Climbing and Hockey

As a huge hockey fan all my life even though I was born and raised in Texas which is not known for hockey or hockey fans. I’ve always loved watching and supporting my favorite hockey teams. When I was younger I was the only kid in school that wore a hockey jersey, the Houston Aeros to be specific. As I got older I fell in love with the Anaheim Ducks, then once the Vegas Golden Knights franchise formed I fell in love with that team as my new favorite ever since. 

But I’ve been a rock climber for many years now and I have a few rock climbing friends that are also hockey fans. So I was thinking what similarities are there for hockey players and rock climbers so I came up with a few.

First, I would say full body physical strength, for hockey you are not only skating at fast speeds, but you are also controlling your hockey stick and getting hit by the opposite team. Rock climbing needs not only your arms but mainly your legs as you are on a full body control on the wall. 

Second, I would say grip strength for sure. In hockey you need grip strength for holding your hockey stick and the control when taking shots at the goal or if you’re the goalie blocking hockey pucks from going in the goal. In climbing of course you need the grip strength for the different types of climbing holds and how they are placed on the rock wall inside or outside climbing. 

Third, I would say the most important, both require strong mental strength. In climbing it’s thinking out the route you are climbing and how to make the next move. In hockey you need to read where the players are and also the puck in the spare of the moment during a high speed game. Both sports you most importantly need to have that mental strength to not give up.

I hope you enjoyed the article even if you are not even a hockey fan, I hope you get a better idea of the sport of hockey and that as a climber yourself it maybe an additional sport to add to your life.