LINEAR AND LATERAL MOVEMENT TRAINING

There are many aspects of athletic performance; core training, strength development, metabolic training, and corrective exercise. An aspect of athletic performance that many times is not covered or written about due to the specificity of skating is off-ice linear and lateral movement training. I believe that all athletes can benefit from implementing linear and lateral movement skills into their workouts. These directions of movement (Linear and Lateral) train the musculature of the core, hips, glutes and adductors to produce, reduce, and transfer force during athletic movement. 

This article will cover the benefits of a movement training program, linear and lateral exercise progressions and finally coaching cues you can use when teaching these exercises. I do follow a linear and lateral format to my plyometric program, but jump training is not the scope of this article. Keep in mind some concepts for movement training and jump training will be similar, like the importance of landing. Understand that both of types of training (jumping and Linear and Lateral movement) should be structured to progress as follows;

• Stable landing, to....
• Introduction of rebounds, to....
• Landings to rebound, to....
• Resisted rebounds.

I think the ultimate benefits to implementing a movement program into your training model are developing the skills of landing / stopping, rebounding and force production. The key for me with lateral movement training is the landing component. Stable landings and developing quiet landing skills greatly decreases the risk of injury associated with rapid changes of direction because it reduces the force around the joint segments. You will see in the list of movement teaching drills that many of the early exercise progressions involve and depend on stable landings commonly called "Holds" or "Sticking the landing." Our players cannot progress if they do not master each phase of landing and force production skills. Once the athlete has mastered landing I add in exercises that focus on rebounding and force production. In my teaching of lateral movement exercises I teach pushing yourself into the direction you want to go. If it is laterally, you will see the opposite leg at an angle, so to direct force into the ground for propulsion. An example of this is if I want to shuffle to the left I push with my right leg. You will see the angle of push or "shin angle" in a video teach clip I will post the first week of July. 

As stated above my main focus for lateral movement teaching is the ability to land in a stable fashion to reduce the risk of injury. For linear movement the key to successful, efficient, movement is the ability to use the glute musculature for force production and to hold upper body postures during movement. Establishing proper function of the glute musculature does not only happen during movement drills. It starts with exercises that teach the glute how to fire at the most elementary level. Once that is established then you can progress to something more advanced such as asking the glute to fire during more dynamic postures. The ultimate test is to achieve full Posterior chain recruitment during movement activities such as sprinting, sled pushing, backwards running, and posterior chain strength exercises like, DB SLDL, 1 Leg SLDL and 1 Leg hip extension type movements. It must be understood, your program will include glute firing exercises performed early in your workout and strengthening exercises for the posterior chain which will be performed during the strength training portion of your workouts. 

Below are simple and effective teaching progressions for lateral and linear speed. Keep in mind that your athletes must master these skills to progress to more advanced exercises and drills. 

LATERAL

1. 2 ring cut and hold - 3 sets x 3 reps
2. 2 ring cut and return with hold - 3 sets x3 reps
3. 4 ring run and hold - 4 sets x4 reps each side
4. 5 ring run and hold - 4 sets x4 reps each side
5. 2 ring cut continuous - 4 sets x 3 reps
6. 4 ring run rebound and hold - 4 sets x4 reps each side

LINEAR

1. Wall Switch Run 3x3 each side combo w/ Lean Fall Run x3 each side 10yards
2. 1-2 Switch Run 3x3 each side combo w/ Stagger Start Run x3 each side 10yards
3. Ball Drop Stagger start Run x4 each side 10yards
4. Get-up Sprinting variations x5 each side 10yards

Coaching cues: 

For both Linear and Lateral movement teaching, your coaching cues are going to focus on the areas of landing ability, the player's athleticism during the drill, the athlete's posture during the drill and their ability to be quiet at foot strike.

When the athlete lands or stops movement during a lateral movement drill make sure that they have correct alignment, especially if you want your athletes to mimic the skating posture. The landing position should be both stable and in preparation for the next movement. As a coach you need to demand perfect landings because this will reinforce good habits and help your athletes become more athletic. Young athletes and older athletes, if not educated in training, will just focus on the "move" and not the "breaking." This is where you need to educate them on body control and the importance of injury reduction associated with good landing skills. 

Posture for every exercise is vital to spinal health and force output. Posture is very important for linear movements like sprinting. It is also vital during cutting movements as well as the transitioning from one movement into the other. During Sprinting if your posture is deficient then the ability to produce force (which translates into speed) greatly diminishes. As a coach, begin to teach alignment at the "start" phase of sprinting. You will see some drills that put the athletes in the correct acceleration posture and work on foot strike for the glute muscles. A well structured core training program can further enhance sprint posture and stability.

I believe a great coaching cue and assessment for how your athletes are grasping movement teaching is their ability to land quietly and sprint without making loud decibel foot strikes. The ability to achieve this is the result of practice, strength and athleticism. Cueing the athlete to land softer allows them to tune into their posture, leg strength and their stride technique while sprinting. When you coach your players to "land soft" make sure they have the proper alignment at landing and takeoff. When sprinting forward their foot strike will be with the ball of the foot and their goal is to put as much force into the ground as possible with a short ground contact time. When an athlete is loud during phases of the sprint, they are slowing themselves and commonly stomping with each stride. 

Conclusion

Linear and lateral movement skill lessons are vital for the development of athleticism, injury reduction, and speed development. When you are teaching movement training, focus on the landing ability and posture of your athletes during each drill. When scheduling, reserve a training day for either linear or lateral movement so your teaching emphasis for that day is consistent. You can combine speed work and plyometric work on the same day. Working on two lateral movement skills or two linear movement skills in a day reinforces skill acquisition. The sound the athlete will make during these drills are a great indicator of how well they are performing the exercise. Cueing "soft landings" and quick low-decibel foot strikes during sprinting will enhance the braking mechanism of your lower body and improve force production during your stride.