Knock kneed, skating on railroad tracks one gear, all show no go; all typical phrases you hear around the rink reference to a skating stride. Whether you are Scotty Bowman, or Volunteer coach Bob, it doesn’t matter how you word it, skating stride development issues can be broken down into 5 main areas:

Skating Stride Development Spectrum

1) Knee Bend (or lack of knee bend)
2) Lengthening (or short and choppy)
3) Lateral Direction (or straight behind)
4) Toe-snap (or kicking up and behind the body)
5) Efficient recovery (or lack of recovery momentum)

Knee Bend: A player with poor skating posture isn’t hard to spot. Just look for “Johnny straight legs”, you know the guy who pushes from the butt muscle and forgets that his knees can actually bend, loading the quadriceps with all kinds of useful power! Skating stride development should begin with proper stance and comfort in a deep knee bend position. This allows the hip to let the leg come out more laterally, maximizing the amount of tim

e a skate makes contact with the ice during a skating stride!

Lengthening: A skating stride, like a swimming stroke, must be as long as possible. A short choppy skating  stride is no different then the doggy paddle! The skate needs to make contact (transffering potential energy from the quadriceps) for as long as possible!

Lateral Direction: Hand in hand with the length of a stride, a skate blade will make contact with the ice a lot longer if the leg is pushed out laterally, instead of straight back. This isn’t saying that straight to the side is always optimal, the optimal skating stride hip angle  is as unique to a skater as their own finger prints.  A skating stride  is more of a zig-zag pattern then a pair of straight linear lines.

Optimal skating stride hip angle is as unique to a skater as their own finger prints!

Toe-snap: The most underrated skating stride component is the toe-snap. Like all “critical instant” components of sport skills, it is often overrated, because it is the hardest (and most painful to work on). Most of the force produced by the quads is lost without finishing a skating stride with a toe-snap!

Efficient Recovery: This goes hand-in-hand with the toe snap phase of a skating stride! Snapping the toe cause a momentum force aimed back toward the mid-line of the body. This cause the leg to whip back under the body q lot quicker, getting set for the next skating stride!

So you are looking to make the jump, you read the post about how not to get cut and you are wondering if there is any magical formula to making a team. Well then, you are definitely reading the right blog post! I’m going to take you through the

Top 5 Must Do’s for the 2012 GTHL Tryouts!

1) Grab the 2012 GTHL TryOuts Issue:

As of Monday April 9th, every rink in the GTA received a fat ol’ stack of newspapers that feature all 2012 GTHL Tryouts. This will be the starting point for your quest to find the “greener grass” or simply get an idea of who’s who at any level. This is a great resource to use to make a few calls to get a feel for how many spots are available.

2) Be up-to-date on the latest hockey gossip

There are many great resources out there to get an idea of what teams are looking for spots to be filled and more specifically what positions. There are some great resources to stop you from having to call through the entire list of coaches, but be weary about ones like Network 54, which have more pot stirrers spewing out nonsense than anything else.

3) Be cordial on the phone:

When calling a coach, always start with where your son played and keep your questions simple and straight forward. Beating around the bush or trying to hide the fact that they played “A” last year won’t get you anywhere. Keep it simple: are there any spots, if so what positions (never ask how many, or who else they have coming to the team), are there any skates you can go to ahead of the try-outs to see how he measures up. This call is to gather information, not try to sell your kid.

4) Go to a try-out for that particular team only

Sometimes there are multiple teams trying out on the same nights, at the same multiple pad facilities. The worst thing you can do is sign in at one try-out then walk across and go talk to the coaches from the other teams. Go with one team in mind no matter how tempting. If you don’t make the cut, then venture across and explore other options.

5) Let your kid do the talking

Good coaches will always place emphasis on how a player carries himself. On the ice, make sure to not pace up and down, make hand gestures to skate harder or bang on the glass. Pay as much attention to your body language as you can and look as non-psycho as possible. Off the ice, it’s great to encourage your son to introduce himself to the coach. You would be amazed at how a “look-in-the-eye” introduction with a firm handshake can make a player stand out. After the tryout, make sure your son goes up to the coaches to thank them for the opportunity to skate. Also, never, never carry your kids bag to the dressing room. Nothing says “Bush League” more than walking your kids bag into the room, or bringing them dressed to the try-out.

These are just a few of the many tips there are out there for a success in the 2012 GTHL tryouts. Making the cut isn’t always easy, especially when trying to jump a level, but acting the part can sometimes be half the battle.

Stride 

The number one request I get from parents in terms of private lessons is to work on their son or daughters stride. With the right analysis any stride can be corrected, but a coach needs to be mindful of a child’s body type and careful not to try to force them to look like “the ideal skater”. Chasing after this is a waste of time because there is no such thing. Sure some skaters are more fluid than others, but you can’t force the tall lanky kid to look like “Sidney” out there. Every coach should aim to develop an efficient skater with the tools they have been given (body type, fitness level, knowledge and experience) with proficiency as the ultimate goal.

Hockey Stride: Where to start

So many development coaches out there start tackling stride issues by picking a few show stoppers out of their bag of tricks… ones they did as a player, neat ones they’ve seen someone else doing with a group of kids, and although these might prove useful later, random drills equals random results! Skill development, especially in they area of the stride, needs to be strategic and begin with diagnostic testing. No serious development with a player should begin without an understanding of where the player has been and where they are currently at. So start with a quick diagnostic test and the results themselves will point you in the right direction!

Start the Stride Session with a Quick interview

This doesn’t have to be formal, or pen and paper. It can be a simple conversation with the parent and player while getting dressed prior to

the first lesson. Seek to get specific information… when they started skating, which instructors they have skated with and general strengths and weaknesses. The one thing a lot of coaches make the mistake of doing is only asking the parents these initial questions. You can get a lot of information about the player from the way THEY answer the questions themselves. Body language, eye contact and overall enthusiasm will let you know how hard or easy it will be to ignite a spark out there!

Stride Development Step 2: Fitness test

I know, I know, you see fitness test and all of a sudden figure you have to bring in the fat calipers and VO2 Max Equipment, but in this case, no equipment needed. Just a few simple things in the dressing room can give you a good indication of what the player is capable of right from the start! Before the player starts putting on their equipment ask them to do the following 3 exercises:

1) Heel Touches: Standing with feet more than shoulder width apart, get the player to reach back and try to touch the backs of their heels WITHOUT LETTING THEIR HEELS OFF THE FLOOR. An awkward movement but an unbelievable indicator of core strength, extension and flexibility; 3 of the most important factors in stride power!

2) Squat and Stand: With arms raised at shoulder level, ask the player to sit in the lowest possible squat position. Look for how straight they can keep their back in the process and whether or not the hips invert and knees cave in and knock together. Low squatting points to great range of motion, and the ability to do so without knocking knees, points to strong hip and outer quad muscles which are important to maintain “stride posture”. Once they get as low as possible, you can get a great indication of abdominal strength by asking them to raise the hands above the head and stand up SLOWLY. Proper stride posture is not possible without solid ab strength.

3) Body type/Gait analysis

Just have a look at the player and decide whether they are an: Ectomorph (tall, thin, lanky), Mesomorph (broad shoulders, muscle bulk, large rib cage, stalky legs) or Endomorph(narrow shoulder, less muscle tone, large hips, higher fat content). Chances are they will be a combination of 2 of these body types and you will be more alert to what athletic abilities you may be working with.

Once you decide this, ask them to walk across the dressing room floor in their socks and take note whether they walk primarily on their heels or toes, and pay attention to the integrity of their foot arch as they step. Players with collapsed arches and flat feet usually have a greater difficulty supporting stride extension and snapping the toe at the end, which ultimately results in poor recovery

P.S. Record what you see, not only does it make you look credible, you may need it to refer to later.

Once you have done all of these tests, you are ready to step on the ice and continue with the diagnostics. Tune in next time and we can go over some great on ice diagnostic exercises!

So you want to get your kid to the next level! Or Maybe you are tired of finishing seasons with a 2-28-1 record and are looking to tag on with one of the top tier teams. It’s a tough situation because you know your kid is unbelieveably skilled and have been there game in and game out to witness all the things he does right, but how do you make a coach who has never seen him believe you?

Hockey Tryouts: How not to Approach Them!

NEVER use the phrase “Not ’cause it’s my kid or anything but…” – Do people thing this phrase actually attracts attention to whatever a person is saying next? Really? Talk about discrediting whatever you have left to say. The minute you utter this, you can just hear the coaches brain say “Uh-huh, not cause it’s your kid at all!”

NEVER, NEVER bad-mouth your son’s current team – There’s no worse way  to approach a hockey tryout  with a new team than to bash where he came from. The minute you do this, most coaches are already alerted to investigate how many team jackets you’ve collected in how many years. There’s no better way to alert a coach to a potential parent that causes internal strife than to bash the current situation and put your kid above it!

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER send a schedule of his games more than once- Some coaches have great intentions and some  use the “Send me a schedule of his upcoming games” as a way to let a parent down easy! Either way, if you send the schedule of games, there is never any reason to follow up. If you’ve given your phone number to someone you find attractive at a bar and they haven’t called you back, what are they trying to tell you? A hockey tryout situation is no different! If a coach really wants to make it a priority to watch one of the games, HE WILL! Either way, never sit back and wait for a coach to call back. I use the 6 day rule: 6 days with no contact = no interest.

Hockey Tryouts: How to Not Look Like an Insane Parent

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER send a resume – Nothing says I’m a nut-bar than a 3 page resume outlining EVERYTHING your kid does right out there. Most qualified coaches can make those decisions themselves, and if you don’ t think so, then why are you asking to bring your kid there in the first place. What a way to get on the coaches good side right off the bat than to insult their intelligence!

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER send a video – Honestly, you might as well walk around the rink with a blinking sign on your forehead saying “I’m a raving lunatic”! A video? For real there mom and dad? The fact that you would take the time (or better yet pay someone) to put your 9 year old son’s games clips to Megadeth or Pantera says a lot about your parenting outlook… PSYCHO!!!!

Concussion prevention

Teaching kids to feel the puck from the moment they first start stick handling is the first step toward preventing concussions later on in their careers. It may seem like common sense that ll coaches would teach players how to stick handle, but just walk into a novice house league practice and watch the dozen-or-so kids on their knees playing with the snow on the ice while 5 of their teammates work on breakouts or face offs with their coaches. Fact is fact… most volunteer coaches look at stick handling as moving the stick side to side over the puck. Once they see that a player can generally do this, they move on to what they feel their job as a coach is… to teach “the game”, positional play and team concepts. This however is far from the truth, as skill development should never be rushed, especially something as important as getting a proper feel of the puck.

Concussion prevention at it’s most basic level, begins with rolling the wrists and developing a feel for the puck that translates into a  greater capacity to scan the ice for potential threats in later years. In other words, a “a head that’s up, is a head that’s not smashing into the boards!”

Most coaches would argue that skill development is done outside of the team’s practice, “there’s just way to much to cover to get the kids to play as a cohesive unit” I remember one minor atom coach telling me! Can you imagine if that was the dominating philosophy in education “Sorry, gotta get a tutor to teach your kid how to add, just not enough time in the day”…ridiculous! Many coaches feel intimidated with the mere thought of coaching skill development because they aren’t sure what progressions to use or where to start.  Bottom line is that if kids feel the puck by rolling their wrists, they don’t need to look down to know it’s there. As kids roll their wrists, they also learn to be softer picking up pucks off passes. One of the leading causes of injury is having to reach or chase after a mishandled puck. Absorb the energy of the puck, make it part of you, keep it with you… don’t get injured.

Does Concussion Prevention start at home?

Not totally, but to some degree it can! Through private lessons, or at home development devices, a parent can

substantially increase skill and decrease the chance that their child can get injured!

One home device that I think will become instrumental in concussion prevention is the Quickstickz product. A home video game style device where the

controller is a specialized stickhandling ball that is tracked by an infrared camera. check out the video below:

I had purchased one and after realizing that a few drills had

gone by and I had not looked down once, it dawned on me… “this has to be one of the best concussion prevention tools out there”.

There are drills as well as classic games like Arkanoid, where you are forced to constantly scan whats in front of you while rolling the wrists. Click on the Quickstickz camera and ball to be taken to the Quickstickz website (definitely worth a look).

This isn’t the only device that’s out there, it’s just a matter of sifting through the ones that actually work, but combining home practice devices with a well informed coach is the best pathway toward concussion prevention. For other tips and concussion related advice, coaches and parents can also visit stopconcussions.com be clicking on the logo.

Go into any rink and you will see a similar pattern, dismal faces on hockey parents that should be at the rink to be social and enjoy watching their children grow through the great sport of hockey. Perhaps they are genuinely trying to enjoy themselves in a sport with so much uncertainty in the area of safety. It’s tough to smile when shift by shift, there is a high probability your little “Johnny” could get badly injured.

Looking at the recent media frenzy around hockey concussions, it is easy to see that the incidence of head injuries in hockey is definitely on the rise. But a deeper look into the issue points at a definite paradigm shift in how we feel about our national past time.

Rock ‘em Sock ‘em sales are down, people have tried on more than one occasion to lynch Don Cherry; times are definitely changing! There is a pretty strong uprising of parents and fans that believe hockey needs to be safer. Body contact had been changed from 9 to 11 years of age, there’s been talk of taking fighting out of the game, and now the media frenzy is on protecting players against concussions! The stories definitely don’t start or end with Ethan Thompson and Zachary Ace Nuttall, 2 young players who’s hockey concussions were featured in the Toronto Star. There are players all over the country who are experiencing symptoms and being diagnosed weekly! Facts are facts: people want change, but there is no need to panic. Injury has no place in the game, but as with everything there is always an element of risk.  The key is not to overall the game, but to find ways to minimize the element of risk.

Perhaps minimizing this comes in the form of improved body contact clinics in the critical Atom-Minor Peewee transition years. Maybe it involves a deeper focus on getting the associations to better train their coaches! Either way, we are interested in hearing FROM YOU AS TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE THE NEXT STEP WILL BE!

HOCKEY CONCUSSIONS: HOW DO WE MINIMIZE THE RISK WITHOUT CHANGING THE GAME?

Anyone that has coached minor hockey has faced that win-at-all-cost coach that is the best gate opener in the league, watching his one or two ringers literally win him hockey games at will! You know the one that would rather hang one or 2 kids in the neutral zone for the easy breakaway goal, then actually teach them how to play defensively, earn posession and come out of the zone as a cohesive unit. Rover, stretch-man, floater, whatever you want to call it, it is one of the most frustrating hockey systems to coach against! When watching a Kessel goal from the Leaf’s game against the Jets the other night, you can see that although it is definitely frustrating, it’s not impossible to defend against.

If you watch the video clip of the game you can see it was an error in judgingpuck possession that allowed Kessel to spring the zone undetected. Instead of erring on the side of caution and staying on the defensive side of the puck, the Jets forward over commits to a potential cycle. By the time he realizes that the leafs have come out of the battle with the puck, it is too late, the Jets have 3 men caught low and Lupul brilliantly uses the boards and Kessy is off to the races.

4 Critical Components to Defeating Rover-Style Hockey Systems

Remember: Hockey systems always depend on whether or not your players buy into them!

Coaching hockey isn’t easy!

Getting a minor hockey team to buy into a “Passing Team Concept” based on puck movement can be nearly impossible!  It’s especially hard when a team  is in the upper tier and made up of the better players in the league. Every parent wants to see their kid dangle, snipe and celly, no doubt. Next to crack, I’m not sure what other feeling is more addictive than watching little junior go end to end and bury it. But long term, this is far from what the game is actually all about. So how do we balance out coaching hockey to develop creativity, managing over zealous parental expectations and actually teaching children how to share the puck…

4 Tips to Develop a Passing Team Concept When Coaching Hockey

1) Coaching hockey to get parents on side

A lot of new coaches think that coaching hockey is all about teaching the game and relating to youth,  but the truth is, it’s more about managing parental expectations; the root of which lies in communication. The hardest of all your obstacles as a coach will be getting parents to understand the true nature of the game as a team sport. Nothing showed this more than Sammy Gagner’s 8 point night! Although the feat would stand as an individual accomplishment, EVERY player on that Oiler’s team banded together to help him attain it! The success of the individual is based on the effort of the whole. Unfortunately, just highlighting examples like this won’t do it for some of those wiley parents out there.  There needs to be a real effort to communicate with parents that is frequent, open and specific (to the point). Coaches can try:

1.  Weekly “Coaches Corner” type emails, outlining where the team is at and where the coaching staff would like them to be in the next little while.
2. Monthly “Town Hall” open forums where parents can openly ask questions, make comments or address concerns.
3. “Parent Practices”- Every few practices parents can volunteer to come on the ice and run a few drills of their choice (Coach approved of course)

A lot of coaches shy away from the parents, refusing to socialize or talk to them. This style of coaching hockey open’s up an ego driven, “I know more than you” battle that is impossible to win… remember it’s 16×2= 32(parents)  to 1 (coach) in most cases!

2) Working on the basics

Let’s face it, most coaches coach how they were last coached. We’ve all seen it, the young bucking bronco coach fresh out of a Junior or Semi-Pro career, on a crusade to make sure no careers will ever be cut as short as like his . You know the one that dazzles crowds with the 3 on 2 re-group drills with 7 year olds! Unfortunately, they need to realize, it’s not about “look what I can get kids to do”, it’s a sport that requires kids to aquire certain skill sets at the various levels along the way! Most of the time, coaching hockey at young ages, is about repetition and simplicity! 2 principles hold true in this regard:

1. There is no need to re-invent the wheel
2. It takes 10,000 hours to master a skill… repetition is their greatest teacher
   A.K.A. Keep it simple stupid

3) Nothing moves faster than the puck

 It only takes a few races against a puck in practice to realize this. Add a few video examples of how one pass can beat 3 players,  and how the quicker you move the puck, the quicker you get it back and it won’t be long before the players and parents start to enjoy a whole different type of hockey.

4) Understanding the one-touch- All young players have played hot potato in kindergarten, so it’s not hard for them to understand the move it as quick as you get it mentality. Not only will it teach them to have their heads up scanning the ice for potential targets, but it will teach the players that want the puck to keep their feet moving and skate into openings.

Coaching hockey with an emphasis on puck movement is a true testament to a coaches effort to continually communicate with parents and teach the game properly. If you are or have a coach that does this already, let them know their efforts are appreciates, if not, don’t be afraid to make suggestions.

Until next time…

Passing Properly Prolongs Careers

Passing Incorrectly Spells

Disaster

What’s the big deal about passing anyway?

We all remember being tyke hockey players and having our coach in skin tight jeans barking at us to give the passer a target. Those of us fortunate enough to have a somewhat knowledgeable coach also remember repeating drills over and over again whenever we didn’t use our backhands when we should have… for a great reason.

Passing incorrectly is one of the biggest risk factors in the game today!

3 Reasons Why Passing Properly Prolongs Career (Say that 5 times fast!)

1) Risk of being picked off- that’s right showing forehand when you can easily make a little lateral chip to a teammate tells everyone in the rink “Hey. I’m going to pass the puck right now!” Nothing like doing that in front of a hungry Brian Marchand huh Tyler Myers? Check out this pic

Tyler is trying to move the puck to his right winger and Marchand is right there to thank him for making it obvious An Overhead view shows just how obvious the pas really was! Its almost ironic that later on Horton uses the forehand to “fake-telegraph” a pass so that he can bury it past Miller unexpectedly. This is a general rule of thumb: When you have the puck, never show forehand

unless you are trying to fake a pass and are really going to shoot!

2) Passing the wrong way, opens you up to potential injury

If we go back  to Horton’s goal for a second, let’s imagine he didn’t fake the D out of his pants and that he actually stayed in position. You can only imagine the new “Horton” board advertising if the D were to suddenly put on the breaks and step for a hit while Nathan was in that vulnerable position?

3) Your options are limited

Once you have the puck cocked in a forehand position, there is no return. There is absolutely no way of getting out of it. either dish to that side or shoot, but you’ll never be able to move it up ice the other way.

There you have it kids, lesson of the day: You got a backhand? Use it!

One of the worst habits I see in hockey, are players blistering down the boards, getting ready to shoot and doing the old “Dog Peeing on a Hydrant” pose. Shooting with one leg up in the air, leaning away from the net might feel cool, but it is the total opposite of effective. Here are the top 5 reasons why we gotta trade in the “One-Leggers” and start improving shooting!

1) Shooting like this looks absolutely ridiculous- That’s right, shooting off one leg, leaning away from the target is the most  unnatural pose for anyone attempting to score a goal. How people end up this way in the first place is beyond me, but why would anyone want to be all “Everybody was Kung-Fu Fight-ing” on a 1 on 1. The only hope you have is if both the D and Goalie buckle to the ice in laughter leaving an open lane to a vacant net!

2) Where’s the torque? – Really, imagine trying to hit a baseball on one leg… the ball might, just might make it past the pitcher! Without getting too scientific, you need to invert the hip of the lead leg in order to allow for the explossive eversion necessary to start the shot! So a left handed player shooting on the net shouldn’t start by turning  with all the pressure on the left leg as the centrifical force will cause the dog peeing on the hydrant pose (weird Yoga huh)! If the weigh is evenly distributed on the legs, and the player consciously brings the right leg around to cock the right hip, the result will be nothing short of an absolute howitzer! It feels unnatural for the first few times, but name one thing done properly that doesn’t feel unnatural when starting out!

3) It’s a one way ticket to Lights-Outs-Ville -With all the media attention on concussions,

Johnny -one-legger about to become dinner for a hungry defenceman!

the message is clear… do whatever it takes to be aware, alert andstop concussions! Lifting one leg up in the air is the furthest from a position that will allow you to brace yourself when that D steps up to finish the hit. Bringing the front leg around when shooting not only adds 85% more power to the shot, it puts you perpendicular to oncoming contact and puts your front shoulder in the best position to take the brunt of the impact!

4) Where’s the element of surprise? - Sun Tzu would surely be disappointed. The object of a shot is to not let the goalie know when it is coming right? Well, if you are going to lift your leg in the air before a shot, you might as well just put a bow on it and hand it to the tender! These are vital hockey skills everyone. Shooting can lead to a goal, but it can also lead to an unnecessary injury!

Not all shots off one leg are wrong… just have to make sure your momentum is still going forward and that you aren’t leaning away from the net! Solution? Prepare to shoot ahead of time and position yourself so that you open up for a potential shot!