Don’t Make This Mistake When the Season Starts

The start of the season is exciting—new teammates, new goals, more games. It’s also when a lot of athletes start making the same trade-off:

“I’ll keep my stickhandling and skills.” “I don’t have time for strength and speed right now.”

At FAST Athletics (www.getfastmn.com), we see what happens next way too often. Athletes spend months building strength and speed, then once games begin, they stop training those things completely. They do skill work during the season—because it’s what they can feel and measure on the ice.

But performance doesn’t only come from what you practice. It also depends on what your body can actually do when it matters.

Skill is one side. Separation is the other.

In hockey, skill buckets are obvious:

• stickhandling

• shooting

• power skating

• edge work

• hockey IQ

Those things matter.

But there’s another question that matters just as much:

Can you separate from your opponent when the play breaks down?

Because you can have great stick skills and still get stuck behind a defender if you can’t:

• accelerate quickly

• change direction with control

• react fast

• reach speed and hold it long enough to make the play

That’s where FAST buckets come in:

• strength

• COD (change of direction)

• acceleration

• top speed

• power

• reactiveness

• injury prevention

When the FAST buckets are full, your skill improves in a way that actually shows up during games.

“I’ll get back to speed after the season” is where athletes lose time

This is one of those things that sounds harmless: “I’ll take a break from speed and strength until after the season.”

But it usually isn’t a short break. It turns into weeks—then months—of not training the qualities that were built earlier.

And here’s the part athletes often don’t realize: speed and top-end abilities tend to fall off faster than you expect. Practices can help you stay active, but they don’t usually replace true top-speed training with the right intent, mechanics, and repeated high-quality efforts. Practices are built around skill, repeatable reps, and game-like situations, not repeated maximum-velocity exposures.

So athletes may feel like they’re staying ready, while the physical edge quietly fades.

The fix isn’t more training. It’s keeping the right minimum.

You don’t need to turn the season into a full-time training camp. Most athletes can’t, and they don’t need to.

What usually works is keeping strength and speed in the plan at least once per week.

For many athletes, that’s enough to maintain key qualities like:

• strength (so you have something to push off of)

• acceleration and COD (so you can create separation)

• speed exposure (so you don’t lose your top end)

Meanwhile, you can keep skill work where it already fits: at practice and in short sessions at home.

Why skills are easier to maintain than speed and strength

Skills can often be practiced with lower energy cost:

• a few minutes here and there

• technique-focused work

• stick and edge habits without wrecking your legs

Speed and strength are different. They require intention, quality reps, and consistent stimulus. Once you stop training them, the decline can happen quickly—especially when you’re busy and relying on practice to do the job.

The bottom line from FAST Athletics

When the season starts, athletes shouldn’t treat strength and speed like they’re optional.

Your sport skills are important—but your ability to express them is physical.

All the stickhandling in the world doesn’t help if you can’t separate. And you don’t have to choose between being better at hockey and building your athletic foundation. The goal is to protect your FAST buckets while you keep sharpening your skill buckets.

Want help building an in-season plan?

Visit www.getfastmn.com. FAST Athletics can help you figure out what to maintain, what to reduce, and how to stay fast, strong, and healthy all season—without letting your skill work fall behind.