Have you ever wondered why is reaction time important in hockey? Well, a game of hockey has 22 players on the pitch and the ball can be moving in excess of 100 mph during the game.
So, understandably, all players, especially the goalkeeper, need to be able to quickly perceive and react to the location and movement of the ball to play successfully in a competitive environment.
However, reaction time alone is not what matters. Agility is also equally important.
Why is agility needed in hockey?
Hockey reaction time tells how fast a player can respond to any event in the game. Besides a quick reaction, a proper response is also important. That’s where agility comes in.
Since the goalkeeper has the most important role to play in a hockey match, they need to be more agile than everyone else in the team.
In case you feel you’re not so agile, we can help you.
Here are some drills that can help increase your hockey reaction time as well as your agility during the game.
Ball bounce
- Position yourself at approximately four meter from a wall.
- Take a small bouncing ball and toss it against the wall.
- You have to stop the ball from going past you using nothing but your hockey.
- Make four sets of 30 seconds each a part of your daily practice.
Partner mirror shuffle
You’ll need a partner for this one.
- Have a friend stand in front of you at around one meter so that you face each other.
- Your partner can perform any shuffling or sporadic movements for 30 seconds and can also change the directions constantly.
- You need to mimic every move of your partner. Your goal is to be agile and react as fast as you can.
- You should do at least four sets of this drill as a part of your daily training routine to see results.
There are other drills too but we have focused on the ones that you can perform easily without having to have specialized equipment.
