“Ovechkin always performs at a high level, 1-2 misses are not a reason to sound the alarm” Coach Akulinichev: Ovechkin has natural talent – physically strong 07/17/2024, 11:11

How to create the best workouts for hockey players?

I started working with hockey players in 2009, but I was still in college at the time. Working with hockey players was a summer internship. I started working professionally in 2012. I met many players who would later become my clients. At that time, they were still 12-14 year olds.

The main feature of the training I create for hockey players is the variety of exercises and sports. Hockey is one of the 3 most difficult sports in terms of coordination. Therefore, a hockey player needs to be developed in every way.

When compiling programs, I use elements from football, basketball, tennis; exercises in these sports develop an athlete in different aspects, making him a better athlete and hockey player.

I am currently working with two players from the NHL: Yegor Chinakhov and Klim Kostin. Both are Gagarin Cup winners and current players of the NHL teams Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks, respectively. I advise another Russian NHL player on exercises and their adaptation to the current training process. He asked that his name not be used

How to train 50 professionals at the same time?

Now I constantly manage about 50 athletes. 30 of them are hockey players from the KHL, NHL and North American leagues, a tennis player from the WTA rating, football players, basketball players and fighters. All of them are professionals, earn money from sports and play in international tournaments. Another 20 are teenagers and children, and I train them online and develop programs.

Keeping up with everything is a common discipline and consistency in business processes. I have a routine, I know what to do and when to do it. It is not easy because the hardest thing for me is to sit down and start doing it. But as soon as I start, the process draws me in and it becomes easier. By the way, I wrote this article with pleasure, it was not difficult at all.

What’s the hardest part about preparing Ovechkin at 38?

I didn’t coach Ovechkin, but as I was developing as a coach, I watched his work and his coach’s training on social networks and found some videos on YouTube.

The hardest thing at his age is to maintain consistency and rhythm. Consistency in training, nutrition, rest and mental preparation is the key to success. But it is consistency that I fail to appreciate the nature of preparation.

Consistency is not a natural gift, but a habit that an athlete develops over the years. Ovechkin has developed it and continues to develop it. That is why he always performs at a high level and one or two mistakes are not a reason to sound the alarm.

This is a sport, there are ups and downs. It’s the falls that shape an athlete. If Ovechkin trains regularly and stays in shape, he will be able to play for a long time, break Gretzky’s record and set a new record.

I heard from my friends who played with him and were on the team with him that he has natural talent; he is physically strong. If he helps his body with constant training, watches his diet and sleep, he will definitely please his fans for more than one season.

What is the difference between training in the NHL and KHL?

There is no difference in the training of NHL and KHL players, but there is a significant difference in the preparation regime.

Most NHL teams have their players left to their own devices during the off-season and prepare on their own according to an individual plan. In the KHL, the situation is a bit different; during the off-season, players train on their own, but then team training begins and preparations are made in groups.

Physical education coaches at KHL teams are trying to make training camps more individual, but that is not always possible.

Also, head coaches often put pressure on physical education coaches and interfere with the process. This is not good for the team. There is a clear division of professions, it was not just invented; there are competencies that allow you to do your job well. It is worth sticking to it.

What qualities determine the success of a hockey player?

The key physical attributes for a hockey player are coordination, strength and then speed.

A coordinated athlete knows how to control his body and control his movements; his strength allows him to make accurate shots and protect his body from injury; and his speed allows him to get to the puck more often than his opponents and gain space. There are many more attributes you can add, but these three are essential to success.

Trust is key to working with hockey players at all levels. I’ve worked with kids as young as six and NHL pros.

Every player’s trust must be earned, and the first thing a coach must do is create a bond with the player so that he understands the purpose of the training and how to achieve that goal.

Then the process will be successful, the player will be more willing to train and give feedback on preparation. In such an environment it is easier to talk about problems, discuss them, find solutions.

How to train hockey players during a pandemic?

Of course, not everyone crawled out of my training during the quarantine. But for many it was very difficult. About 70 people trained – these were players from the MHL, North American leagues and professionals from the KHL. That’s not counting the children, of which there were about 50 more.

Everyone came with their own physical education experience and current situation. It was also difficult psychologically and emotionally; everyone was closed, you couldn’t go anywhere.

It was emotionally difficult for the boys and it also affected their bodies, so I tried to make the training more interactive – I gave more games and competitive tasks.

This was a relief, the process became more interesting, and the men could carry the load more easily. But the load was too much.

How to start cooperation with hockey players of famous agent Dan Milstein?

During the pandemic, many men were and continue to be clients of Dan Milstein, whom hockey player Nikita Zaitsev introduced me to. Nikita and I met by chance in 2018. I walked on the ice where he was skating, and the coach on the ice told him that a guy came, a good physical education specialist. I walked to the dugout, met Nikita, exchanged phone numbers, shook hands, and the next day we started training.

Zaitsev remains one of the most important masters I have ever worked with. I was very lucky to have him as my coach.

Such masters as Evgeni Malkin, Dmitry Orlov, Alexander Ovechkin have been working with physical education coaches for decades.

I started coaching professionally in 2016, when these hockey players were already taking shape and becoming stars. They don’t choose coaches over the Internet, it’s rare. At least, it was rare before the active development of social networks.

It’s different for Zaitsev; he’s always searching, open to new things, looking for new approaches to preparation. The most remarkable thing about working with him is his hard work. He’s focused on training, he does his best, and he’s ready to endure when it’s hard.

What is the difference between training hockey players and working with other athletes?

The main difference between training hockey players and professionals from other sports is the knowledge of the mechanics of movements and the most vulnerable areas of the body.

I work with a WTA-ranked tennis player, currently in the top 130. She has problems with her knees, back and shoulder joints.

There is a basketball player from the Russian Super League-1, his tasks are jumping, speed of change of direction on the court. They are not superstars in their sport. But stars are not born; they are created by training.

Of course, there is a natural factor, and it is worth considering. But if you rely only on “natural talent”, then you have nothing left – a player is determined by 10% talent and 90% dedication and hard work.

This 10% is very important: it separates the players who can decide the outcome of the game and the tournament. But you still need to reach the result or the final, and there you don’t always need talent. You need discipline, understanding of the game, movement technique. A person is not born with it, it is taught by coaches during training.

We work with foreign athletes

I work with three foreign athletes, all of whom speak Russian, but they spent most of their lives in the USA and Canada. They have a different character, a different approach to training and sports preparation. They squeeze all the juice out of themselves during training, but behind the sports field they go to ordinary life.

In terms of brain function and perception of information, it is important not only what an athlete does during training, but also what he does after. If you constantly think about sports and training, the brain will be overloaded, oversaturated, will stop processing new information, will shut down and development will stop. It is important to be able to switch.

Someone might say, “Look at Cristiano Ronaldo or Connor McDavid; they train as much as they rest. They train as much as they rest. That’s the way nature and man work. It’s not stupidity. You have to formulate your training and life routine, separate the place where you work like crazy from the place where you rest and transition. Then there will be progress.

Why does Pittsburgh Penguins hockey player Vasily Ponomarev consider him the best coach in the Russian Federation?

I am the best for Vasya. Tim Grover was the best for Michael Jordan and Gary Roberts was the best for McDavid. That doesn’t mean I am the best. I have been coaching Vasya for six years, we have been through a lot, from the MHL in Krylia to his first goal in the NHL and his transfer to Pittsburgh. I have always been by his side, supported him, been by his side and will continue to be. We have created trust in the processes with him: I trust him, he trusts me. That’s why I am the best for him.

What makes a great coach is not his knowledge or experience, but the way he knows how to convey that knowledge to an athlete for increased athletic performance and well-being in life.