How to Get the Best Out of the Worst Warm Up Conditions
Photo Credit: Seth J Sports
We have had multiple students pose this question over the past couple of years:
“My on ice warm up for games is only three minutes long… how should I use this time to get ready for the game?”
Most goalies in the game of hockey are subject to unideal warm up conditions where they are only allotted three minutes. For the first 45 seconds of it, you are probably taking the net off the wall and pegging it (if you play men’s league). And for the last 30 seconds, players want to shoot at an empty net to quote, “warm their shot up” (We know, it’s a lame excuse as far as we’re concerned also).
Even though your warm up is technically 3 minutes long before they drop the puck, you are only left with about 1 minute and 45 seconds to actually be in the net and face pucks. We know that almost none of these are shot above the tops of the circles, or below shoulder level. Nothing like warming up the face and collarbone when you are trying to get focused to play a hockey game.
It’s not easy to get ready to play in the worst possible warm up conditions, where you have almost no time, and the shots that you do see are brutal. Three minute warm ups are far from ideal, but you can still get some utility out of them if you have a plan and approach them the right way.
The tips from this article are be good for any warm up situation. If you end up lucky enough to receive a 5 minute allotment for warm ups, these will work just as well for that too. It should feel much easier with, relatively, so much time to warm up.
The easiest way to break down warm ups is by time stamp. The following list of tips is what we would be doing at each point of a three minute warm up.
The first key to getting the most out of a short warm up starts before you even step on the ice, with your off-ice warm up routine.
Warm Up Before Stepping On the Ice
The fact of the matter is, with only three minutes to warm up, you don’t have enough time to get your body and mind fully ready to play a hockey game in such a short amount of time. If you try to get warm in three minutes, you may not feel ready until midway through the first period, or later. You also will have a higher risk of injury trying to play an intense hockey game when your heart rate has only been elevated in the last three to five minutes. When you step on that ice, you should already be feeling pretty warm, where you either have a light sweat going, or close to it. Then when you do get on the ice, you can use the three minutes to get your final ramp up, where you get a full sweat going, and your body feels lose and ready.
The best way to do this is to get to the rink an hour before your game if you can. Get your gear situated in the locker room and tape your stick if you like to. Assuming you need about 20 minutes to get dressed, getting to the rink an hour before the game will give you about 25-30 minutes of off ice warm up time— plenty of time to get your body warmed up.
Everyone has a bit of a different routine that makes them feel loose, warm, and ready, but some things you can consider throwing into your pregame routine are:
Foam rolling
Dynamic stretching
Leg swings
Hip circles
High knees, butt kicks, shuffles, karaoke warm up, etc.
Lateral jumps
Ladder drills
Band drills, such as lateral shuffles with an elastic band around your knees.
A couple of sprints
All of these get your muscles loose and heart rate up. Once you are finished with these, you may have a minor sweat going, or even a major sweat if you sweat a lot. If your hips or legs burn a bit during some of your off- ice warm up, that’s ok. That is all part of getting warm.
Another great routine to throw into your off-ice warm up is a ball drill routine since you aren’t going to be able to see many shots when you are actually on the ice. And we would venture to say that many of the ones you do get to see aren’t very good warm up shots at all. Tossing balls off the floor, wall, juggling, and things of that nature, even for just five minutes before you get on the ice, will allow you to get your eyes warm and be ready to track the puck well once the game starts.
Now that you have a light drip going, and your eyes are warm, let’s break down the on-ice time stamps, and how you can best utilize your short pre-game ice time.
Warm Up Begins: 3:00 On the Clock
If you play men’s league, you’re probably pegging the net right now. Hate to say it- it is what it is. We said most warm up situations in hockey are completely unideal, but we don’t have to tell you that.
If you play youth hockey, or luck out in men’s league and someone else is pegging your net (as they should), use this time to immediately stretch for about 30 seconds, then start doing movements for 30 seconds or more. You shouldn’t have to stretch a ton because you should already feel loose. Stretch until you feel good, and then immediately get into your goalie movements to get your body moving in ways that only goaltending moves can.
After you stretch and move around, your team is probably ready for you to hop in the net and be a target.
2:00 to :45 Seconds On the Clock
At this point you are in the net. This is the only time you are going to have to be able to actually see and stop pucks, so use this time to track pucks. Remember your eyes are already warmed up from doing ball drills off- ice, so now you get that extra element of reading a puck off of a stick blade.
The most common warm up drill at this point is often referred to as the butterfly drill- players start from the corner, loop up above the blue line, receive a pass from the line in the opposing corner, and walk right down Broadway and rip the puck as hard and as high as they can.
Even though it’s tough in a situation like this, try to watch the puck from the stick blade all the way to your body, and all the way off your body. This will get your tracking dialed in.
This is usually when goalies say, “Well it’s pretty easy to watch the puck all the way to my body when it hits me in the face”. We know, and we agree. So try to use the pucks that actually go to your hands to watch the puck all the way into your glove, or all the way into your blocker and off your blocker into the corner.
During this butterfly drill, some goalies like to stay on their feet and track the puck, and some goalies like to go into the butterfly. Either one is fine, but we would recommend going into the butterfly at least a couple of times to get your hips and groins ready for it.
After they finish the butterfly drill and you hop out of the net, you probably have about 45 seconds to finish warming up.
:45 Seconds to 0.0 Seconds on the Clock
This is probably where goalies vary the most on what they like to do with this time. Typically, your teammates are all shooting at an empty net. While that’s happening, some goalies like to grab water, or go through some sort of mental routine. Some goalies like to shoot at the net to feel the puck on their blade.. All of the above are great.
You can also use this time to stretch more, or go through other movements you didn’t have time to go through in the first minute of warm ups. Many goalies like to go through a quick little movement routine. At this point your body should be feeling good, your tracking should be feeling good, and you should be about ready to play.
Find what works for you for the last 30 to 45 seconds of warm up. There are so many options, but use this time to finalize your preparation.
A Final Reminder
Often times, a short warm up time can feel stressful— you feel like there is no way you are going to play your best because you don’t have proper time to warm up. You cannot think this way, because it’s not true. You need to remember this— a short warm up or a bad warm up doesn’t throw away all the training you’ve done or the work you have put in. Assuming you have done the work and you have been detailed in practice, then you are ready to play no matter how little time you have to warm up. Have confidence in this fact. You have done the training, you have worked to get better, and all of that training will still be there even if you had no time to warm up at all. Remembering this fact should give you full confidence in yourself and in your game.
So if you can, get to the rink early. Get a good off-ice warm up in. Once you step on the ice, have a plan for what you are going to do with the time you have. When you are in the net, track the puck as best you can, and at the end of warm ups, have your own little personalized routine that gets you focused and ready to play.
Get the best out of the worst warm up conditions, and trust your training. You will be ready, no matter how little on-ice warm up time you are granted.
