Combining speed skills with explosive ice hockey to test physical confrontation

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Text◆Zhang Shumei Photo◆Huang Zhidong

The TV series “Sparks on Ice” started airing, which immediately made the winter sport of ice hockey become popular. Many people wanted to follow the characters in the show and burn their youth.

However, when talking about ice hockey, people always think of hot scenes of players colliding and fighting. Earlier, an ice hockey player died after his neck was cut by a skate during the game, making people think that this is an unusually dangerous sport.

(Hong Kong News) Ice hockey emphasizes speed and explosive power, as well as balance and coordination, as well as tactics and skills. Hockey players and physical therapists have pointed out that neck-cutting accidents are rare. As long as you make good use of the equipment, you can enjoy the excitement and fun of ice hockey with peace of mind.

Ice hockey player and Hong Kong Ice Hockey Training School coach Tracy Leung (Aman) has been playing ice hockey for more than 10 years. In April last year, she went to Romania to compete in the World Women’s Ice Hockey Championship, and won the group stage championship for the Hong Kong team in history. Currently teaching ice hockey classes for children and adults, she has noticed that more and more people are playing ice hockey since the epidemic. She believes that the broadcast of the TV series will help increase the public’s interest in ice hockey.

Ice hockey requires high cardiopulmonary function

Ice hockey is an all-around sport that combines speed, skill, and explosive power. Yip Wai-hao, a physiotherapist at the Rehabilitation Clinic of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, pointed out that ice hockey requires high cardiopulmonary function. Players have to move at high speeds for nearly half of the game, as well as high-intensity short-distance sprints. The process focuses on balance, agility, physical coordination, etc. ” Another special feature is that ice hockey allows physical collisions, which tests the players’ physical confrontation ability, how they can move and shoot the ball while colliding with others.”

To perform well on the field, physical fitness, tactics, and skills are all indispensable; such as practicing switching skate blades to make multi-angle turns, learning to get up quickly after a fall, etc. Players need to exercise outside the ice hockey rink to reduce sports injuries. (See “Physical Training” for details)

Inadequate ankle support and easy injury

To walk on the ice like the wind, focus on strengthening the thigh and hip muscles to increase skating speed and explosive power; while the core muscles help maintain balance.

Ye Huihao also pointed out that whether you will be knocked down when fighting against your opponent, whether your body is stable enough when moving, and when hitting the ball with your whole body, the stability of the movement and the transmission of power are all related to the core muscles.

“The stability and strength of the ankles are also very important, because when skating, the ankles of both feet must often shift the center of gravity and bend inward or outward to switch between the inner edge or the outer edge for skating. If the ankle support is insufficient, it is easy to be injured; in addition, Stabilizing the ankle also allows players to maintain balance when moving at high speeds and prevent them from falling easily even if they collide with others while moving.”

A player died after his neck was cut with a skate

Hockey players have a lot of equipment. The whole body protective gear includes helmets, shoulder pads, knee pads, crotch pads, elbow pads, gums, etc., which weigh close to 20 pounds. Goalkeeper protective equipment costs more than 10 pounds. However, due to the average weight It is distributed all over the body and will not significantly reduce flexibility after wearing it.

Liang Cuishan does not think that ice hockey is more prone to injuries than other sports. “Injuries occur in every sport. With so many equipment in ice hockey, players have more protection and can play without worries, making the entire sport safer.”

Earlier in an ice hockey game in the UK, a player was cut in the neck by an opponent’s skate blade and died in the hospital. She estimated that the two people lost their balance after the collision. One of them kicked his feet back when he fell, and the other just fell forward. The accident happened like this, but she emphasized that similar accidents are not common.

Although ice hockey has a variety of protective equipment, some protective equipment is not compulsory to wear during regular games. Neck protectors are one of them. Ye Huihao pointed out that neck protectors may be uncomfortable for professional athletes. First, they sweat a lot. Second, they sweat a lot. Some may feel that neck movement is limited, affecting performance, so not everyone may wear it.

“According to the British BBC report, the deceased did not wear a neck brace during the game. After the accident, the British Hockey Association required players to wear neck braces starting next year to prevent the tragedy from happening again.”

Injuries mostly occur on the face, shoulders and ankles

The above-mentioned accidents are not common. Ye Huihao searched the literature and found that most injuries to ice hockey players were on the face, shoulders and ankles. The most common ones are skin ruptures, followed by sprains, fractures, contusions and concussions. “Impacts and falls are the biggest causes of injuries. Although their skating skills are very good, they are prone to collisions during competitions and at high speeds. There could be a sprain, strain or other injury.”

There is obviously a lot of protective equipment and the players are packed tightly, so why do they still have so many injuries? “Protective gear mainly prevents injuries or cuts caused by direct impact, but if it is a sprain, such as a shoulder injury caused by a player falling with his hand on the ground, the pad may not protect it, so why are there protective gear in these places? Still vulnerable to injury.”

Number of participants varies The big difference between ice hockey and ice hockey

The English name of ice hockey is ice hockey, and many people think that the literal translation is ice hockey/ice hockey; but in fact, “ice hockey” is another sport called bandy in English, and the game rules are completely different from ice hockey.

Ice hockey coach Liang Cuishan explained that although both are competitive games that use sticks to send the ball into the opponent’s goal, taking the number of participants as an example, ice hockey is 6 vs. 6, while ice hockey is 11 vs. 11; in addition, the number of players used in the game The “balls” are different. Ice hockey uses a small round ball (ball), while ice hockey uses a small flat disc (puck). Compared to ice hockey, ice hockey is played closer to grass hockey.

1. Is fighting a “tradition” of hockey?

When talking about ice hockey, many people will think of scenes of players fighting. Some people say that fighting is a “tradition” of this sport, and there is even an unwritten rule. If players take off their equipment and challenge one another, the referee will “tacitly approve” it.

Liang Cuishan feels helpless about the established impression of ice hockey. “I think it’s more of a commercial element than tradition, attracting audiences from different levels.”

She pointed out that players will be ejected from the field after a fight, which may cause the team to lose due to the lack of one player, and will be scolded by the coach. In the past, although some teams would send weaker echelon players to challenge the opponent’s stronger players and cause the opponent to be punished, this style of play is no longer popular due to the emphasis on technique and speed in today’s games.

2. Why do players hit the ice with hockey sticks?

During ice hockey matches, we often see players tapping their hockey sticks on the ice. Liang Cuishan explained: “Most of them are for encouragement. Sometimes teammates are injured midway and need to retreat to the sidelines, and someone will knock their sticks to encourage teammates, because we can’t do it with gloves on.” If you clap your hands, you will beat the stick instead.”

3. There is a scene in “Sparks on Ice” where skates are heated in an oven. Is this a dramatic exaggeration?

The ankle bears all the force of the whole body, so a pair of skates with sufficient support is very important. Physical therapist Ye Huihao pointed out that ankle sprains are caused by sudden and large rotations, which tear the ligaments, so a pair of hard and clean skates can allow the ankle to move The range is limited to avoid injury.

“The skates must not only have a certain hardness, but also fit snugly around the foot. Putting the skates in a special oven actually heats them to fit the shape of the foot better, reducing the space for the ankle to move within the shoe, and protecting the ligaments. “

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