Does leg strength make you quicker

Reebokgear05 · College Joined: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 33

Hey everyone if you have pretty strong legs will that make you quicker?

Vigier · Minors Joined: 29 Mar 2008 Posts: 270 Location: Manitoba

Your foot work and leg thrusts, such as t-pushes and shuffles should be faster.
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Reebokgear05 · College Joined: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 33

okay thanks but what would you recomend to make my butterfly pushes and slides faster?

montreal961 · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 10:46 pm Post subject:

Muscles generate power, more power to your butterfly slide, harder push would mean you would arrive quicker. I guess it would... in theory, but skinny guys can be just as quick too.
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Reebokgear05 · College Joined: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 33

thanks montreal but im wondering how to be faster to move around the crease cuz im a pretty tall guy and i cover quite a bit of net but being quicker would take my game to the next level and as i said before about leg strength making me quicker but what are some other ways to become quicker

Vigier · Minors Joined: 29 Mar 2008 Posts: 270 Location: Manitoba

I got faster just by repeating drills. Like I'm not jacked or anything, I'm pretty skinny, well my legs are anyway, and so arm my arms. Rick doesn't have us doing any like intense leg workouts, he just has us practice butterfly slides and t-pushes and shuffles. I'm not sure if this helps at all.
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PensHockeyFan · Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 12:35 am Post subject:

I'm not so sure about quicker, but with certain exercises, you will get more power, and that can help in all aspects of the game. If you are talking about reflex speed, only practice will help that out. If you are talking about getting from one side of the net to the other quick, then leg strength will propel you faster in a butterfly slide. Leg strength will make you appear quicker because you will be delivering more power with each move, and more power = faster speed. Just think Mustang 5.0L vs Honda civic 1.6L.
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puckstopper135 · Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:08 am Post subject:

Repeat, repeat, repeat!

I have all the goalies I work with on the ice do many of the drills multiple times during practices. I make my sister do 15 up and downs after every drill, no matter how tiring the drill. Theory being that you will build the muscle doing so, and become quicker at what you do.

Basically if you want to have faster butterfly slides, do them until your legs are on fire. Then do them some more. Squats, lunges, stairs will help a lot in the leg power area.

Returning2MyNet · Minors Joined: 09 Mar 2009 Posts: 379

Are you a Reflex goalie or a play reader, a Sprinter of distance runner, a lineman or tailback? Many people believe that having more fast and slow twitch muscle fibers may determine what sports athletes excel at and how they respond to training.

Skeletal muscle is made up of bundles of individual muscle fibers called myocytes. Each myocyte contains many myofibrils, which are strands of proteins (actin and myosin) that can grab on to each other and pull. This shortens the muscle and causes muscle contraction.

It is generally accepted that muscle fiber types can be broken down into two main types: slow twitch (Type I) muscle fibers and fast twitch (Type II) muscle fibers. Fast twitch fibers can be further categorized into Type IIa and Type IIb fibers.

These distinctions seem to influence how muscles respond to training and physical activity, and each fiber type is unique in its ability to contract in a certain way. Human muscles contain a genetically determined mixture of both slow and fast fiber types. On average, we have about 50 percent slow twitch and 50 percent fast twitch fibers in most of the muscles used for movement.

Slow Twitch (Type I)
The slow muscles are more efficient at using oxygen to generate more fuel (known as ATP) for continuous, extended muscle contractions over a long time. They fire more slowly than fast twitch fibers and can go for a long time before they fatigue. Therefore, slow twitch fibers are great at helping athletes run marathons and bicycle for hours.

What Causes Muscle Fatigue?

Fast Twitch (Type II)
Because fast twitch fibers use anaerobic metabolism to create fuel, they are much better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles. However, they fatigue more quickly. Fast twitch fibers generally produce the same amount of force per contraction as slow muscles, but they get their name because they are able to fire more rapidly. Having more fast twitch fibers can be an asset to a sprinter since she needs to quickly generate a lot of force.

Type IIa Fibers
These fast twitch muscle fibers are also known as intermediate fast-twitch fibers. They can use both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism almost equally to create energy. In this way, they are a combination of Type I and Type II muscle fibers.

Type IIb Fibers
These fast twitch fibers use anaerobic metabolism to create energy and are the "classic" fast twitch muscle fibers that excel at producing quick, powerful bursts of speed. This muscle fiber has the highest rate of contraction (rapid firing) of all the muscle fiber types, but it also has a much faster rate of fatigue and can't last as long before it needs rest.

Fiber Type and Performance
Our muscle fiber type may influence what sports we are naturally good at or whether we are fast or strong. Olympic athletes tend to fall into sports that match their genetic makeup. Olympic sprinters have been shown to possess about 80 percent fast twitch fibers, while those who excel in marathons tend to have 80 percent slow twitch fibers.

Are Athletes Born or Built? To some extent genitics can make a big difference, in others training can over most obsticals, and so will how you live your life.

Can Training Change Fiber Type?
This is not entirely understood, and research is still looking at that question. There is some evidence showing that human skeletal muscle may switch fiber types from "fast" to "slow" due to training. But that going from slow to fast is by far less likely which is why you do not see heavy weight body builder sprinters.
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jedihomie · Minors Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 239

yes, obviously.
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Reebokgear05 · College Joined: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 33

thanks guys thats gonna help alot Very Happy

PensHockeyFan · Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:57 pm Post subject:

This would be great reading for you. I got some good info from it, but being that I am a roller hockey goalie, not everything applies. For instance, it's almost impossible to slide on sport court or epoxy concrete without slide plates, which I don't have yet because I am still learning to do a proper butterfly. I hope this article helps!

http://www.vaughnhockey.com/goaltending_resources/pdf_files/science_of_explosiveness.pdf
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Reebokgear05 · College Joined: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 33

thanks man thats really helpful but im also wondering are there any specific drills for quickness as well

Returning2MyNet · Minors Joined: 09 Mar 2009 Posts: 379

drills that in crease foot speed
1. tap dancing
2. lay a long ladder out and run through, l, r, l, r etc
3. same ladder crossing over
4. together
5.l in, r in, l out, right out repeat.
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Reebokgear05 · College Joined: 01 Aug 2009 Posts: 33

thanks man that should help me quite a bit Smile