It was great seeing all the social media posts from all of the QMJHL franchises today.
QMJHL hockey is back, but I don’t know about you I always hated test day.
Whether it was in school or at hockey practice, fitness testing always sucked.
It sucks because even though you are ready there always seems to be some anxiety and uncertainty come test day.
Now don’t get me wrong test day is very rewarding because you get to see where all your hard work, preparation and dedication ranks.
Nevertheless, test day reveals character more than you will ever know.
Some people say fitness testing and or the beep test is for the birds and it’s not a true indicator of what a real hockey player can do.
To each their own, fitness testing reveals a lot about every player attending camp.
You could win the fitness testing and lay an egg on the ice and vice versa.
Bottom line fitness testing reveals several intangibles, most of all it reveals how much a player cares.
The “give a f&@% factor” is extremely important.
It shouldn’t matter how old you are or if you’re a rookie or a seasoned veteran, you can’t play good hockey or to your full potential if your “give a f&@% factor” is low.
It might only be day 1 of camp, but you know damn well everyone around the organization is talking about the results.
You see test day reveals passion, work ethic, but it also shows one side of testing that is the most important of all, the willingness to do homework!
Every player has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the area of fitness.
Test day isn’t about pull ups, push ups and the beep test, it’s all about self-discipline and how much you care.
I wonder who passed the test. I wonder which players failed. I guess we will never know the results, only when the puck drops on October 1st.
Trust me the “give a f&@%” factor was very high today across the entire QMJHL.
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If you test it, then expect players to train for it. The beep test basically measures who’s the best at running slow for 13-15 minutes straight.
It’s an easy proxy for ‘toughness’ I guess, everyone seems to like to watch the players suffer on day 1. And then wonder why they look sluggish on day 2.
Maybe a better measure would be to test who’s the best at moving fast (max sprint velocity) for 5-6 seconds, recovering for 10 seconds, then repeating this cycle 4 to 5 times to simulate what happens during a hockey shift.
Why would a hockey team would want to train their players to be slow? Development of those slow twitch fibers – that’s going to lead to slow players on the ice.
Train for speed and explosiveness, and test for the same.
The beep test belongs on the soccer field (and maybe not even there) – not in the rink.
Sorry to be that guy.
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