How Will Soccer Make You A Better Hockey Player?

Soccer is great to play on a team, with friends, or by yourself just kicking the ball against a wall, or even practicing some moves. I think the biggest improvement players would notice after a few good soccer sessions would be their improvement in foot speed and their ability to play the puck with their feet. I remember when Ken and I spent a few hours in the driveway playing soccer with a road hockey ball. From that day on I would frequently use my feet in hockey, and I noticed a lot of times that using my feet helped me make plays that I otherwise would not be able to do. If you or your child play soccer here are a few skills that might carry over into hockey

Skills that will transfer to hockey from Soccer

Foot speed and foot skills

Acceleration and speed (your legs get a great workout)

Cardio, aerobic and anaerobic energy systems

Ability to read plays and make plays

Fakes and dekes (shoulder and head fakes)

Sportsmanship and team play

Quick movements and changing direction

Great for defensemen

I have summed up a few skills that I think players would notice the most. I think that defensemen would get the most benefit from playing defense on a soccer team because they will need to always be reading plays, and will also use their feet again. Some of the best defensemen I know were great with their feet, one move I use is putting the puck through the legs of the D, the better the defensemen the faster I have to be, or I need to use one deke first, then put it through their legs on the second move. If tennis, squash and soccer are not for you I have one more sport to mention, Lacrosse

Thanks to kmad from Reddit hockey for this great tid bit of info: “Sedin twins are notorious for playing soccer in the dressing room. In the early parts of the decade they had the whole team into it.”

After doing some research I found out that the Sedin twins played hockey and soccer when they were younger, they both played soccer on the Swedish junior national team, and had offers to play soccer for a club in Stockholm, but they chose hockey.

Photo credit Ronaldo F Cabuhat

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