Evaluating the representativeness of shooting during training activities in senior men’s domestic ice hockey

Designing and delivering representative training environments is important for skill development and transfer into competition. Therefore, understanding the demands of, and information present in competition and training is essential for enabling representative environments. The aim of this study was to quantify and compare the technical-tactical characteristics of shooting during competition and training activities within senior men’s domestic ice hockey. Data were collected during 14 matches and 21 training sessions, totalling 901 shots during matches and 2,997 shots from 147 training activities. Linear mixed models estimated possession-based and shot-based technical-tactical characteristics and determined differences in the relative frequency and proportion of variables between training activities and competition. Overall, the representativeness of shooting differed according to training activity, with similar trends in the representativeness (e.g., more/less frequent, higher/lower proportions) of possession- and shot-based technical-tactical variables observed between and within training state (i.e., technical activities, skills activities) and playing state (i.e., phase of play, conditioned game) activities. Shooting situations with numerical superiority were typically over-represented during training activities, and numerical balance or inferiority under-represented, with the starting location of possessions, number of defenders and attackers typically lacking representativeness. Further, the action preceding a shot, shooter’s pre-shot movement, shot location, shot type, shot outcome and number of shots in the possession (single, multiple-rebound, multiple-retention) also lacked representativeness across training activities. This is the first study to evaluate representativeness of training activities in relation to shooting and within ice hockey. Whilst results are limited to the respective team and season, there are practical implications for informing training design and coaching practices regarding shooting within ice hockey.