wrist strengthening...
Hey everyone,
I'm new to the message board! Just from what I see this is an awesome collaboration of minds, you guys rock!
Regarding the question about wrist strengthening - generally speaking, it's usually not a good idea to try and precisely replicate a "skill movement" like stickhandling in the weight room... or, in other words, trying to stickhandle with a very heavy puck/resistance is not a great idea - sure, you'll feel a "burning" in your forearm musculature, but you're going to be teaching your system to get used to slow(er) movements with your stickhandling (as the heavy weight will slow your hands down)... stickhandling is all about fast/quick movements, which is more a function of your nervous system then it is "big muscles of the forearm"... does that make sense?
Of course, there's a place for strong forearms in hockey - those can get well developed in the weight room by any compound exercise you're doing (i.e. Deadlifts, Chin Ups, Bench Presses, Farmers Walks, etc...) that requires great "grip strength" - that's a really heavy weight your hands will have to get used to, and it will stimulate growth in your forearm muscles for sure, but it won't be confusing your body into developing "slow stickhandling hands" because of the "heavy puck effect" described above.
As you're developing those forearm muscles in the weight room, trying to get on the ice once a week in the summer is a great idea too - as you'll be teaching that new muscle to still be explosive, and have the soft skill touch needed for puckhandling, passing, shooting, etc...
Hope that helps! Take care guys...