 ± 2.5%) on the improvement of the 30-m sprint with a puck and moderate effect on agility without a puck (1.9 ± 0.9%) and likely improved the 30-m sprint without a puck (2.6 ± 1.3%). COD training on the ice improves short starts and agility with a puck, while partial skating tasks (SeqT) target longer 30-m sprints and agility without a puck. Therefore, both types of training should be applied in accordance with motor learning tasks specific to current training needs.

Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Charles University 16252 Prague Czech Republic

Institute of Physical Education Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz 85 064 Bydgoszcz Poland

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Buckeridge E., LeVangie M.C., Stetter B., Nigg S.R., Nigg B.M. An on-ice measurement approach to analyse the biomechanics of ice hockey skating. PLoS ONE. 2015;10:e0127324. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127324. PubMed DOI PMC

Popkin C., Schulz B., Park C., Bottiglieri T., Lynch T.S. Evaluation, management and prevention of lower extremity youth ice hockey injuries. Open Access J. Sports Med. 2016;7:167–176. doi: 10.2147/OAJSM.S118595. PubMed DOI PMC

Farlinger C.M., Kruisselbrink L.D., Fowles J.D. Relationships to Skating Performance in Competitive Hockey Players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2007;21:915–922. doi: 10.1519/00124278-200708000-00044. PubMed DOI

Allisse M., Sercia P., Comtois A.S., Leone M. Morphological, Physiological and Skating Performance Profiles of Male Age-Group Elite Ice Hockey Players. J. Hum. Kinet. 2017;58:87–97. doi: 10.1515/hukin-2017-0085. PubMed DOI PMC

Mascaro T., Seaver B.L., Swanson L. Prediction of skating speed with off-ice testing in professional hockey players. J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 1992;15:92–98. doi: 10.2519/jospt.1992.15.2.92. PubMed DOI

Novák D., Lipinska P., Roczniok R., Spieszny M., Stastny P. Off-ice agility provide motor transfer to on-ice skating performance and agility in adolescent ice hockey players. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2019;18:680–694. PubMed PMC

Pearsall D., Turcotte R., Murphy S.D. Biomechanics of ice hockey. Exerc. Sport Sci. 2000:675–692.

Bracko M. Biomechanics powers ice hockey performance. Biomechanics. 2004;9:47–53.

Clark J.E., Metcalfe J.S. The Mountain of Motor Development: A Metaphor. Mot. Dev. Res. Rev. 2002;2:163–190.

Seidler R.D. Neural Correlates of Motor Learning, Transfer of Learning, and Learning to Learn. Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 2013;38:3–9. doi: 10.1097/JES.0b013e3181c5cce7. PubMed DOI PMC

Krakauer J.W., Hadjiosif A.K., Xu J., Wong A.L., Haith A.M. Motor learning. Compr. Physiol. 2011;9:613–663. PubMed

Sheppard J.M. Strength and conditioning exercise selection in speed development. Strength Cond. J. 2003;25:26–30. doi: 10.1519/00126548-200308000-00006. DOI

Sheppard J.M., Young W.B., Doyle T.L.A., Sheppard T.A., Newton R.U. An evaluation of a new test of reactive agility and its relationship to sprint speed and change of direction speed. J. Sci. Med. Sport. 2006;9:342–349. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2006.05.019. PubMed DOI

Young W.B., James R., Montgomery I. Is muscle power related to running speed with changes of direction? J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness. 2002;42:282–288. PubMed

Brughelli M., Cronin J., Levin G., Chaouachi A. Understanding change of direction ability in sport: A review of resistance training studies. Sports Med. 2008;38:1045–1063. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200838120-00007. PubMed DOI

Janot J.M., Beltz N.M., Dalleck L.D. Multiple off-ice performance variables predict onice skating performance in male and female division III ice hockey players. J. Sports Sci. Med. 2015;14:522–529. PubMed PMC

Bracko M.R., George J.D. Prediction of Ice Skating Performance with Off-Ice Testing in Women’s Ice Hockey Players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2001;15:116–122. doi: 10.1519/1533-4287(2001)015<0116:POISPW>2.0.CO;2. PubMed DOI

Hopkins W.G., Marshall S.W., Batterham A.M., Hanin J. Progressive statistics for studies in sports medicine and exercise science. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2009;41:3–12. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31818cb278. PubMed DOI

Hopkins W.G. Spreadsheets for analysis of controlled trials, crossovers and time series. Sportscience. 2017;21:1–4.

Hopkins W.G. Compatibility Intervals and Magnitude-Based Decisions for Standardized Differences and Changes in Means. Sportscience. 2019;23:1–4.

Batterham A.M., Hopkins W.G. The Problems with “The Problem with ‘Magnitude-Based Inference’”. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2019;51:599. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001823. PubMed DOI

Sainani K. The Problem with “Magnitude-based Inference”. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2018;50:2166–2176. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001645. PubMed DOI

IIHF Hockey Centre IIHF Skills Challenge: Operations Manual. [(accessed on 5 September 2020)]; Available online: https://www.hockeycentre.org/Portals/3/IIHF_docs_skillsChallenge/IIHFSkillsChallengeOpsManual_opt.pdf.

Kowalczuk M., Ayeni O., Farag J., Farrokhyar F., Chu R., Bedi A., Willits K., Bhandari M. Trends in reporting of mechanisms and incidence of hip injuries in males playing minor ice hockey in Canada: A cross-sectional study. Open Access J. Sports Med. 2014:143. doi: 10.2147/OAJSM.S58985. PubMed DOI PMC

Hockey Canada Hockey Canada Skill Academy. [(accessed on 5 September 2020)]; Available online: https://www.bchockey.net/Files/Skills%20and%20Fitness%20Tests%20-%202015.pdf.

Lemoyne J., Martini G., Brunelle J.F., Trudeau F. Measuring ice hockey skills in a repeated measures testing context: The effects of fatigue on skating efficiency, passing, agility, and shooting. Sport J. 2018;21:1–16.

Haukali E., Tjelta L.I. Correlation between “off-ice” variables and skating performance among young male ice hockey players. Int. J. Appl. Sports Sci. 2015;27:26–32. doi: 10.24985/ijass.2015.27.1.26. DOI

Gilenstam K., Thorsen K., Henriksson-Larsén K.B. Physiological Correlates of Skating Performance in Women’s and Men’s Ice Hockey. J. Strength Cond. Res. 2011 doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181ecd072. PubMed DOI

Budarick A.R., Shell J.R., Robbins S.M.K., Wu T., Renaud P.J., Pearsall D.J. Ice hockey skating sprints: Run to glide mechanics of high calibre male and female athletes. Sports Biomech. 2020;19:601–617. doi: 10.1080/14763141.2018.1503323. PubMed DOI

Pearsall D.J., Upjohn T., Loh J. Three-dimensional kinematics of the lower limbs during forward ice hockey skating. Sports Biomech. 2008;7:206–221. doi: 10.1080/14763140701841621. PubMed DOI

The Relation of On-Ice and Off-Ice Performance at Two Different Performance Levels in Youth Ice-Hockey Players

Lower Limb Skeletal Robustness Determines the Change of Directional Speed Performance in Youth Ice Hockey

Training with a Heavy Puck Elicits a Higher Increase of Shooting Speed Than Unloaded Training in Midget Ice Hockey Players

Fast Eccentric Movement Tempo Elicits Higher Physiological Responses than Medium Eccentric Tempo in Ice-Hockey Players