Hockey performance is more than just learning how to skate, shoot and score. While every coach has their own plans for on-ice skill development in place, there are six other critical pieces of the performance puzzle that you must fit into your hockey training program if you want to guarantee that you have your best season ever.

In order to take your game to the next level this season, you have to address these 6 key areas of player development.

1) Mental Preparation
Elite players and coaches agree that 80% of performance is mental and 20% is physical.  To ensure that players are 100% mentally prepared for every game and your team can perform their best, you need to have focus, confidence and composure-building strategies in place.

2) Hockey-Specific Nutrition
There are certain foods that will fuel peak performance and others that will destroy it.  Coaches, parents and players must learn how to make the best nutrition choices possible, whether they are at home, at the rink or at the drive-thru, if they want their athletes to play their best.

3) Off-Ice Warm-Ups
Many players and teams are starting to get the message about the importance of warming-up before hitting the ice.  To ensure that you come flying out of the gate in the first period, you must complete a pre-game off-ice warm-up that mimics the same movements and intensity used on the ice instead of just jogging around the rink.

4) On-Ice Conditioning
To ensure that players are as energetic and explosive in the 2nd overtime as they were in the 2nd period, teams must have a progressive on-ice hockey conditioning plan in place.  "Bag skating" isn't going to cut it - your on-ice conditioning must be as well as planned as your skill session if you want players to peak in time for the playoff-run.

5) Off-Ice Team Training
Most players and teams stop their off-ice training once the season starts to focus on their on-ice skills - and that is a big mistake.  If you want to be better in February than you were in September, you must use specific hockey training to get stronger, faster and fitter throughout the regular season.

6) Recovery Program
Far too many hockey players will suffer from injuries and burn-out this season - and, the worst part is that, the vast majority of these issues are completely preventable.  Having a proper post-hockey recovery routine in place, including cool-down, stretching, hydration and nutrition strategies, will ensure that players feel their best and play their best day after day.

There is nothing worse than finishing the season feeling like you have under-achieved and not being able to figure out why.  Quite often it is the lack of attention to these 6 key areas of hockey player development that mean the difference between finishing at the top of the standings and starting summer vacation early.

By putting an off-ice player development plan in place that addresses these six secrets of in-season success, you will be well on your way to your best season ever.

About The Author
Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS is an Athletic Development Specialist and founder of Total Female Hockey.  In addition to training and coaching girls at all levels of hockey, from novice to the National team, Kim has also played at the highest level of women's hockey in the world for the last decade.