PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
SKATING SPRINT PERFORMANCE AND THE INFLUENCE OF LOWER-BODY STRENGTH AND POWER IN PROFESSIONAL AND JUNIOR ELITE ICE HOCKEY ATHLETES
Laakso, L. A. & Secomb, J. L. (2023). Sports Biomechanics.
Skating sprint performance is essential for competitive success in ice hockey; however, it is unknown which component of a skating sprint is most critical for development throughout the performance pathway. Fifty-seven Swiss male ice hockey athletes were subjects (National League [NL], n = 22; Under 20 [U20], n = 20; Under 17 [U17], n = 15). Athletes performed: on-ice 30 m skating sprint, countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ), and isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) tests in a single day. Linear mixed models, effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were used to compare sprint performance and CMJ, SJ and IMTP between each performance level, with a correlation matrix used to determine the influence of lower-body strength and power on sprint performance. The NL and U20 athletes were significantly faster and had greater performance in most CMJ, SJ and IMTP variables compared to the U17 athletes, indicating minimum standards of lower-body strength and power are required to optimise technical performance. Significant differences were observed between NL and U20 for 10-20 m skating sprint split time and CMJ concentric relative peak and mean force, and reactive strength index-modified. Therefore, flying acceleration (10-20 m) is likely the most critical variable for pathway progression, with relative concentric force production the greatest influence.
OPTIMIZING VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN THE INSTRUCTION OF WEIGHTLIFTING TO WEIGHTLIFTING NAÏVE ATHLETES
Laakso, L. A. (2021). Strength and Conditioning Journal, 43(5), 109–115.
Motor learning theories should be used by coaches to optimally apply their technical knowledge of weightlifting. The OPTIMAL (Optimizing Performance Through Intrinsic Motivation and Attention for Learning) theory of motor learning highlights the importance of motivation and attention in the motor learning process, with enhanced expectancies and autonomy underpinning the athlete's motivation and an external focus of attention optimizing the athlete's attention. Better results are obtained by collaborating with athletes in an athlete-centered approach, giving them a sense of control and ownership of their learning process and making them feel able to succeed in the learning process. The success resulting from the right balance between the athlete's confidence and task difficulty leads to an increase in the athlete's self-efficacy, further improving the learning process. When instructing weightlifting, coaches should say as much as necessary, but as little as possible, while using an implicit coaching strategy that focuses on the task goal. Instructions and cues should have an external focus of attention, relative to the athlete's body, or use analogies to provide a clear task goal while using simple language associated with familiar motor skills.
DYNAMIC CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HANG POWER CLEAN TO SKATING STARTS IN MEN'S ICE HOCKEY
Laakso, L. A., & Schuster, J. G. (2020). Strength and Conditioning Journal, 43(4), 1–8.
The transfer of training of the hang power clean to skating starts in men's ice hockey was evaluated applying Verkhoshansky and Siff's proposed criteria of dynamic correspondence to the existing research. A relatively high degree of dynamic correspondence was evidenced throughout the criteria, although with a consideration of the sagittal plane alone. Based on this evaluation, the use of the hang power clean in training increases ice hockey players' capacity to express their skill through an improvement in peak force output and an increase in rate of force development in lower limb extension and is therefore recommended to practitioners training ice hockey players.
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS TO REPEATED-SPRINT TRAINING: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPEATED-SPRINT ABILITY OF WELL-TRAINED FIELD-BASED TEAM-SPORT ATHLETES
Laakso, L. A. (2020). Journal of Australian Strength and Conditioning, 28(4), 75–81.
Current relevant literature was reviewed with a focus on physiological adaptations to repeated-sprint training (RST), and their implications on training recommendations and on repeated-sprint ability (RSA) of well-trained field-based team-sport athletes. Exclusively RST of ≤10s duration with recovery between 20-60s, performed in normoxia, was considered. Numerous relevant physiological adaptations occur after RST, performed 2-3x/week for five weeks or more. A few key adaptations for well-trained field-based team-sport athletes were identified: greater acute and chronic phosphagen availability through greater myokinase activity and a conservation of the purine nucleotide pool; improved muscle buffer capacity, facilitated by the carnosine contained in an increased amount of type IIa muscle fibres; greater rate of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release resulting from greater SR content. These adaptations occur primarily as a result of short duration RST, where sufficient rest is provided within and between training sessions. Based on the optimisation of physiological adaptations and minimisation of physiological and psychological cost, two sets of 5-6 repetitions of 15-30-m linear sprints with 25-60s of recovery and 3min of rest between sets, performed 2-3x/week over six weeks, appears sufficient and is recommended to optimise physiological adaptations and performance improvements with RST. In summary, a combination of sprint training and HIIT with greater training duration may be more effective to improve RSA of well-trained athletes, but repeated-sprint training can be successfully implemented in a time-limited context to obtain specific targeted physiological adaptations and an improvement in repeated-sprint ability in well-trained field-based team-sport athletes.