Summer is a great time for players to focus on improving their individual skills. Going to camps, clinics, working out in your driveway and even competing on tournament teams, can be great places for individual skill improvement.
For teams with a low turnover from the year before, and middle or high school teams, activites for team building can become memorable experiences. Moreover, you can incorporate skill work as well as strength and conditioning.
Here is a list of activities my High School team is planning on doing-
Do things that are fun, different and incorporate everyone!
Here are other ideas to consider...
* Team Cookout/ BBQ
* Paintball/ Laser Tag
* Guest Speakers
* Day at an Elite Training Facility or Speed School
* Team Open Hockey or Stick & Puck
* Sleep Away Camps or Going to a Big- Name Clinic together
This summer I am putting together two teams, a Squirt (2003/2004) and Pee Wee (2002/2001) age group, composed of Central New Hampshire players to train for a month, and
then go compete in a showcase tournament in Exeter, NH. Given
that they take up the ice at the Laconia Ice Arena from April to August, the
idea is provide an alternative to hanging up the equipment for this aged group of players in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Moreover, the team will get
advanced training and coaching in a fun and competitive environment, so that they can prepare for their Fall & Winter Seasons.
Each
participant gets:
* 4 weeks of on/off ice training sessions at Plymouth State Rink (4
consecutive Wednesdays)
* One 1 on 1 private skill training session on synthetic ice
* Team Jersey
* Participation in the Summer Showdown AA tournament in Exeter, NH
Scoring Concepts hockey clinics is holding 8 weeks of skill clinics at Plymouth State University Ice Rink each wednesday night starting in July and running through August. The dates are: July 3, 10, 17, 24,31 & August 7, 14, 21, and start at 6:30pm and end at 745pm. Cost is 30$ per session and has no pre-registration, simply pay at the door each night you attend. Focus will be a half and half setting...Speed Training for the 1st 45minutes and advanced Puck Skills the 2nd 45minutes.
Plymouth State University rink is located at: 129 Nh Route 175A Holderness, NH 03245
It is one of the best NCAA Division III facilities in the country, and Scoring Concepts has had the privilege for the last year to house it clinics there...
Keys to a good slapshot come from your mechanics and technique. Tiger Woods is a skinny guy, but can hit a golf ball 400 yards. The same thing goes in a slap shot - it's all about driving your hips and shifting your weight. So no matter what size you are, if you can master the fundamentals of a good slap shot, then you will be a nightmare for opposing goalies!
Slap Shot- Process
Position the puck four to six inches behind your front foot. Make sure the puck is far enough from your body so you have room to comfortably hit it.
When you wind up the stick, always keep your right arm straight (or your left arm if you are left handed). Your weight should be on your back leg.
As you drive your stick to hit the puck, lean into the shot driving your hips and shifting your weight onto your opposite leg.
Swing hard and quick and your stick should strike the ice, an inch or two inches before the puck. This will give the puck some lift when you hit it.
Strike the puck in the middle of your blade. Like hit a baseball, this is the "sweet spot".
Make sure to follow through and roll your wrists over after you hit the puck.
On the follow through, make sure you are pointing at the target and resume a balanced position with your weight fully transferred on your front leg.
Al MacInnis was a master and is an NHL Hall of Famer...
So far the Synthetic Ice facility at 349 Morrill Street in Gilford is off to a great start, as kids of all ages and abilities are signing up to train.
Each session is 45 minutes in length and has been focused solely on the synthetic ice component of the facility. As the weather gets warmer I anticipate utilizing dryland training, the weight lifting portion and an outdoor shooting range to be more prominently used.
Some of the highlights of the synthetic ice training have been:
+ The circuit training model- devoting 15 minutes each to powerskating, puck skills, and then shooting. Kids don't get bored or frustrated with one activity. Instead, they give their best attempt, pick up details, and then move onto the next activity. By tracking their progress (like a personal trainer would do at the gym) we can go back and perfect the activities that need the greatest work.
+ Out of season usage- The ice is already up at the Laconia Ice Arena, Arthur Tilton and the Pop Whalen rink. Local kids (Gilford, Laconia, Belmont, Gilmanton, Alton, and Tilton) would have to travel a minimum of 30-45minutes to be able to use traditional ice. That being the situation, I have people reaching out to me to prepare their kids for upcoming showcases, tryouts, and select teams, by training on the closest facility they can....
+ Video Analysis- Because this is done in a 1 on 1 setting, I have been able to record parts or portions of the student completing drills, then immediately show them the their performance doing the drills by using my Cisco Flip Camera. This is easily utilized in skating stride analysis and shooting technique.
Far too often emotional changes within a player or throughout a team, dictate the whether a team wins or loses. Managing both success and failure can be difficult. Yet, oftentimes it is the psychology of your team that determines its ultimate success.
1. Self- Confidence
2. Risk- takers
3. Unafraid of hard work
4. Determination
5. Patience
One of the prime traits that I try to impart of the teams I coach is to be willing to fail. Winners have to live with the fact that failure is inevitable. We might fail a test, we might make a bad decision, and we might come up short. But winners also realize that failure is a learning lesson and not an ultimate defeat. We learn more by failing than winning because failing shows us how to win. Winners learn from their mistakes—and profit from them.
After my teams State Quarter Final loss this past Saturday I tried to have them reflect upon all their successes from this past season... The overtime wins, the most wins in 10 years, the first time in 10 seasons they got past the 1st round of the state tournament.... And have them focus on the learning part of the defeat. How they played the defending state champion, who competes in championship games each season, and how we could learn from this experience and apply it to our future seasons.
Losing sucks. It's awful. Ultimately though... the more you learn from it, and the harder you work to overcome it, the greater your success will be.
Published in 1983, Ken Dryden's chronicle of a career with the Montreal Canadiens is the ultmiate sports memior. Often called the best hockey book ever, and deservedly so.
2. Coach: The Pat Burns Story by Rose Dimanno
Pat Burns was one of the great NHL coaches. He worked with the Montreal
Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils, and seemed
always to enjoy instant success, including coaching the New Jersey Devils to a Stanley Cup victory in 2003. Cancer--his third
bout--finally claimed him in 2010, aged 58.
3. Gretzky: An Autobiography by Rick Reilly
4. Laura Stamm PowerSkating by Laura Stamm
A detailed analytical read covering her entrie skating philosophy. Deeply detailed with accompanying drills
5. Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey by Douglas Hunter
Convers everything from Bowman's playing days up to his first Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings.
6. Ultimate Hockey Drill Book- Vol 1, 2 & 3 by Rick Trimble
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