Single-Leg RDL Hold
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
Stand on one leg, other foot lifted just behind you. Hinge at the hip — chest drops forward, back leg lifts behind you in a straight line. Continue until torso is roughly parallel to the floor (or as deep as your hamstring tolerance allows). Back leg straight, toe pointed, hip square (don't let the back-leg hip rotate open). HOLD. Neutral spine — no rounding, no over-arching. Stand under control by driving the standing-leg heel down. Switch legs.
Why It Works
The single-leg RDL held at the bottom is the closest off-ice analogue to a fully-extended skating stride — back leg behind you, torso angled forward, force driving back into the ground. It's a hamstring isometric in the lengthened position, a glute strength drill, AND a balance/spinal-control test all in one rep. Building hamstring strength in this lengthened position is one of the most well-documented ways to reduce hamstring strains in any sport that involves sprinting or skating push-offs. For hockey, the bonus is the unilateral nature: single-leg work exposes the asymmetries every skater has and forces both sides to develop equally.
Hockey Transfer
Hamstring iso plus balance plus spinal control all at once. The closest off-ice analogue to a fully-extended stride position — back leg driving force back into the surface. Twist open at the hip and the hold's lost. The whole exercise is in keeping the hips closed.
Coaching Cues
- "Stand on one leg. Hinge forward — chest drops"
- "Back leg lifts behind you. Stop when your torso is roughly parallel to the floor. HOLD. Tight back leg"
- "Neutral spine"
- "Hips SQUARE. Switch legs."
Common Mistakes
Back-leg hip rotating open — same fault as the hip airplane; hips stay SQUARE. Rounding the lower back — neutral spine; if you can't hold flat, you're hinging too deep for your current hamstring length. Standing knee locking out — keep a soft bend so the hamstring takes the load, not the joint. Catching with the back foot when balance fails — end the set; hold is over.
Progression / Regression
Weighted single-leg RDL hold — dumbbell in the opposite-side hand (forces extra anti-rotation work).
Single-leg RDL hold with light hand support on a wall or rack — same hold, less balance demand.
Primary Muscles
Energy System
Strength/neural
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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