Rebecca Johnston, 19, is a winger with the Canadian national team at the women’s world championships being played in Finland right now.

Rebecca also put up 25 goals and 45 points in 26 games with Cornell University this season, and was one of 10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, which goes to the top women’s hockey player in the NCAA.

So what’s her secret to women’s hockey success?

She’s fast.

Everyone who has ever seen Johnston play comments on what a fast skater she is.

How did she develop that breakneck speed?

By sprinting off the ice.

To be a faster skater on the ice, you have to be a faster runner off the ice.

In addition to being one of the best young female hockey players in the world, Johnston could have reached an elite level in track and field too.

But she wasn’t running miles upon miles.

She won a bronze medal in the 400 meters at the 2006 national junior championships.

An elite level runner will run a 400 meter race in around 1 minute – which is slightly longer than the average hockey shift.

The 400 meter race is all about getting to your top-end speed and trying to hold onto it as long as possible. Sounds like a hard hockey shift to me.

Johnston admits that it helped with her skating.

“I think it has helped with my explosiveness. I think it has helped conditioning wise. I think track is a good sport to get into and help you with your speed in anything.”

Johnston is right on money here.

All girls hockey players have to be able to run sprints effectively off the ice if they want to be the fastest player possible on the ice.

And they don’t even need to be 400 meters long. High-intensity, short sprints are the key to taking your speed and your game to the next level.

Start doing the short sprints off the ice that will jump-start your speed on the ice.

Click here to get started with the Total Female Hockey Complete Off-Ice Training System today.

Work Hard. Dream BIG. And start running.

~ Coach Kim