The most under-leveraged movement in hockey training.

Hockey players spend endless hours chasing speed, strength, and explosiveness, yet one of the most important performance skills is often ignored: accurate plantarflexion (the ability of the calf & achilles to point the toes down). In a sport built on acceleration, braking and change of direction, accurate plantarflexion might be one of the most underleveraged skills in hockey training. Most players think they are training the calf, but are they actually training the calf?

Why accurate plantarflexion matters.

Every stride on the ice ends the same way - a push through the big toe. In that moment, the foot driving from a loaded (dorsiflexed) position into a full toe down push, is plantarflexion, and it's the final output of everything the legs produce. A common misconception is that the boot-like skate limits the involvement of the calf, however research shows the inner calf muscle plays a big role in acceleration strides.

The calf and Achilles tendon act like a spring, helping store and return energy as the skater pushes into the ice. When that spring is strong and well-coordinated, the player can create cleaner force, quicker first steps, and better control through each stride. When it is unorganized and stiff, your power output drops. In training, the common error is assuming that a heel leaving the floor means the calf is working, but a rising heel is just the destination. What happens between the floor and that endpoint is what determines whether the right muscles are actually pulling on the tendon. If you've ever felt like your first step is slow despite feeling strong in the gym, or like your change of direction takes effort but doesn't go anywhere, a disorganized calf raise may be a culprit.

Good mechanics vs Bad mechanics

Notice the difference in wrinkles and heel position. Same relative end point, two different strategies to get there.

Movement accuracy (mechanics) matters just as much if not more than the final destination. A proper calf raise isn't just raising the heel, it's a combination of the heel slightly rolling in, the base of the toes staying flat, and the big toe directing the push. A reliable sign that the movement is being done accurately is wrinkles forming on the back of the Achilles, slightly toward the inner side, confirmation that the tendon is actually shortening and the athlete is genuinely plantarflexing. When this combination breaks down, force leaks out before it ever leaves the body, and the tendon never gets pulled on. If the tendon never gets pulled on, there is no collagen synthesis, meaning the tendon isn't remodeling or getting stronger. One of the underlying qualities of a healthy Achilles is something called subtendon sliding, which happens most during accurate plantarflexion. Furthermore, the dorsiflexed position of the ankle in a skate limits this sliding by 61%. If an athlete is unable to plantarflex, and spends most of their time in dorsiflexion, how healthy is their Achilles? Most players miss this entirely and end up never loading the calf the way they (or their coaches) think they are.

How to train the calf

The goal is simple: accurate and strong calf raises.

Strong means building capacity over time, in both a dorsiflexed (deep, stretched) and plantarflexed (fully pointed) ankle position.

Accurate means actually executing the movement as intended, not just reaching the final position (how many wrinkles, where are they? What is the heel doing? How about the toes?). If the quality dips, the body reinforces the exact pattern that's leaving skating output on the table.

A few targeted variations may be worth including. Turning your foot slightly outward during calf raises emphasizes the inner calf, the muscle most responsible for your explosive first strides. Bent-knee calf raises shift load to the soleus and trains the calf in the position most similar to your skating stance. Of course, the fine details and where this belongs in a program all depend on individual needs and rationale.

The bottom line: Get accurate and strong calf raises and see what happens to your skating.

1. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0127324

2. doi: 10.1242/jeb.242135