In this Strength in Numbers webinar, Will Morlock (Head of Performance for Michigan State Hockey) opened up his full process for using hockey speed testing and sprint profiling data to guide training decisions.
But it wasn’t just about collecting numbers or hitting benchmarks. It was about building a system that simplifies decision-making, reflects the demands of the game, and helps athletes get better.
🎥👉 Watch the full webinar here
1. Data Without Context Is Just Noise
“I joke with our guys that the soccer team isn't coming over, putting on skates, and doing our speed work. So to just assume that everything we're doing in the gym is transferring may not always be the case. I think it's challenging that thought process and trying to bridge the gap. Are we doing things that really matter?”
Force plates and strength scores are helpful, but Morlock urges coaches to evaluate whether speed testing, resisted sprint training, and profiling actually carries over to performance. That’s why he Force-Velocity (FVP) and Load-Velocity (LVP) profiles resisted sprints and tests curvilinear sprints, to match the game, not just the general idea of speed.
2. You Need a Thought Process, Not Just a Dashboard
“With a sport like hockey being so complex, you need to have a thought process. Not everything will apply to every athlete, you need some level of individualization. But at the same time, you need scalable systems you can actually implement.”
Morlock’s system isn’t built on 100 custom plans. It’s built on patterns, buckets, and repeatable interventions. His performance data doesn't replace coaching, it sharpens it.
3. Testing Should Lead to Intervention
“This is where the 1080 [Sprint 2] comes into play. With our resisted sprints, we can look at force–velocity profiling, and get actual trainable numbers we can intervene on. It’s not just about collecting data, it’s about giving us something we can coach off of.”
Once an athlete’s sprint profile is understood, training becomes more precise. Morlock programs 4-week blocks targeting specific velocity decrements (Vdec), using LVP results to prescribe load, not just guess it.
4. Fast Isn’t Always the Goal — It Has to Fit the Task
“If time is the task, speed is not necessarily the solution. That’s a big one for me. Sometimes the fastest guy doesn’t get there first in a hockey game; positioning, projection, and timing matter more.”
It’s not about who hits 9 m/s. It’s about who arrives in the least amount of time, in the right position, with control. That’s why Morlock blends resisted sprint training with sport-specific hockey speed drills — both on and off the ice.
5. Keep It Scalable, Repeatable, and Coachable
“I still think, let’s not get lost in the weeds. The buckets help, everyone gets what they need, just in different amounts. That makes it coachable, scalable, and repeatable.”
Athletes are bucketed based on their sprint and strength profiles: force-emphasis, velocity-emphasis, hypertrophy auxiliaries, and goalie-specific. That gives structure without losing flexibility, and it makes the program manageable, even with 25+ athletes.
Conclusion: The Data Isn’t the Answer — It’s the Starting Point
“You get all this data, you do all this testing, but what do you do with it? Is it informing the decisions you’re making in your day-to-day coaching, or is it just a slide in a deck once a month?”
Will Morlock’s message is clear: technology and testing are only as valuable as the decisions they inform. When used right, they don’t complicate the process, they simplify it. Every resisted sprint becomes feedback. Every training session is speed testing. And every phase is a chance to reassess what’s working.
Published: September 23, 2025