Cable Chop
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds drills like this into your personalized off-ice program, week by week. Your first week is free.
How to Do It
Set a cable at shoulder height. Stand sideways to the machine. Grip the handle with both hands, arms extended. Feet shoulder-width. Brace the core hard. Begin with hips and shoulders facing the machine. Rotate away from the machine in one smooth arc — hips drive first, shoulders follow. Let the arms follow the torso rotation — don't pull with the arms alone. Control the return slowly — 3-second eccentric back to start.
Why It Works
The cable chop trains the rotational force transfer pattern that generates shot power and board battle leverage. It loads the core in a diagonal plane — exactly how rotational force travels from the ice through your body to the stick. Diagonal core loading builds the 'stiffness' that lets you transfer power without leaking energy through the spine.
Hockey Transfer
Loaded diagonal chopping — exactly the power pattern of a slapshot. Cable chop trains rotational power with constant tension throughout the rep. No drop-off, no cheating.
Coaching Cues
- "Rotate from hips"
- "Arms relatively straight"
- "Follow through"
- "Return with control"
Common Mistakes
Pulling with the arms only — the power comes from hip rotation, not the arms. Letting the lower back rotate instead of the hips — keep the lumbar spine neutral. Too much weight — heavy loads slow the pattern and train grinding, not rotational speed. Skipping the eccentric — the slow return builds as much core strength as the chop.
Progression / Regression
Half-kneeling cable chop — removes the legs, isolates the rotational core challenge.
Band pull-across — same rotation pattern with lower load and more stability.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Alactic/ATP-PC
Put it to work
on the ice.
The Elite Hockey Drills app builds exercises like this into a personalized off-ice program — created by a sport scientist and former national-team coach. Your first week is free.
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