Coaching Abroad, the NHL Combine, and External Workload in High Performance Hockey with Steve Nightingale

The High Performance Hockey Podcast

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• How to adapt to coaching overseas in a foreign environment.
• Strength and conditioning research in combines and fitness tests for ice hockey.
• What external workloads are, and their application in the world of high performance athletics.

Resources + Links:

The Culture Map by Erin Meyer

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The High Performance Hockey Masterclass

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Check out Anthony’s Books

Physical Preparations for Ice Hockey: Biological Principles and Practical Solutions

The Gain, Go, and Grow Manual: Programming for High Performance Hockey Players

Show Notes:

How would a strength and conditioning coach trained in external workloads imagine his ideal combine? Our guest this week is Steve Nightingale, the current Sports Scientist and performance coach for the New Jersey Devils pursuing his PhD studying external workloads in ice hockey. He’ll share his experiences working abroad as coach in the KHL and how he adapted in an overseas, foreign environment. Moreover, we get his expert insight into strength and conditioning research for ice hockey, evaluating data analysis, as well as combines and other fitness tests. Then, we dive into his current PhD studies of external workloads to understand what they are and how to apply them in a high performance setting for your athletes. Join in on the conversation to find out how external workload monitoring can take you to the next level!

0:00:00 Meet sport scientist and performance coach for the New Jersey Devils with previous coaching experience in the KHL!

0:01:30 What was your experience coaching in China?

0:02:50 How did you manage stress in a heavy travel setting?

0:06:10 How does performance in the KHL compare with the NHL?

0:07:45 What are the major differences between them?

0:10:50 What lessons did you take away from your experience that you still use today?

0:15:40 Is it possible to change your mind after you’ve written something down?

0:17:00 What compelled you to write your article about combines?

0:19:35 What were the tests that you recommended at that time?

0:22:10 What do we need to be mindful about with tests and combines?

0:24:35 Imagining the utopian combine.

0:27:35 What are your main rocks that you look for over the course of the season?

0:30:20 How do you communicate that with your athletes?

0:35:00 How do you juggle your PhD life with your work?

0:37:00 What are external workloads?

0:38:00 How can external workload be applied in a real world setting?

0:39:35 What is the difference between an LPS system and an IMU?

0:40:35 How are these systems being used for high performance athletes?

0:42:20 What are the most important metrics to measure?

0:44:10 The importance of context when understanding data.

0:45:55 Having experience in external workload monitoring, what metrics do you place value in?

0:49:00 Can we use bucket information to periodize?

0:52:25 What “aha! moments” have you had from external workloads that most high performance coaches haven’t had yet?

0:54:40 How do you approach treatment for scratch players?

0:58:05 What would your ideal world look like for data analysis?