How Can You Get Better at Hockey Off the Ice?

August 27, 2026

Ask a hockey family about off-ice training and the answer will often be dryland workouts or strength training.

Those things are very beneficial and have their place. But for young hockey players, getting better away from the rink involves more than adding another workout to the week.

Three things have an outsized impact on long-term development:

• Recovery: Sleep, nutrition, and hydration give the body time and resources to adapt.
• Other sports: Running, jumping, cutting, and reacting in different sports build athletic skills that complement skating.
• Unstructured free play: Pickup games and backyard sessions give players room to experiment, make decisions, and develop creativity without a coach directing every movement.

For players roughly 6 to 14, the goal shouldn’t be to spend every available hour doing hockey specific training. It's to build a better athlete while keeping hockey fun enough that they want to keep playing as they grow and mature.

What are the Best Ways to Improve at Hockey Off the Ice?

Besides the weight room and dryland workouts, the most useful off-ice habits for young hockey players are recovery, multi-sport participation, and unstructured play.

Strength training and dryland work can complement all three, particularly as players get older. But more training isn't automatically better. The quality and variety of a young player's overall week matter more than simply adding volume.

Why is Recovery So Important for Young Hockey Players?

Training creates a stimulus. Recovery is when the body adapts to it and grows.

This applies to physical development, but sleep also plays an important role in injury prevention, learning and memory. A player can spend an hour working on skating or shooting, but they still need adequate recovery for those skills to become part of their developing movement patterns.

H2: How Much Sleep Does a Young Hockey Player Need?

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends:

• Ages 6-12: 9-12 hours per night

• Ages 13-16: 8-10 hours per night

For young athletes, consistency matters. A regular bedtime and wake time throughout the week is more useful than trying to make up for several short nights with one long sleep on the weekend.

For parents, the simplest approach is to treat sleep as part of training rather than something that happens after training is finished.

What Should Young Hockey Players Eat After Practice?

Young players need enough food and fluids to support both growth and activity.

A post-practice meal or snack that includes carbohydrates, protein, and fluids can help replenish energy and support recovery. It doesn't need to be complicated or come from a supplement. A normal meal or convenient snack on the way home can work well.

Overall nutrition matters more than chasing a precise post-workout window. Players who consistently eat enough throughout the day will be in a better position to recover than players who rely on one meal immediately after practice.

For nutrition needs that vary based on age, growth, training volume, or medical considerations, a registered sports dietitian can provide individualized guidance.

Which Other Sports Are Best for Hockey Players?

Playing other sports can help young hockey players develop athletic skills that are difficult to get from hockey alone.

The 2018 NHL/NHLPA player survey found that the overwhelming majority of NHL players played another sport during childhood, while USA Hockey's American Development Model has also emphasized developing the athlete alongside the hockey player.

The important point isn't that every hockey player needs to play any one other specific sport. It's that different movement environments can build a broader athletic foundation.

Which Sports Complement Hockey?

Soccer, Football, Field Hockey, and Lacrosse are just few great examples of sports that complement hockey.  All of them develop endurance, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and train the body to move in multiple directions - all things very important to hockey and to building a well rounded, confident athlete.

One big benefit is variety. Instead of repeating the same hockey specific movement patterns year-round, multi-sport athletes are challenged with different ways to run, jump, stop, turn, react, and compete.

How Does Unstructured Play Make a Hockey Player Better?

Unstructured play is different from a coached practice. There is no drill sheet, no coach telling players where to stand, and no predetermined solution to every situation. Players have to take initiative, experiment, try new things,  and make their own decisions.

That might mean practicing a fancy new move, playing 1v1 versus a friend or sibling, or re-enacting their favorite plays by their favorite player.

They will fail. That's part of the value.

A player can repeat a move 30 times, change it, try it again, and eventually figure out what works. That kind of experimentation helps develop creativity, confidence, skill, and decision-making in ways that highly structured drills can't always replicate.

It also gives kids something organized practices sometimes can't: ownership of the game.

How Can a Backyard Rink Encourage More Free Play?

Free play works best when hockey is easy to access.

A backyard rink can remove one of the biggest barriers - access to ice! When the rink is outside the door, a player can grab their equipment and spend 20 minutes shooting, play a quick game with siblings, or simply skate because they feel like it.

The EZ ICE Pro Home Arena System is designed for that kind of regular access. It sets up without tools or stakes and most rinks can be assembled in 60 minutes or less, giving families a dedicated space for that unstructured play.

The rink can also support different types of off-ice practice throughout the year. When natural ice isn't available, synthetic ice or street hockey configurations can keep stickhandling, passing, shooting, and game-like play going on a driveway, garage, or sport court.

For more ideas on making backyard sessions engaging, see our guide to backyard rink drills and game.

What Should a Young Hockey Player's Week Actually Look Like?

There isn't one perfect weekly schedule for every player.

A 7-year-old playing hockey three times a week has very different needs from a 15-year-old playing almost daily at a highly competitive level. But a healthy week should generally include a mix of:

• Hockey practices and games.
• Adequate sleep and recovery.
• Other physical activities or sports.
• Unstructured play.
• Age-appropriate strength and conditioning as the player develops.
• Time away from organized sport.

The goal is not to fill every empty hour with formal hockey.

For younger players especially, the best development environment is one where they are active, exposed to different movements, getting enough recovery, and still excited to pick up a stick and play.

Final Thoughts

One of the most common mistakes is assuming that more structured hockey training automatically produces better players.

It can be tempting to add another skating lesson, another camp, or another skillsession whenever a player wants to improve.

But growth and development isn't only about accumulating repetitions on the ice and training every time there is free space on the calendar

Young players also need time to recover, experience different physical challenges, solve problems on their own, and play simply because the game is fun.

The best off-ice program isn't necessarily the busiest one. It's the one that supports development without taking away the enjoyment that keeps a player in the sport.

Sleep well. Eat healthy. Play different sports. Play hockey for fun.

If you're looking for a convenient place for backyard skating and free play, explore the EZ ICE rink builder.

FAQs

When should a young hockey player start strength training?

Age-appropriate strength training can be introduced well before a player reaches high school, but the focus should change as the athlete develops. For younger children, focus on bodyweight movements, coordination, balance, and good movement technique instead of chasing heavy loads. Older athletes can gradually progress to more structured strength and conditioning with qualified supervision.

How can parents tell if a hockey player is doing too much?

Watch for persistent fatigue, declining performance, irritability, recurring soreness or injuries, changes in sleep, or a noticeable loss of enthusiasm for hockey. One tired day isn't necessarily a concern, but a pattern can indicate that the player's training load and recovery need to be reassessed.

Does every hockey player need a formal dryland program?

No. Dryland can be valuable, particularly for older and more competitive athletes, but young players can develop a broad athletic foundation through unstructured play and other sports. The right amount of structured training depends on the player's age, development, schedule, and goals.

How can parents keep off-ice training fun?

Give players some control over what they do. A pickup game, shooting competition, backyard scrimmage, or 20 minutes of experimenting with the puck can provide useful repetition without feeling like another mandatory practice. For young players, enjoyment is an important part of keeping them engaged in the sport long term.