How to Recognize Burnout In Your Player
School, homework, chores, and family activities all take their toll on a young person’s time. Add in an active sports schedule and little time is left for downtime when kids can refresh and recharge their emotional batteries. Read more
How to Measure Your Return on Instruction
Parents must be able to see whether the instruction being given to their player is worthwhile and relevant. Here’s a quick test to see if the instructor/coach is prepared. Read more
Improve Performance with Player Homework
Because most coaches don’t assign “homework” after practices, players may come to believe that attending and working hard at practices are all it takes to become a great player. At younger ages, this might be true, but as age increases so does the need for players to take an active interest in their own training and development. Read more
Myth Busted: Yes, You Can Train Your Players Too Much
(By Brian Grasso) I have long supported the notion that the zeal many trainers and coaches show with respect to conducting high intensity training sessions for young athletes is akin to the unsure actor who feels a need to ‘over-do’ his or her role in a given appearance for fear that the audience may disapprove of his acting ability. Read more
How More ‘Play’ in Practice Can Help You Win Games
(By Brian Grasso) A common misconception within the North American youth sporting world is the concept of ‘play’ for conditioning purposes. All too often, well-intentioned youth sport coaches or trainers follow the leads established by the elite members of their respective sports to configure training programs and sessions into hard-driving sessions or ‘endless repetitions of one exercise’ type affairs. It cannot be overstated enough how much this practice is counterproductive and impedes the optimal development of young athletes. Let’s examine that from a variety of perspectives. Read more
Guarantee Better Play with Off-Ice Conditioning
Ice hockey is very physically demanding and tests a player’s stamina. It requires players to be in good health, be able to work very hard for short periods of time (anaerobic conditioning) and be able to recover quickly from physical activity (aerobic conditioning). What’s more, strength, quickness and agility are also desirable. Players must learn to develop their physical abilities in all areas. Read more
Learn to Be Another Gretzky. Is it Possible?
According to a recent article in Wired Magazine, Peter Vint, a researcher with the U.S. Olympic Committee says he believes athletic skills can be learned even to the Wayne Gretzky level of performance. Such talent has long been assumed to be innate. Read more
Age-Specific Training Guidelines Revealed
In recent years sports scientists have spoken out emphatically about the harmful effects of premature and over-intense athletic training of young children. Many complain that hockey programs for youngsters are too intense, competitions too many, seasons too long, emphasis on winning too great. Young children are pushed by parents and coaches to choose and specialize in the sport way before they are mature enough to do so. Up to the age of eight, children should enjoy a variety of fun and stimulating activities; they need to develop a broad base of movement skills. Intensive training and competition at too early an age inhibits the development of skills such as balance, agility, and coordination, and it prevents youngsters from learning other sports. Read more
