Core Hockey Training Blog

How To Help Kids Playing Sports After A Mistake Or Choke

2012-02-24T13:35:00.003-07:00

Posted by Wendy Lynne Thu at 1:53 PM from www.ursportspage.com

I regularly hear athletes describe in great detail how devastating their last loss or choke was. Unfortunately kids and adults alike, tend to focus on their mistakes, rather than replaying great moments in their mind. To a lot of young athletes, it can seem like the end of the world. What they are missing is…PERSPECTIVE.

You can help your kids playing sports see the loss or mistake in a new light and make it an experience they learn and grow from. Learn how in this latest video....

Video Transcript:
What can a farmer teach us about mental toughness?

You may have heard of this story but it beautifully illustrates perspective and how to reframe the meaning of anything...

There once was a farmer whose only horse broke out of the corral and ran away. The farmer's neighbors, upon hearing of the run away horse said to the farmer, "Oh what bad luck!"
The farmer just replied, "We'll see."

About a week later, the horse returned, bringing with it a whole herd of wild horses, which the farmer and his son quickly corralled.

The neighbors, hearing of the farmer's new luck getting a herd of horses said, "Oh what good luck!" The farmer just replied, "We'll see."

Later that day, the farmer's son's leg was badly broken when he was thrown from one of the wild horses he was trying to break.

A few days later the broken leg became infected and the son became delirious with fever. The neighbors, all-hearing of the incident, came to see the son. As they stood there, the neighbors said, "Oh what bad luck!" The farmer replied, "We'll see."

A war broke out and the country was in need of soldiers. The military sent one of its captains to the village to conscript young men to fight in the war.
When the captain came to take the farmer's son he found a young man with a broken leg who was delirious with fever. Knowing there was no way the son could fight, the captain left him there.

A few days later, the son's fever broke and a few months later, his leg healed. By then the war had ended and the son guided the family farm to prosperity.
I regularly hear athletes describe in detail how devastating their last loss or choke was. To a 15 year old, it can seem like the end of the world. What young athletes are missing is...
Perspective

This is where parents and coaches can be a huge help in building mental toughness.
.
I had a 12-year-old client come to me a few hours after a total meltdown at practice (according to his dad). The boy complained to me that his coach hated him and treated him unfairly.
I asked, "How do you know this is true?"

He said his coach was making him do more pushups than the other guys and was sitting him on the bench when everyone on the team knew he was the better player. He said the coach embarrassed him in front of the other players and often talked down to him.
I looked him in the eye and said very calmly "Wow, that's so great!"

You should have seen the puzzled look on his face, because I am sure he did not expect my response. I went on, " You are so lucky!"

Now he got a little peeved and said "What are you talking about?"

I told him "It's so great that you are getting a jerk coach now at your age."
"Huh?" he replied.

"Yeah, just think about it...if you went the next 5 years with nothing but great coaches and THEN got a jerk coach your senior year of high school, you wouldn't be prepared and could easily fall apart under pressure. Maybe you'd get yelled at right before a game when there was college scouts in the stands. "

"But, because of this jerk coach you've got, it caused your dad to ask for help and now you're in my office about to learn powerful mental toughness techniques that you will be practicing for the next 5 years."

"By that time, you will be totally untouchable and unstoppable. The worst coach in the world won't be able to affect you".

"Isn't that great! Isn't it lucky for you that you got a bad coach now? You are so fortunate..."
He then said my favorite words I love to hear from a client: "I never thought of it that way".
You can too can give this perspective or reframing to your child. It is a huge gift!

To get more training on mental toughness go to: http://www.mentaltoughnesstrainer.com

10 Best Exercise Tips of All Time!

2012-02-24T13:28:00.000-07:00

You have probably heard at least a dozen “Best Fitness Tips” in the past few months; just take a walk down the magazine isle at your local grocery store and you will probably find a stack of magazines touting the newest fitness trend or weight lifting technique that will rock you to the next level. I used to get sucked into these magazines all the time with little satisfaction at the end! Our personal trainers here at Blitz Conditioning sat down and rifled through all of our textbooks and magazines and compiled a list of the 10 most credible fitness tips and here they are:

Start with Activating Your Core:
If you have ever been to Blitz Conditioning you’ll probably hear all of our trainers yelling: “Core!” like it’s a lost puppy and we’re trying to find it. Core is our internal support system: it protects us from injury and allows us to translate our bodies movement into moving objects or lifting things. When we consciously activate our core we are ensuring that we lift properly and safely and it also burns more calories!

Set Your Shoulders In:
Try this out: while standing, shrug your shoulders up as if you are going to touch your shoulders to your ears, bring your shoulders back as far as you can go and let them hang down. Feel that? your posture has all of a sudden improved, you are standing taller and, oh wait, yeah you’re core is engaged too! Do this whenever you can remember when you are working and also when you are exercising. While exercising, setting your shoulders in allows all of your muscles to lift in an anatomically correct way, so you can actually use more muscles!

Hit as Many Muscle Groups as Possible in One Move:
Isolation and machines are great and I always recommend that a portion of our exercise regimen includes isolation but really we should be emphasizing whole body workouts! Our day to day lives rarely involves using only one muscle group in isolation so why train that way? Think about it: when opening a door, we actually use arms, shoulders, back, core, and legs! Exercises focusing on multiple muscle groups is functional it increases range of motion and applicable to real life and to boot it gets your heart rate going and burns more calories like we said in our previous article.

Read the rest of the Tips Here!

Quote - Obstacles

2012-02-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." - Henry Ford

Easton E700 Hockey Helmet Review

2012-02-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

By Hockey Gear Review N, Hockey Gear Review
Monday February 20th 2012

Look and Feel

The new Easton E700 Helmet doesn’t look like it is that much different from the Easton S19 helmet but you couldn’t be more wrong. They look the best parts of the S19 and looked to improve on it. It is more of round looking helmet and traditionally hockey helmets have had a boxier look and to tell you the truth, it looks good. Easton also killed it with the matte black finish. To the best of my knowledge, they are the first company to do this with helmets and it’s a great look.

As soon as you pick the lid up, you cannot believe how light it is. Compared to some of the other helmets out there, the E700 blows them out of the water in terms of weight and you also notice it when you have it on. Like most other top end helmets, the E700 uses a EPP foam liner with a poly carbonate shell. This helps is strike that fine balance between protection and weight.

Once you get over the shock of how light it is, you will notice that there are gel pads. As you play and wear the helmet, the gel pads will form to your head and take on a unique fit and that is all you are looking for in a helmet, one that fits all over your head. Easton has formed a partnership with Giro to help bring in some of their bike helmet technology to hockey helmets. They are created a Giro type of fit system for the helmet and your head. The helmet fits snug but not tight. It’s a great combination.

Performance

The E700 is extremely light weight and it feels great while you are playing. When you are moving out on the ice, you don’t notice it at all. You head stays relatively cool with the aid of the air vents and I had no concerns about the safety level of the helmet.

I have to say that when I first tried the helmet on, it fit a little tight. I was concerned that this was going to pose a problem while playing but all of my worries were alleviated after the first few shifts. They gel padding formed to my head and allowed the helmet to stay snug but not with the tightness. There isn’t really much more I could ask for in a helmet.

Recommendation

The Easton E700 is a best in class helmet. But it also carries a best in class price tag. It comes in at $179.99 but I have seen it cheaper on the net. Although it carries a hefty price tag, is there really a price on the safety of you head? It has a lot going for it. The fit and weight are second to none and the addition of the matte finish is the topping on the cake! Go to your local shop and try it on and compare it your helmet and I would be shocked if you can’t feel the difference. Hockey Gear Review highly recommends the Easton E700 to players of all abilities but especially to those that play contact hockey.

Five Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Supplement

2012-02-21T12:51:00.001-07:00

Article by: Dr. Geoffrey Connor | February 20, 2012
Stack.com Blog!

As an orthopedic surgeon specializing in the care of Division I and professional athletes, I receive many questions regarding nutrition and supplements. It is my philosophy that an athlete who has a balanced, natural diet, one that meets the demands of his or her sport, will do every bit as well as an athlete on commercially-manufactured protein and vitamin supplements.

That being said, I am also a realist. I recognize there are countless products available on the market and that competitors are always looking for an edge. As such, I think there are five key questions that every athlete should consider before taking a supplement. I call them “The Big Ds” of dietary supplements—Disqualify, Deficiency, Diminish, Dollars and Downing.

1) Will it possibly disqualify me?

In many ways, this the most important question. All the hard hours in the gym and on the practice field can go down the drain if you take one bad supplement. This is also the scariest part. Nutritional supplements are the wild west of food and drug production. They exist in a middle ground between the rigid regulation of the FDA for pharmaceuticals and the USDA’s regulation of food products. Contamination of supplements with heavy metals, pesticides and prescription drugs is rampant.
So, what can you do? First, avoid products that have spent any part of their manufacturing life in China. Last time I checked, the FDA had never evaluated a factory there. Choose a product from the U.S. preferably, and, if possible, one that carries a money-back guarantee if any contaminants are detected. I recommend Advocare’s Informed Choice line of products.

2) Am I actually deficient in this particular nutrient?

In the vast majority of cases, eating a balanced diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and high fiber, will provide all the nutrients you need. Furthermore, your body is better able to absorb the healthy components of these foods than pills, capsules or powders. The fact is, our gastrointestinal tract is designed to absorb nutrients from food, and it is far less efficient at doing so from the factory-made stuff. Several studies have shown the failure of high-dose vitamins to have any impact on health or disease. The best thing you can do is eat right. If you need to hedge your bets with a supplement, avoid the ones I mention below and you should be okay.

3) Could this diminish my health?

Let’s just cut to the chase here—there is a lot of bad stuff out there. As I mentioned above, supplements can include contaminants, or their alleged benefits can be totally bogus. Do your research before you ingest. For me, the terrible 10 supplements that you should AVOID are germanium, aconite, chaparral, colloidal silver, lobelia, coltsfoot, yohimbe, comfrey, kava and country mallow. I won’t go into details, but the FDA doesn’t like these and neither should you. Many of them are also banned in Europe, so they might disqualify you if you intend to compete there.

4) Are the dollars spent on supplements justified?

I tell my patients every day, “Let’s try this for a month; if it doesn’t have any appreciable effect, then we can stop it.” The reason for this is that supplements can be costly, and there’s no need to spend money if you feel no noticeable benefit. There are very few situations in which the supplement is worth a heavy expense on a sustained basis. The one supplement I recommend above all else, regardless of cost, is glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, which can improve joint health.

5) Am I already downing food that is potentially more effective than a supplement?

Any time you consider a supplement, ask yourself, “Am I already eating food that has the same nutrients?” If you eat some lean chicken breast after a workout, there’s no need to drink a protein shake. Plant material is chock full of phytochemicals, which interact with each other and with other nutrients to maximize the body’s use and absorption of “the good stuff.” A healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables will deliver nutrients and minerals to your body far superior to any pill. If you see a deficiency in your diet, try to address it with food. For example, if you want more vitamin B12, simply eat some oysters, meat or even vitamin-fortified cereal. (As a side note, if you are a vegan, you will want to take a supplement to meet your vitamin B12 needs.)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-supplement. I recently had a professional athlete complain to me that he was “tired of chewing all the time” to get his prescribed protein intake in natural forms. So, I understand that the decision to start supplements can be based on many factors. Just be careful and do your research when selecting one. Always ask yourself these five “D” questions before choosing a supplement. You should be able to answer all of them.

If you are still uncertain after using my key questions, seek the counsel of a sports medicine physician or nutritionist. Also, be on the lookout for my 11 Blade Blog in coming weeks, where I will individually evaluate and comment on specific supplements and products.

Dr. Geoffrey Connor founded D1 Sports Medicine in 2010, in affiliation with D1 Sports Training, in an effort to bridge the gap between orthopaedic sports medicine and performance athletic training. He is also affiliated with Alabama Orthopedic, Spine and Sports Medicine Associates at St. Vincent’s East in Birmingham. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Connor completed his surgical internship and residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he trained with world-renowned sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews. He went on to complete a fellowship in orthopaedic sports surgery at the Atlanta Sports Medicine Center, where he participated in caring for the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Thrashers.

Inside College Hockey

2012-02-21T12:47:00.001-07:00

There was a time in December, and even continuing into the turn of the new year, when INCH staffers penciled in Notre Dame on the short list of favorites to win the national championship. As February comes to a close, it’s hardly a stretch to say that Notre Dame might not even be favored to win its series at home against Michigan State this weekend. The Fighting Irish looked like legitimate national threats, bolstered by wins over BU on Dec. 31 and Minnesota on Jan. 7. The bigger picture reveals a team that hasn’t met that potential, and its struggles have been in the offensive zone. Notre Dame has lost 13 of its last 19 games. In those 13 defeats, Notre Dame has scored just 17 goals. Ouch.

The bright side is that this team still has talent, and a little bit of time to get things figured out before the postseason begins.

To Read more NCAA Information please Click Here!

NCAA Recruiting Info at a Glance

2012-02-17T16:27:00.004-07:00

PuckProspect.com

Division I college hockey coaches are not allowed to initiate contact with prospective student athletes until June 15th of their sophomore year in high school. That means they cannot reply to emails, text messages, or return phone calls prior to that date.

Prospective Student Athletes may contact college coaches as often as they like prior to and after June 15th of their sophomore year, but in order to sp. However, contact is to be made only by phone or face to face on campus.

College hockey coaches spend a tremendous amount of time and energy scouting and recruiting potential student athletes. If you play for a competitive midget minor, midget major, junior, or high school team, and are an elite player, there is a good a chance that the college coaches know about you. It is suggested that you make a list of the schools you are interested in and visit their respective websites and team pages. Most college hockey teams have a recruiting questionnaire on their team website and it would be beneficial to fill out a questionnaire for each school that you are interested in.

If a college coach thinks you are physically and mentally prepared for the challenges of college hockey then they will have you come to college straight from high school. College coaches will sometimes recommend that a player take an extra year, following his graduation from high school, to play junior hockey so that a player can mature both physically and mentally prior to jumping into the college game.

An official college visit is a 48-hour, expense-paid visit. An official visit cannot be taken until the first day of classes of the prospective student-athlete's senior year in high school. A student athlete is allowed five total official visits but only one per school.

An unofficial visit is paid for by the student athlete and can last any length of time. There is no limit to the number of unofficial visits a student can take. During an unofficial visit the coaching staff may meet with a prospective student athlete and provide him with a tour of the campus and facilities.

In order for a prospective student athlete to be academically eligible to play in the NCAA he must have graduated from high school, fulfilled a core curriculum of at least 16 courses, and met a minimum index score that combines standardized tests scores (SAT, ACT) and GPA. A prospective student athlete should regularly meet with a college counselor, provided by their high school, in order to ensure they meet these requirements. All certified high school college counselors should be familiar with the necessary steps and minimum requirements set forth by the NCAA.

If you play a junior A hockey game after your 21st birthday you will lose one year of NCAA Division I athletic eligibility, leaving you with three years eligibility remaining.

Signing a contract with any professional team that includes Canadian Major Junior teams (CHL) results in the loss of NCAA eligibility even if you never play a game for that team.

Prospects can attend one, 48-hour, expense-paid visit per professional team. The 48 hour period begins when you arrive at the team's facility and ends exactly 48 hours later. While in attendance the team can supply you with expenses that include travel, hotel, food, equipment, and all costs associated with practice and off-ice training. You must leave the facility once the 48 hour time period has expired in order to receive an expense paid return trip home.

Prospects can remain longer than the 48-hour period provided the Prospect themself pays the cost of all expenses incurred, including cost for the return trip home, following the initial 48 hour time period.

If a prospect is invited to a team's main camp and if the team covered expenses at the rookie camp then the prospect must cover their own expenses at the main camp in order to remain eligible for NCAA hockey. Prospects are only allowed to accept one 48-hour expense paid visit/tryout per CHL team.

While in attendance at a CHL camp/tryout, a prospect may not participate in any scrimmages or exhibition games against outside teams. Prospects may participate in an intra-squad scrimmage (i.e. a red and white game).

Prospects cannot accept jerseys, hats, t-shirts, or any material benefits from professional teams without paying for them. The options the prospect has are: Mail the items back or send payment for the items received and request a receipt. If the value of the items is less than $100 you also may make a payment to a charity equal to the amount of the items you received.

A family advisor can be a helpful and informative resource, but it is not necessary that you have one unless you are a player who is projected to be drafted in the NHL. If you are going to make a decision on an advisor we recommend you interview at least a few different advisors and as a family decide who you feel most comfortable with.

NCAA regulations allow student-athletes (or prospective student-athletes) to take part in one testing or tryout session per NHL team, at the team's expense, for up to 48 hours. An exception is if a player has taken part in the NHL Draft Combine or the NHL Research and Development Camp. These events are considered tryouts for all 30 teams. A player could participate in another tryout beyond those events, but would need to pay his own way.

NCAA players may attend NHL summer development camps, or prospect camps, but must pay their own way, for example, transportation, lodging, food, etc.

An athletic scholarship is financial aid from a university or college based in any degree on the athletic ability of the student-athlete. Athletic scholarships are formalized by entering into agreements called "National Letters of Intent," which is a written agreement between the institution and the student-athlete.

The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is the name of the document that formalizes an athletic scholarship. It is a binding agreement between a student-athlete and a university in which the university agrees to provide athletic aid in exchange for the student-athlete's agreement to attend the university for one academic year.

A 'verbal commitment' is a non-binding agreement between a prospect and a coach to attend that coach's institution.

An athletic scholarship provides funds for tuition and fees, books, room and board, and certain other expenses. The only required expense that a full athletic scholarship cannot cover is transportation to and from campus.

Athletic scholarship agreements may be made for anywhere from one to five years.

Signing a National Letter of Intent, even for a scholarship promised for four years, commits a student-athlete to that school for one year.

Most scholarship agreements made for one season are almost always renewed annually. They are very rarely cancelled and never for on-ice performance.

Athletic scholarships may not be reduced or cancelled year-to-year based on your ability or performance, because an injury prevents you from participating or for any other athletic reason.

If you are receiving an athletic scholarship, the scholarship may be reduced or cancelled only if you:

- render yourself ineligible for NCAA competition;

- misrepresented any information on your application, letter of intent or financial aid agreement;

- commit serious misconduct which warrants a substantial disciplinary penalty; or

- voluntarily quit the team for personal reasons

Universities are permitted to grant 18 "full" scholarships and typically carry 22-26 players, so not all are on full scholarships. Most NCAA teams have some players who receive only a portion of their expenses in athletic scholarship (i.e. partial scholarship) and some players who receive all otheir expenses in scholarship (i.e. full scholarship).

Financial aid is a grant from the university that is not based on athletic ability or participation on an athletic team.

Financial aid can be granted for tuition and fees, room and board, books and transportation.

Financial aid varies between universities. It is typically calculated based on the student and his parents' ability to contribute to the cost of post-secondary education. This is determined by evaluating the current savings and expected earnings of the student over the summer and the student's parents' overall wealth (i.e. earnings, savings, investments, etc.). Based on these types of criteria, the institution makes a judgment on the amount that the student and parents are able to contribute toward a university education. In theory, any shortfall between the expected contribution and the expected university expenses is covered by financial aid.

www.ncaa.org

Healthy Eating 8 creepy mystery ingredients in fast food

2012-02-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

This Article should GROSS you out!! Unreal!

Would you like a cow eyeball with your burger?

One of the more-enduring urban legends about McDonald’s is that their hamburgers contain cow eyeballs. While this has not proven to be the case, their Baked Hot Apple Pie does contain duck feathers, or at least an ingredient commonly derived from such. Truth can be just as strange as fiction.

How have duck feathers become a viable ingredient in apple pie? Welcome to the world of food additives. People have been adding flavors, spices, natural preservatives and ripening agents to food since antiquity. But as the popularity of highly processed food has risen dramatically since the 1950s, so has the astounding array of bizarre chemical additives used in food manufacturing. Fast-food recipes seem to be born more from the laboratory than from farm or field.

And although the powers that be deem these food-additive chemicals safe, the science fiction of it all is a bit unsettling. How do we come up with these things? Here are some of the wackiest of the bunch.

1. Duck feathers and human hair (l-cysteine)

You thought duck feathers sounded bad? How about human hair? These are the two most-common sources for l-cysteine, an amino acid used to condition dough for increased pliability, which facilitates better machine processing. CNN reported that most human-derived l-cysteine comes from Chinese women who help support their families by selling their locks to small chemical-processing plants.

Although originally the primary source for l-cysteine was human hair, many manufacturers seem to have moved away from hair-derived l-cysteine and on to the more-palatable duck feathers. According to Jeanne Yacoubou, MS, research editor for The Vegetarian Resource Group, 80 percent of l-cysteine is now derived from feathers. During her research, McDonald’s told Yacoubou that the l-cysteine used in its Baked Hot Apple Pie, as well as its Wheat Roll and Warm Cinnamon Roll, was of the duck-feather variety. Many other fast-food joints rely on l-cysteine in bakery products as well.

And not to be sensationalist here, the resultant additive is far-removed from its original source — but still. It may be disturbing to many, and importantly, may fly in the face of ethical or religious dietary restrictions.

Read the rest of the Article Here!!

Everybody’s Doing the Flip

2012-02-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

Great website for all coaches to follow - Out of Box Thinking! The Talent Code!

So there’s a Big Exciting Idea that’s been whizzing around the educational oxygen recently. It’s called “flipping the classroom.” Bill Gates is a fan; so is Nobel Prize winner Carl Wieman, an advisor to President Obama.

Here’s how it works: In regular classrooms the teacher stands at the front of the room and explains, the kids listen and absorb. Then they go home and do homework — the problem sets, the paper-writing, etc.
In a flipped classroom, the situation is reversed. First, the learners absorb the lecture at home, often via a video. Classroom time is devoted to doing the homework — grappling with the material, solving problems. Instead of being a sage on the stage, the teacher is a guide on the side, roving like a personal coach, spotting problems, giving individualized attention and guidance. Class time is about active construction, productive struggle and exploration.

Proponents of flipping make the point that video is a more efficient way to deliver lectures, because, unlike teachers, they can be rewound and watched until they’re understood. Doing homework in class works better because teachers can help students struggle through problems they might otherwise abandon, if alone at home.

The interesting thing about flipped classrooms isn’t just that they seem to work, especially for hard skills like math and science. It’s that the concept is flexible enough to be applied to other situations. Such as:

In sports — why not flip the locker room? Coaches could deliver theories, strategies, game plans, and fundamentals via video, and spend practice time actually working on the skills.
In music — why not flip the music stand? Teachers could deliver music theory over video, and spend the practice time putting it to use.
In the workplace — why not flip training session? Instead of listening to lectures, time could be spent practicing real-life on-the-job skills.

I like flipping because it’s a nice way to highlight a home truth: sitting still and listening to someone talk is a demanding and inefficient way to learn. Learning is ultimately about doing — about struggling and reaching, often with the guidance of a good coach — and the highest goal of a teacher is to design a space that makes that happen.

In other words, teachers aren’t really teachers — they are designers. As Einstein put it, “I never teach my students; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they learn.”
So the next question is, what can you flip in your world?

Rangers Pulse – Captain Ryan Callahan

2012-02-16T16:03:00.001-07:00

By James Wrabel, Jr.

Ranger Pulse!

September 12, 2011 was a banner day in the rich tradition of the New York Rangers. Ryan Callahan was named 26th team captain in the organization’s history, supplanting Chris Drury, who was bought out in the offseason. Drury’s heart and soul were still deeply entrenched in hockey. However, his 35-year-old body couldn’t handle the rigors of an 82-game schedule any more and he retired. Left in the wake was Ryan Callahan to receive the torch to lead a team: his team. To this point, not only has Callahan lead his team marvelously but also, in his first season as captain, has become one of best, young leaders in the game.

The 26-year-old Rochester, NY native embodies the identity of the Rangers: relentless work ethic, sacrifice, and genuine heart for the game. His teammates, both young and old, have taken to Callahan’s lead-by-example play on the ice to become a team that firmly believes in their captain. But, what’s more impressive is how quickly his teammates have bought into his leadership.

Click Here to read rest of Article!

3 Things That Parents Should Know

2012-02-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

Kevin's Website!

At Endeavor Sports Performance, we see hockey players from a wide range of age and ability. We have players as young as 11 competing in Tier II youth programs up through the NHL. We’re very fortunate to have such a diverse population because it allows us to pick up on trends in movement patterns and structural asymmetries that develop over the player’s career. Being able to “look into the future” has really helped us develop better long-term player development training and programs and recommendations for players, parents, and coaches.

On that topic, I asked David Lasnier, who has been my right hand man for the last year and a half, to put together an article on a few things that all hockey parents should know in order to maximize their kids’ development. Check out his response below!

1. First, and most importantly in my opinion, your kid should have fun playing hockey!! I can give all the tips in the world about training, nutrition and injury prevention, but the most important thing parents need to know (and trust me there are wayyy too many that either don’t know it or just don’t care) is the first reason your kids play sports is to have fun. When you start to send them to every hockey clinic, every development camp and every showcase and you do that year-round when your kid is 10-years old, it’s not about fun anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about developing skills and taking the necessary steps to get better at one sport, but there is such a thing as overloading your kids too young. This is the first step toward them dropping out of hockey at a young age because they’re burnt out. Kids are kids; they’re not adults. There is no reason we should ask of them to get too serious too young; it’s true with sports and it’s true with everything else in life.

Another thing that leads me to believe that parents might not prioritize their kids having fun and enjoying the game is the way some of them behave in the stands. I’ve seen it happen too many times; parents yelling at their kids, at the referees or at the other players on the ice. I’m not talking about encouragement, but some parents flip out in the stands and get aggressive to a point it gets completely absurd! I’ve seen this happen in amateur hockey at pretty much every level, including Mites! What kind of message do you think it sends to your kid? There is no way when seeing that that the kid is going to think it’s all fun and he should enjoy himself on the ice. He’s going to get very competitive and play to win, and nothing else will matter. Parents need to understand that hockey, like every other sport, is a game. The first goal at the youth level is to have fun. There is a time to start to get competitive and to specialize in one sport, but anything under 13-years old is way too young.

Sit down.

2. This second point is very closely related to what I mentioned above. Don’t push your kid into specializing too early in one sport. For one, it might contribute to taking the fun out of the practice of their sport. But it also can lead to a lot of issues. Skating on the ice, much like other movement patterns from other sports, causes a certain stress to your body and your joints. It is important at a young age when the body is still in development that we don’t force kids into playing one sport year-round. This can lead to overuse conditions very young (Check out these studies: Sports-Related Injuries in Youth Athletes: Is Overscheduling a Risk Factor? and Early sport specialization: roots, effectiveness, risks.). It’s no coincidence that there are so many sports hernias, groin pulls and hip surgeries nowadays. Early specialization in sport is more common practice than it has ever been before. You impose a lot of stress on your joints from a very young age, you keep the stress accumulating by playing hockey year-round and never give them rest or use any injury prevention modalities to avoid reaching the injury threshold. Again, let kids have fun, play multiple sports in different seasons and don’t make or LET them specialize in one sport before they reach at least 15-years old.

3. The last thing is nutritional habits! We know that nutrition and sports performance are closely related. Whether most parents know that or not, I’m not sure, but I can tell you one thing: I don’t know many kids we train at Endeavor that actually have good nutritional habits. Most of them skip breakfast (and if they don’t they eat pop-tarts), they snack on candy all the time, and they show up to work out without having eaten anything in the previous 5 hours before their session! It’s part of our job as strength and conditioning coaches to educate kids on how to eat well and fuel their body to perform optimally. But in the end, if the parents are not educated themselves, or if they just don’t apply these good habits, we’re fighting a losing battle. We can tell the kids to eat more protein and more vegetables, but if the parents don’t encourage that, it’s just not going to happen. I don’t know of many kids who go food shopping by themselves (or simply have the power to decide what their parents are actually buying at the grocery store). That’s why it’s so important for the parents to be educated on that subject and make sure they give their kids good eating habits like eating a good breakfast every morning, prepare food for the day, have a pre- and a post workout meal/shake, etc.

Precision Nutrition: The best sports nutrition resource available (your kids will love these smoothie recipes)
David continues to be an outstanding resource for me. I appreciate that he and I can work in the same environment, but have different interpretations of what we see. Because he’s from Quebec, he has a slightly different vantage point on the state of youth hockey development and athletic development in general. If you haven’t yet, head over to his site and sign up for his newsletter. It’s free and he puts up some great content every week.

Click here >> David Lasnier Sports Training

To your success,
Kevin Neeld

Learning to Disguise Your Weaknesses and Play to Your Strengths

2012-02-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

On youth hockey teams, player depth is constantly changing as players move up a level, graduate, focus on other sports and suffer from injuries. When the talent is deep, even the most skilled players battle for playing time. That is hockey. You are not alone. No crying in hockey. Keep on your course and keep the faith. Trust me, every player has been there. A really great piece of advice to everyone wanting more playing time may sound simple but it is very important: Hide your weaknesses and highlight your strengths. (This advice goes for both the stars and the non-stars on the team—all are equally important members of a team.)

“Any guy who can maintain a positive attitude without much playing time earns my respect.”
—Magic Johnson, basketball player

The biggest weakness in my game was my hands. Over-handling the puck was my nemesis. (In fact, a friend once asked why I was wearing wrist guards at warm-ups. I told him my wrists were torn up from getting chopped. He said, “You carry the puck long enough to get chopped, buddy?”) Trying to beat guys one-on-one while stickhandling around them was not my game—but at times I thought it was. And I found that when I over-stickhandled…I was benched. But I also learned that I fared much better if I made one quick move and passed it out of my defensive end. I had a hard accurate pass and that was my strength. So, I began to take pride in my tape-to-tape passes. For me, that feeling was like scoring a goal. I always say, put the puck in the forwards hands and let them work their magic. Figuring out that passing and shooting was my strength and highlighting it was a tactic that seemed to be working. More playing time for Serowik.

After practice, I worked on my weakness: stickhandling. I did it all—figure eights, golf balls, tennis balls, cones, forehand, backhand, saucer passes against the boards. Anything to soften up my rough set of paws.

Over and over and over and over and over. During my pro years, every summer day I practiced my stickhandling in school parking lots where I had enough room and could focus with nobody around. I did whatever it took to work on my weakness.

“You’re never a loser until you quit trying.”
—Mike Ditka, football player and coach

The top player on every team has weaknesses, too. Disguising them—learning to not call attention to them—is key. No hockey player is expertly skilled at all aspects of the game. Working on skills is important, but hiding what we are not as skilled at is also a strategic move. If you are a grinder, don’t over-handle the puck, grind it out. If you have gifted hands and can dangle, go for it but do it responsibly. If you are too slow, question what kind of shape you are in as that is something you can control and change.

Remember, “It could be you and it should be you,” right? It is going to be someone, so why not you. A dream becomes a reality when you make a plan. Plan your work and work your plan.

Editor’s Note: Thank you to Jeff Serowik, a former NHL player and founder/president of Pro Ambitions Hockey, for this story.

Leadership

2012-02-16T13:18:00.002-07:00

"Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you're ready to play as tough as you're able to, you'd better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you're not giving it all you've got." - Larry Bird

Kodiaks Nominated For AJHL Awards!

2012-02-15T12:57:00.002-07:00

Three members of the Camrose Kodiaks organization have been nominated as finalists for 2012 AJHL League Awards.

Two finalists from each division were selected by the league's General Managers and Coaches over the past two weeks. The award winners for each of the categories listed below will be determined through voting by the AJHL General Managers and Coaches and announced immediately following the completion of the 2011-2012 AJHL Regular Season.

The Kodiaks members nominated for awards include Sam Jardine (Outstanding Defenseman nominee), Jonathan Lashyn (Most Dedicated Player nominee), and Boris Rybalka (Coach of the Year nominee).

David Beckham: Lessons for all of us

2012-02-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

From The Blog: Taking You Beyond The Game

A great little story surfaced recently. Long-time soccer star David Beckham “revealed” in a light-hearted way (you can see the full story and video by visiting here… http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/8414829/beckham-sent-off-during-kids-soccer-match ) that he had recently been banished from the sidelines of a youth soccer game.

In fairness, it wasn’t a game involving his own son, evidently. Apparently, the referee in a U8 game, I think it was, sent off a young player for reasons that aren’t revealed in the story. Beckham apparently called out to the ref to essentially say, “Hey, he’s just a kid. You can’t toss him out…”

When Beckham persisted, the referee ended up throwing Beckham off the sidelines, and the longtime soccer idol had to watch the rest of the match from behind the field fence.

I can see both sides to this “disagreement”. Beckham no doubt thought it was silly to send such a young player off the field. But the bottom line is, the referee has to be in control and has to have the authority to make all decisions without interference from subjective and biased parents/spectators in the stands or on the sidelines. And that applies even to an international "star" like Beckham—who no doubt felt he was protecting the child in some fashion.

The referee saw or heard something, clearly, that no one else had noticed—I’m guessing language, or inappropriate behavior or a serious foul of some description. Even at these early ages, messages have to be sent about fair play, behavior, etc. And as importantly, the role and authority of the referee has to be respected by all—whether “mistakes” are possibly made or not.

With this as a backdrop—and more and more youth soccer teams preparing to go outdoors before long—it may be timely to think in terms of appropriate behavior and the right “attitude” heading into a new season, especially from a parent perspective.

Please click here to see our article on “Soccer Sideline Etiquette for parents”.

And remember the David Beckham story!

What Jeremy Lin Teaches Us About Talent

2012-02-15T11:19:00.002-07:00

Linsanity! For those who don’t follow the NBA, or read the NY Post, or check Twitter during Knicks games, Jeremy Lin is a new point guard who has been churning out a series of incredible performances. Last week, he torched the Lakers for 38 points; last night, he hit a three pointer at the buzzer to beat the Raptors. What makes Lin’s story even more remarkable is that he has been repeatedly spurned by basketball professionals. Although Lin dreamt of attending UCLA or Stanford, neither college offered him a scholarship. He ended up at Harvard.

Although Lin excelled in the Ivy League and broke numerous basketball records, he wasn’t selected in the 2010 NBA draft.

Eight teams had invited Lin to predraft workouts. Diepenbrock said that NBA tryouts do not play five on five. Lin acknowledged that the workouts were “one on one or two on two or three on three, and that’s not where I excel. I’ve never played basketball like that.”

Lin was eventually signed by the Warriors, but he was soon placed on the inactive list and repeatedly sent down to the D-League affiliate. Last December, Lin was waived by the Warriors, picked up and then waived by the Rockets, before finally being claimed by the Knicks as a backup point guard.

New York considered releasing Lin before his contract became guaranteed on February 10 so they could sign a new player. However, after the Knicks squandered a fourth quarter lead in a February 3 loss to the Boston Celtics, coach Mike D’Antoni decided to give Lin a chance to play. “He got lucky because we were playing so bad,” said D’Antoni.[94] Lin had played only 55 minutes through the Knicks’ first 23 games.

Read the rest of the article HERE!

Be a Cheerleader for Positive Contributions

2012-02-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

One of the many things that top-notch hockey players seem to have in common is a true appreciation for achievement – theirs and others. They get that when one member of the team is successful, everybody wins. They understand that recognizing accomplishments is one of the best ways to motivate themselves, and their coworkers, to keep pursuing them. They know that – in tough times like these – success is something to be enjoyed, celebrated, and encouraged. They are cheerleaders for positive contributions. And, with the exception of those who don’t make the squad, most everyone likes cheerleaders.

Self-reflection time, again …

Think of the last time you accomplished something good at practice/game. How did you react? Did you pat yourself on the back, enjoy the moment, and share your happiness with others (without overly bragging)? If you did, GREAT! You deserved those good feelings. If you didn’t, I’ve got just four words for you: WHY THE HECK NOT? Now, think about the last time a teammate did something fantastic. Did you pat that person on the back, encourage him or her to enjoy the moment, and share in their happiness? Depending on your answer, my responses are the same as those above: GREAT … or WHY THE HECK NOT?

Looking to be known as an indispensable team member who works right? Be happy when you and your teammates succeed … and show it! When it comes to this topic, we’d all be wise to take a lesson from that classic childhood verse:

If you’re happy and you know it, CLAP YOUR HANDS!

Insights On Preventing Athlete’s Foot

2012-02-13T13:45:00.002-07:00

Posted by Keegan on February 9, 2011
From School Yard Puck

Isn’t WebMD great? The other day I came across these tips on how to prevent athlete’s foot:

Keep your feet clean and dry.
- Dry between your toes after swimming or bathing.
- Wear leather shoes or sandals that allow your feet to breathe.
- When indoors, wear socks without shoes.
- Wear cotton socks to absorb sweat. Change your socks twice a day. (White socks do not prevent athlete’s foot, as some people believe.)
- Use talcum or antifungal powder on your feet.
- Allow your shoes to air for at least 24 hours before you wear them again.
Wear shower sandals in public pools and showers.

That last tip is a big one, especially for hockey players. I know the locker room at my ice rink has standing water in some places. I don’t always wear sandals even though I probably should. One more tip I would add is to try and use moisture-wicking socks with your skates. If you aren’t sure what socks to buy, we’ll be reviewing some in the next couple weeks.
If you do happen to contract the foot fungus, there’s always tough actin’ Tinactin.

Top 10 Off-Ice Goalie Drills

2012-02-13T13:35:00.002-07:00

I am sure there could be textbooks written about on-ice goalie drills, there is also a good selection of off-ice goalie drills that you may not even know about. Now I am not talking about some of the silliness you see in online videos with goalies standing on stability balls, juggling like a circus seal or my favorite one with the kid wearing his full goalie pads who jumps off a 24” plyobox onto a BOSU!

What the heck is that and how does it help make a goalie better? You may argue that it develops balance and yes, I suppose that is true, but it is not the type of balance that a goalie needs. In both of the ‘goalie drills’ described above the goalie must establish stability equally using both legs.

Although a goalie does want to have a good balanced stance with equal pressure on both feet when they are in the ready position, once they move laterally out of that ready position the goalie is in a situation where they are driving off one foot and quickly establishing a new dynamic stability using the other leg?

Before I get into the goalie drills that will actually help you perform on the ice, I also want to be clear that we are not trying to simply mimic exactly what you do on the ice with your goalie coach. During off-ice goalie training, the goal is to enhance the physical capabilities to execute your movements on the ice with more speed and precision.

Now let’s take a look at the Top 10 Off-Ice Goalie Drills…

Read Rest of the Article Here!

Top 5 Tips for Being Supportive After a Loss

2012-02-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

This a baseball article but the information can be used for any sport!
From the blog: The Baseball Zone

How to be Positive and Supportive After Losses or Poor Performance

For baseball players, maintaining confidence after a loss is always a big challenge. Athletes tend to be critical of their performance when they lose the game or don't play up to their own expectations.

Baseball parents can sometimes add "insult to injury" when they pick up on mistakes, get frustrated with their athletes' performance, or unknowingly punish kids with the silent treatment. As a baseball parent, it's important to understand the mental game challenges athletes face after a loss.

Here are the top five tips for being supportive after a loss:

1. The goal is to help your athletes maintain confidence or improve confidence after each performance. Focus on what they are doing well instead of harping on mistakes.

2. Pick out two things about your kids' performance that you can compliment them on--even if they lost the game. For example, you might say, "You looked really good on the bases today."

3. Your young kids can get very emotional after a loss. They might be frustrated, angry, upset and down about the loss. We recommend a cool off period of at least 30 minutes that will allow everybody's emotions to return to normal. Don't try to talk to your kids about games during this time. Kids will be more open to talking later when they are less upset.

4. Your kids' losses are not the end of the world. Remind your athletes that this is one game out of many games they will play in their sports careers. They will always have another chance to play. Help your athletes put the game in perspective.

5. Make sure your athletes understand no one is judging them or perceiving them as bad or weak people. Sports kids tend to equate self-worth with success in sports. You want to communicate to your kids that they are still good people on the inside if they lose or play poorly.

As a baseball parent, you have to keep your own expectations in check about your child's performance. Kids often get upset after losing because they feel they are disappointing or letting you down. No one can be perfect; no one can win all the time. Be careful that you don't place high expectations on your children about the results you want them to obtain.

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear from you on some of your own techniques you use with your children (or your players if you are a coach).

Jen Scorniaenchi BA, MS

Discussing the 'Letter of Intent'

2012-02-10T12:02:00.003-07:00

by WCHBlog on Feb 10, 2012 10:49 AM PST

Very Good College/Hockey Blog

It was reported earlier this week by Brad Schlossman that Paul Kelly and College Hockey Inc. are working with the NHL to create legislation that would prevent players from signing with the CHL for one full season once he signs his National Letter of Intent.

That set off another round of debate on both sides of the border, summed up nicely by Chris Peters at United States of Hockey. Always late to the party, I figured I would give my take as well.

First off, I should start by saying that I'm a huge fan of College Hockey Inc and the work that they're trying to do. I even like the idea of trying to hold players to commitments that they make. I'm just not sure that throwing all their weight behind something as flimsy as a National Letter of Intent is the way to do it.
The problem with the letter of intent is that players don't have to sign them. If this legislation passes, players will be have two options: Sign a letter of intent limiting them to playing college hockey the following season, or don't sign it and leave their options open.

There is the possibility that once a signing period comes and goes a player chooses to not sign, the school would withdraw his scholarship, but in all honesty, what are the odds of that happening with the type of players this legislation was intended for? As a hypothetical, do you really think Michigan would pull their scholarship offer from Jacob Trouba if he had chosen not sign a letter of intent this past fall? Is there a team in the country that would pass on a verbal commitment from Seth Jones just because he wanted to wait on signing a letter of intent? Probably not. So where does that get us? Pretty much the same place we are now.
It might work toward fleshing out the true intentions of certain players. I can think of players that have signed Letters of Intent, even though it's questionable that they play college hockey next season. But I also doubt the teams those players have committed to are completely in the dark about that possibility. And what about players like Stefan Matteau, whose decommitment was very heavily based on being traded to a specific team in the QMJHL? There's just not a lot of advantage to be gained by a player limiting their options like that a year in advance.

And all of this ignores the fact that many of the players breaking their letters of intent already are doing so because they signed an NHL contract. Would the NHL allow the NCAA to say that the NHL can't sign their players for a year after drafting them? That seems unlikely, and if that happened, probably wouldn't have a desired effect. The NHL already favors the CHL a bit because they have more control and flexibility with their prospects. This would just push that pendulum farther.

The other stuff about allowing CHL players to play in the NCAA is still a non-starter. Having prospective student-athletes play in a league where it is in that league's best interest not to have players eligible for NCAA hockey is a dangerous situation. Given Dave Hakstol's highly principled "the rules should be whatever benefits me most" stance(He doesn't want to lose players in the summer because recruiting a new player is hard, but he wants to steal other teams' recruits so they have to recruit late in the summer. Seriously, shut both sides of the mouth you're talking out of) he'd likely be the first to cry when a player of dubious eligibility scored against his team.

And how much benefit would that actually be? Would 18 and 19 year old draft picks leave the CHL to play in the NCAA, or would they just get 20-year-old leftovers that have run out of junior eligibility? That would do absolutely nothing for college hockey in terms of prestige and help cut the legs out from the momentous progress USA Hockey has made in recent years with the development of their junior leagues. It's just an all-around bad idea for college hockey, and hopefully one that never happens.