Slapshot Visualization Video

While a free download-able version of this video is/has been made available in the *Gifts category for the month of August, 2009, this entry will always remain available (although not in a downloadable format).  Still, many of the most popular gifts will be re-released at later dates.  Hey, as always, I want to respond to YOUR needs, YOUR requests.

-– Dennis Chighisola

Slapshot Visualization Video

Members might find it interesting that I’ve been using “visualization” techniques with my players for better than a decade, even though the value of these is just becoming known to — or appreciated by — the general population.  (Trust me:  There’s a lot of science to back-up the validity of visualization.)

In the earliest years I used audio to help my hockey school and team players envision carrying out their positional responsibilities — as goaltenders, defensemen, wingers or centermen.  “Mental imagery” it’s called, and this technique has been used by National and Olympic Teams the world over, and it’s been used by figure skaters, downhill skiers, weightlifters and numerous other world class athletes.  (By the way…  I hope to someday resurrect my old audio tapes, convert them to digital, and then make them available in the Gifts section.)

In more recent years broader media capabilities have given me the ability to mix both audio and video, this so my students or players can process the audio instructions while also watching a high level player demonstrate a given skill or tactic.  This has worked awesomely with my students in The MOTION Lab, as well as for the benefit of my Team NEHI players.  And I know this added method of training can do wonders for you.

That said, here’s your on-line version…

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As I suggest in the video, watching it — over and over again — is what will make a difference (a HUGE difference).  And if space permits, I advise members to copy the motions seen in the movie.  (For safety purposes, I have had players in the Lab use short stick-shafts for this purpose.  Learning seems to take hold, even though a regular stick and puck aren’t present.  That makes sense to me, however, since it’s the “motion” we’re trying to acquire.)

Using Your In-lines for Hockey Training

I think members are going to absolutely love this new area (and I’m kinda psyched at the prospects)!

What’s happened is that a local guy, 49-year old Jerry Z, recently contacted me to ask for help with his in-line skating.  After a brief get-together, Jerry and I decided to use his experiences — as a fairly new roller hockey player — to help CoachChic.com members (both in-liners and on-ice players).

As you’ll discover along the way, my new friend is REALLY new to skating — of any kind, so he wrestles a bit with his comfort over those wheels.  At the same time, though, he’s a really good sport — a nice guy, and he is seemingly willing to do the things I prescribe as “homework”.

Speaking of being a good sport and a nice guy…  I’m not sure we could find many volunteers out there to do this sort of thing.  I mean, Jerry has to be willing to look a little foolish at times in order to improve (and he is already making progress).  Worse yet, he has to do it in front of a whole bunch of new friends here at CoachChic.com.  My guess is that you all are going to learn to love him and to really appreciate his efforts.

As for a little background, Jerry tells me he’s always been a true hockey fan…

He played street hockey since about the time he was 8-years old, but he never played on any truly organized team or had any formal coaching through those early years.  I think typical beginner woes discouraged him from staying on the ice very long as a youngster, so he stuck to running on a floor or pavement — through middle and high school, in some youth programs, a few camps and clinics, in college intramurals, and then with some pick-up groups.  For about the past decade he’s participated mostly in deck hockey leagues (a formal version of street hockey), more recently skating with some in-line pick-up groups.

Of course, all that just sets the stage for where we are right now.  For, as you’ll see — and as he freely admits, Jerry struggles sometimes to keep-up with more experienced guys.  However, as you’ll also ultimately see, he is more than willing to endure the bumps, bruises and pains that come with paddling his way in a new sport.

That as our backdrop, I think a lot of members are going to learn from the way I troubleshoot Jerry’s problems.  And you ought to really enjoy seeing his progress.

As we head into this new venture, I also want members to keep a few important things in mind…

• Jerry’s main aim is to increase the amount of fun he’s having playing amid his roller hockey friends.  But then, isn’t that the reason all of us here are working on our playing, coaching or parenting skills?
• The only reason I took on this assignment is because Jerry seems a willing worker.  Actually, in just a week I’ve seen some improvement in the way he moves around the roller court, this I attribute to his doing the little homework challenges I’ve asked of him.
• As I hammer at in What Is A Practice Really For, a player has to be willing to stretch himself or herself in drills.  In other words, Jerry has to be willing to dare a bit — or to break through his current comfort zone.  And that is also something he seems more than willing to do.

I’ll tell you a lot more about Jerry Z as time goes along.  As you’ll soon discover he’s a great personality, and you’re going to be pretty impressed with what he does for work.

Finally, I don’t want all my “ice” hockey friends thinking there isn’t going to be a lot to gain from watching Jerry and I work together.  Almost everything I do with him is going to be transferable to the ice.  And, if you do as I and my Team NEHI players do, you’ll use your wheels as a means of awesome cross-training for the ice.

Offensive Face-off Plays

As you’ll discover over time, I make a big deal out of face-off plays.  And, although I’ll cover this statement in much more detail at another time, I almost view face-offs — particularly those held deep in either end zone — as I would soccer style free kicks.

For now, though, I believe every team should have a few offensive face-off plays.  As I’ll say in the video, there are numerous plays that could be worked down deep in your rivals’ zone.  At the same time, perfecting just a couple is probably a lot better than having a bunch of them that aren’t nearly as effective.

So, here are a few that have worked well for my teams…

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In hockey defense, know that “Sticks Score Goals!”

I hear you chuckling as your read that title.  Sure, everyone knows that hockey sticks are ultimately responsible for putting the puck in a net.  Yet, the following video is going to give you a better idea about why I make such a big deal out of such a simple premise.

You might also get a hint here about my (unique?) teaching method.  Because, despite all the things that go into preventing a rival player from scoring, I try to give my guys a very simple and clear end-goal to accomplish that.  Said yet another way, I’ve found that my players are ultimately able to measure their own successes or failures in this area because I’ve given them this clear cut responsibility.

Oh, by the way…  Member coaches should see a couple of drills I use to work on this “stick controlling” skill, and I highly recommend you borrow these for your practices…

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Where Do Hockey Drills Come From?

It must have been about 2- or 3-years ago when one of my Team NEHI assistants described something he’d seen on a newscast.  I guess the sports segment showed some clips of our local NHL hockey team, and then it highlighted the team’s new coach.  As my friend excitedly explained, the guy was being lauded by his players, mainly because of the way he made practices fun and interesting.  And I guess that pro coach was also credited with inventing a number of his own drills, including one my assistant saw and marveled at.

Now, I’m taking this all in, and I’m sort of smiling on the inside (hey, maybe I was even grinning on the outside).  No matter, I ultimately shared with my assistant the fact that I create drills all the time.  (More recently I’ve stated that I probably invent pretty close to a drill per week, although sometimes it’s only a drill per month.)

What I think really amazed my friend was the fact that anyone could just up and design a new drill — be it that NHL guy, yours truly, or anyone else.

Anyway, we were interrupted before too long, so I had to leave-off with a simple enough question, “Where do you think drills come from?”

That, of course, gives you and me a place to begin.  And, it also provides the opportunity for some spin-off examples this month, most notably in an entry whereby Todd Jacobson explains some drills he’s currently using with our Team NEHI goaltenders.

– Dennis Chighisola

Now, from this old coach’s perspective, new drill ideas frequently come about because there’s a problem.  Said yet another way, a new drill can be created to solve a difficulty one of our players — or most of our team — is experiencing.

New drills are also often devised to enhance a given individual skill.  In other words, we might invent a new skating drill because it will enhance that area for a player (or numerous players), and we could do the same to help him, her or them to be better puckhandlers, passers, receivers, shooters, checkers, etc.

For sure, long-time members know that I find a huge benefit to borrowing from other sports.  So, for example, I might study what high level sprint coaches are doing with their athletes, and subsequently adapt a drill or two that translates well to my guys’ work on skating speed.  I’ve further helped my players by borrowing footwork drills or ball handling drills from other team sports, I’ve found some tactical or strategy ideas in other sports that actually work well in hockey, and I’ve discovered plenty of conditioning or competitive type drills that are useful and appropriate for my use (so long as they meet the demands placed on ice hockey players).

I’m especially on the look-out for new training aid ideas.  Let’s face it:  Players love pitting their efforts against gadgets, and they’ll often go above and beyond their normal practice pace just to beat one.  Of course, cost is a factor with these — for all of us.  So, while I might purchase some training devices, I might be able to arrive at a homemade version that does the trick nicely, or I might be able to borrow from just the main concept of a great tool to achieve fairly similar training effects in another way.  (That might be the case with the first drill Todd introduces this month.)

An improvement in team play skills frequently calls for the use of an important principle of motor learning known as the Whole:Part Method (and so can this method be used to break-down and improve a rather complex individual skill).  As with other technical terms I use within these pages, have no fear; I’ll make it simple enough for anyone to understand…

A good example of this technique might be the breaking-down of a basic breakout play.  And in this example, the breakout represents our Whole.  Of course, something like passes exchanged — perhaps from a defenseman to a near winger to a centerman — will either work or not work, depending on execution.  So, this important motor learning principle suggests that each of the small Parts of a breakout could be practiced, vastly improved, and then put back together into a more efficient Whole.  That was the basis for my video on Basic Breakouts.  However, as you’ll notice in that video, I’ve gone quite a bit deeper, focusing on the goalie’s involvement and in his or her handling of the puck, a defenseman’s moves with a puck to avoid a forechecker, improved pass-receiving routes by the forwards, etc.  And one could get deeper and deeper into each tiny element of that play.  In fact, a coach (player or parent) could view just one of those examples as a Whole, break it down into smaller Parts, perfect those Parts, and then put them back together into a more proficient Whole.

Now, I’ll tell you how I often arrive at some of my new drill ideas — actually applying the about principle…

Please click-on this link for A New Hockey Drill Idea, then look over my shoulder to see a segment of video I’ve isolated on, or the Part I’m running over and over again.

As you might notice, the breakout is actually botched, and a defensive player coming down the middle intercepts the pass.

Something struck me about that play, causing me to make a drill out of the interception and the immediate problem faced by the puckcarrier.  In other words, he grabs the puck, and then quickly finds a defender right in his face.  (If you need to watch the video a number of times to see what I’m getting at, please do so.  Can you see how constantly re-running a short segment does sort of look like a drill?)

And that’s the new drill I’m going to soon put into my practices…  I’m going to place a line of forwards out near their offensive blue line, and I’m going to have another line of defenders ready off to one side.  As a coach tosses a free puck out in the vicinity of the first forward, he’ll quickly be pressured by the first guy in the defenders’ line.  To me, this is something that happens in a game, or something my puckcarriers frequently have to deal with.  So, why not practice it?

Oh, by the way…  I can already see potential for progressions to this drill.  As happened in the video, the guy who intercepted the pass was quickly joined by a teammate.  So, I’ll eventually do the same in the next step to this drill, having a second forward exit the line to — as quickly as possible — join the attack.

Just as an FYI here…  I honestly did just create this drill as I was preparing the current entry for you.  I grabbed the first game footage I could find, I ran it a number of times, and that interception kept jumping out at me.

Now, this entry happens to introduce two things I’d like to continue for awhile here at CoachChic.com.

The ability to open some of our videos in a new window is going to help me rush certain information to you.  In other words, rather than needing to spend the hours required to put an audio soundtrack to short clips that require only brief explanations, I can quickly shoot the video, upload it to a post for you to see, and do my explaining via the nearby text.  (Let me know if this works or doesn’t work for you, but the ability to do this is likely to mean tons more video for you.)

Finally, I know lots of members want me to do ALL of the work for them, including showing them EXACTLY how a drill should be run.  Oh, I’ll continue to do plenty of that.  At the same time, though, I sense I’m arming you all the more if I explain and show how you might either design your own drills, or slightly adapt other drills to better suit your specific needs.  (No, none of us are likely dealing with the exact same problems or talents, so it’s helpful that we have a sense of how to create some of our own drills.)  So, over coming days, weeks and months, look for more ideas in this area.  I’m getting psyched! 

– Dennis Chighisola

Analyzing the Forward Skating Stride

Now, despite the fact you may have heard something contrary to any of the points you’ll find in the following video, I assure you they are all scientifically based.

As a matter of fact, while there are a few so-called “powerskating” instructors out there who have their own (unfounded and unscientific) opionions on the mechanics of hockey skating, the most respected authorites in our sport espouse exactly what you’ll find here…

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The Mathematics of Stick Targets

I’m half joking about the above title.  I mean, you probably don’t believe we should have to get very technical about how to hold a stick blade when readying for a pass.  Yet, I find passes being muffed so often that I feel compelled to get into this subject pretty deeply.  In fact, once or twice per season you’re likely to find me down on my hands and knees on the ice, holding a stick blade in various fashions, and explaining exactly what I’ll share right now…

If you’ll click this Stick Targets link, it’ll open a short video in a new window.  Go ahead, and please take a look…

It’s pretty common sense stuff, huh?  If the blade of a stick faces anything but perpendicular to the path of the coming pass, the puck is going to deflect away from the stick.  No if, ands or buts.  Nor is there any question that the puck has its best chance of sticking IF the blade faces directly at the oncoming puck.

It’s all obvious, right?  You know it and I know it.  Yet, a lot of players are forever carrying their stick blades lazily, with little regard for whether their targets are really facing the puck.  And, when a pass does go bouncing 8′ off their sticks, they just bang their sticks or shake their heads as if the hockey gods had let them down.  Ha, hardly.

As a brief aside here, I truly believe one of the biggest mistakes we coaches and parents can make is to ignore the obvious, or skip-over the very basics.  Again, you and I often know this kind of stuff.  But, we’re doing our players a huge disservice if we don’t make absolutely sure they know it too.

Oh, one other thing in reference to good stick targets…  If you can visualize a potential receiver travelling along and holding his or her stick blade any way other than perpendicular to the puck, there’s a good chance the guy or gal who wants to pass can’t really see the target.  In other words, with the blade held uncaringly at a drastic angle, the player with the puck is probably only seeing part of it.  On the other hand, the passer is sure to see where the receiver really wants the puck IF he or she shows the whole face of the blade.

The Best Hockey Shooting Advice I Can Offer

A number of great videos are included below…

I think it’s a good idea for a hockey player to practice his or her shots in a stationary position.  My players do it often, mainly to work on their mechanics.  At the same time, we all know that’s not exactly what conditions are like for them during the game action.

No, there’s little time to prettily prepare to shoot; actually there’s little time to do much of anything except to rip-it when the opportunity arises.

Complicating matters all the more for a wannabe shooter is the fact that he or she seldom gets to pull the trigger in a balanced position.  And, a lot of players even find themselves with a defender or two draped all over them.

So, with those extreme challenges in mind, I’ve created a number of ways to help my guys be able to fire a hard shot under almost any conditions.  In fact, a number of my more experienced players have scored goals from their knees, from their fannies, or with only their right or left hand gripping the stick.  (My very best long-time players can rip a puck with either hand.)

So, here are some clips of just a few drills I have my guys do in prepping to shoot under any sort of circumstances.  If you can appreciate it, I’m trying to build the players’ hand and forearm strength so that they can rocket a shot without having to be anchored or need much leverage…

1. Although my StickWag is guaranteed to put umph into anyone’s shot, I more recently came-up with a variation that REALLY burns the forearms and also gets the core muscles.  So, click the following link and take a look at how Up/Down StickWags work.
2. Long-time members know I like to gain variety in my players’ training by borrowing from other sports.  And that was the case with this real hand and forearm burner I’ll dub the Baseball Bar Wrestle.  As you’ll see in the video, the aim is to tip the heavy bar downward, then resist that downward movement in order to bring the tip back upward.  Again, the idea is to fight — or wrestle — the bar.
3. Talk about a great idea striking at an odd time…  I was moving some gear in The MOTION Lab a few weeks ago, and I happened to grab a pair of dumbells by their fattest parts.  Just this required more than a little grip strength.  From there I thought, “How about holding the weights in that manner, then wagging them up and down and around, much like we do with the StickWag?”  Ouch!  Take a look at these Dumbell Wags!  (FYI…  After trying it a few times in the manner shown, I now have my players alternate holding their fingers turned upward and downward.)
4. The last shot strengthening exercise (for now) is sort of a plyometrics one.  Shown below is a photo of a Team NEHI player heaving a tire as far as he can.  In order to get some distance, a player will usually draw it far back first, then come around quickly to really fling it.  And you can imagine the effort that’s required of the core muscles, and those involved in initiating a strong wrist shot.  By the way, the Tire Throw would also benefits baseball hitters and throwers, as well as those in other hitting and throwing sports.  (As much as any other exercise shown in these pages, all safety precautions must be taken.)

Would you believe…  Right as I was publishing this page, an unbelievable idea came to me for making #2 (the Baseball Bar Wrestle) even more challenging, and a lot more appropriate to what the drill is meant to do.  So, look forward to me making that new piece of gear, taking a few video clips, and showing it to you soon!

Creative Training Ideas for Goalers! Part 1

Inventing new drills being sort of a theme for this month, Todd Jacobson offers some truly great ideas here for things he’s currently doing with our Team NEHI goaltenders.  And, while goaltending isn’t really my area of expertise, refining movements surely is.  So, I’ll be adding a few of my own thoughts below (in italics).  This is awesome stuff.

– Dennis Chighisola

Creative Training Ideas for Goalers!  Part 1

By Todd Jacobson

As a player I grew up in Coach Chic’s camps in the early 1980’s, and one of my favorite things about attending the old coach’s programs was the creative and inexpensive yet very effective training aides he and his staff used.

Now, I know there are companies out there showing off some incredible training tools that can be great to use and very beneficial.  But I doubt many of us are able to shell out a few thousand dollars for something like an ice skating Hockey Treadmill.

My point is that there are so many ways to train effectively without spending money (or at least a lot of money). So below I am going to show you some off-ice exercises for goaltenders that are not only creative, but inexpensive or carry almost no cost at all.

Dennis’ Note:  A number of years ago I looked into a computer driven device that was a very pricey version of what Todd almost simulates in his first drill.  That very expensive gadget consisted of a large board mounted on a wall, with computer generated lights flashing all over its surface.  An athlete (or anyone needing quicker reactions) taps each light as it appears, and ultimately he or she gets a read-out on his or her success.  Of course, besides the price of that (I think) very worthwhile gadget, there’s the fact that it’s hardly portable.  On the other hand, anyone who works with goalers could surely afford and tote around the following Todd Jacobson creation…

#1 – Quick Hands Drill Before practices we have our NEHI goaltenders do a drill that works on quick hands, and it also forces them to think. I take 6 index cards and (with a thick marker) write 6 numbers on them (fairly large in size).  On the back of each card I apply two-sided tape, which makes it easy for me to arrange them on the glass (3 on the left side and 3 on the right).  (The distance and number pattern can be changed very easily by moving the cards to different spots.) Then, I have the goaltender, standing in the middle, quickly hit each number in sequence using only the hand that is on the side of the glass with the corresponding number. These cards are simple to make, and the drilling helps enhance hand quickness and multi-tasking (the pattern and the hand movements)…

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Dennis’ Note:  The great Soviet netminder, Tretiak, was known for performing some extremely challenging off-ice training routines, long before they became fashionable in North America.  Todd uses many of those exercises with our older goaltenders, but he has also developed some easier, lead-up drills to start the kids on their way to enhanced movements, coordination and reactions.  (As Todd implies, the drill described and shown below is just one of many our goalers do with tennis balls.)

#2 – Tennis Ball Movements At our first on-ice get together this summer I gave the goaltenders 3 tennis balls each. (Tennis balls aren’t that costly.  But, if you need a lot of them, know that local tennis clubs usually discard balls after only a little use.) Now, in the following video you’ll see one of my goalies doing a leg movement drill.  He’s first stepping to one side while tossing a tennis ball at the glass.  He then catches the ball with the same hand he threw with. I’ll have him do this consistently back and forth for about 20 to 30 seconds with reasonable rest provided between periods of work. (Our goalers learn to juggle tennis balls in the air as well, this to further help with their hand-eye coordination. Once the juggling skills get pretty good I add some movements, so that they have to juggle while squatting, balancing on one leg, etc.)…

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Yours in Hockey, Coach J.

Look for two more exercises to be unveiled soon by Todd as Part 2 in this series.

What Is A Hockey Practice Really For?

I can’t take credit for this truly mind stretching statement, but I long ago read something to the effect that, “What we refuse defines.”

Hmmmmmm…  “What we refuse defines us.”

As I recall, that was meant as advice for living a more fruitful life, as well as for expanding our business horizons.

My take on those words is that each of us has some inner fears that — either slightly or drastically? — limit our chances for growth.  But then, since my job here isn’t to advise members about their personal lives or their business approach, let me share with you how I believe this statement does apply to the way we work on our hockey game…

Over the past few months I’ve been watching some new Team NEHI members trying to blend with my long-time guys.  In most instances I see them pulling it off fairly well.  Yet at other times I’m noticing some kids holding back.  Yes, holding back.

As I’ve whispered to more than one long-time team parent, as we’ve watched new kids working within the group, “A number of them have come from youth programs where they weren’t exposed to a lot of new things.”  To put it a little harshly, they likely drifted through practices like zombies, mainly because they weren’t asked to really observe, listen or think.  In other words, they weren’t forced to learn or try many new skills, or they just weren’t challenged at all.

By the way…  In my kids’ case, I haven’t noticed anyone who doesn’t want to get better.  No, there are seemingly no problem players in the group, no bad attitudes, no “head cases”.

So, what IS the problem?  Well, this might just be where that “What we refuse defines us” philosophy comes in.  And it might also be where we have to ask ourselves a very important question — as in, “What is a hockey practice really for?”

Now, I’ve mentioned elsewhere that my late-dad was a long-time baseball coach, and a very successful one.  Better yet — at least to me, he was as great a philosopher as I’ve personally known.  So, in reference to the question at hand, dad would say, “Work hard in practice, then forget everything you learned once the game starts.”

It might take you a moment to digest that thought, but here’s my take…  Dad wanted his guys to play their games in a relaxed manner.  The worst thing in the world is for an athlete to tie himself or herself into knots — thinking negatively, or worrying about making mistakes (think The Law of Attraction here).  No, the best athletes tend to play “loosey-goosey”.  They’re not inhibited at all.  And, as Shaun Goodsell might suggest in our Mental Training section, a player must first have great confidence in his or her skills before the games can seem easy.

Beginning to put this all together, I believe that “What we refuse…” statement has an awful lot to do with the inner fears some kids have as they approach new skills.  I mean, a lot of kids worry about how they’ll look while performing a given drill, and that is not a good attitude to bring to practice.  When I see one of my players seemingly holding back, I’ll tell them about some of the NEHI-ers who came before them (many of those guys you’ve heard about or seen on TV), and I’ll share with my current kids the way those long ago players would laugh at themselves as they’d try something really wild.  The most successful ones didn’t hold back one iota.  In fact, they’d do what all successful athletes do — trying and failing at first, trying and almost getting it, trying and nailing it, and ultimately owning the new skill.

What I hope you’ll take away from the last paragraph is the fact that there’s a natural progression in mastering any new skill.  And it should make sense that one can’t get to the point of “owning” it without first “trying and failing, trying and almost getting it, trying and…”

My dad’s philosophy supports this.  For, while he wanted his guys to play the games without fear, he demanded that they practice hard and with purpose.  In a way, I’ll put a few words in his mouth, suggesting that, “One does not get the chance to play games with confidence UNLESS he or she has paid their dues at practice.”

So, what is a hockey practice REALLY for?  If I had to define it in one sentence, I’d say that, “The main aim of a practice is for a player to be just slightly more capable at the end than when he or she began.”

That in mind, practice is definitely not the place to hold back.  Yes, there are some parts of a given practice where form is important, and a player SHOULD be concerned about how he or she looks at those times.  But that’s not what I’m talking about here.  What this entry IS about are the times when a bit of stretching is required, or where there’s a need to overcome some inner fears, and thereby expand ones capabilities.  And for those times, I’ll suggest — as best one can, he or she should DARE to take-on each new challenge, thereby starting that all-important chain reaction — of trying and failing, trying and almost getting it, trying and…

A VERY Interesting Goalie Article

Good friend, Joe Coulter, just submitted an awesome article for the My Hockey Experiences section, and I believe goalies and even non-goalers alike are going to love it.  So, take a look when you get a chance — at “Goaltending — Canadian Style“!

Goaltending — Canadian Style

This is exactly the kind of article I’d envisioned when I first created this special area at CoachChic.com.  My good friend, Joe Coulter, shares with us some truly awesome past experiences, and he also adds a little bit of advice for fellow goaltenders.  So other members get to know him, let me briefly point-out that Joe works with numerous goalers on the South Shore of MA — at clinics and with a local high school girls’ team, he head coaches a local Mite team, and he also acts as an administrator with several youth hockey leagues.)  With that, I think everyone should really enjoy this one…

– Dennis Chighisola

GOALTENDING — CANADIAN STYLE

By Joe Coulter

Having grown up playing youth hockey in Toronto in the late 1960’s, and being a goalie, you learned very fast how to stay warm and limber.  Most of my games back then were played on outdoor rinks. Great ice, boards, blue lines, center ice and face-off circles, and of course benches.

I remember the chain link fences instead of glass, but what I remember most was the cold and the wind and the snow from a typical “Ontario winter”. I remember pucks that would disappear in the corners due to snow that had piled up. I remember players that would vanish from my sight due to the snow that was falling.

Every time there was a whistle or a line change I would venture out of my crease and go for a skate. I would use both face-off circles in my zone and skate out and around them and back into my net. I would go for a skate around my net and return to my crease. I found that my legs were comfortable and very limber when play would return to my zone. I was better prepared than the lone goalie standing in his net at the other end doing nothing between whistles.

As time moved on and more indoor rinks were being built, I continued this tradition of skating around the face off circles, or skating around my net or moving “post to post” or dropping down on both pads and getting up quickly. I found that in a very slow game or not a lot of action in my zone this practice made my legs and body very limber and when called upon I did my job!

So when you have the opportunity, with face-off in the opposing zone, line change or a whistle, move around, stay limber, stay warm, stay flexible. There is nothing worse for a goaltender, young or old, to see little or no action. What’s worse is a goalie that just stands in his/hers net, doesn’t move and when called upon, is stiff and cold and doesn’t do his/her job!

Thank you

No, thank you, Joe!  I know a lot of folks are going to enjoy that (and probably recall some similar memories of their own)!

– Dennis Chighisola

The Importance of a Good Warm-up

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place.  If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

– Lance Armstrong

The Importance of a Good Warm-up

By Scott Umberger

I recently read an interview with strength coach and power lifter Jeremy Frey.  Jeremy is a ridiculously strong man.  In a meet he has lifted the following: 1003-lb squat, a 771-lb bench, and a 804-lb deadlift with a 2579-lb total, which is second best in the world within the 242-lb class.

Jeremy stated that he has not experienced any serious injuries in his career.  That is unheard of in the power lifting world.  Let’s face it, if you lift heavy weights enough you will get injured over the course of 5 to 10 year career.

Jeremy strongly believes that his health is due to the fact that he properly warms up before every workout.

Other power lifters and gym goers warm up with 135-lbs for a set of 10, and then jump right into a workout.  And I personally hate spending time with mundane functional movement and corrective exercises.  They are mind numbing.  They are necessary, though.

One key to a proper warm up to work on your shortcomings as an athlete.  (No one is completely perfect.  Trust me, I haven’t found “perfect” in any of the thousands of athletes that I’ve worked with.)  The idea is to work towards fixing existing issues one day at a time.

I believe that Jeremy, being a very good collegiate strength and conditioning coach, understands the importance of increasing ones core temperature before touching a weight.   YOU NEED TO BE SWEATING BEFORE TOUCHING A PUCK, not to mention properly working on the mobility of your hips and shoulders.  After your body is warmed-up, then you should perform some of Coach Chic’s puckhandling drills to warm your hands up as well as spark your central nervous system (CNS).

Let’s face it, skating isn’t a natural motion.  It’s extremely hard on your hips.  If you’re a North American, you might have been brought-up to think that you need to skate everyday in the off season.  Think about it, though:  You spend 8 to 9 months during the season skating nearly everyday.  So, when do you give your body a chance to rest?   My recommendation:  Get off the ice and become a better athlete — like the Euro’s do! (Most kids can’t afford summer ice in Russia.  Yet, look at the kind of hockey players they turn-out!)

How about an athlete who never warms-up properly?  Or, what if you are an athlete who lacks flexibility and mobility, and  then does nothing to fix it?  I will guarantee you that if you play long enough, you will get injured to some degree.  Some injuries you can’t control.  However, many basic injuries (hips/shoulders/glutes/hamstrings) can be prevented by always pre-warming your body through a proper dynamic routine prior to playing and prior to practicing.

A good warm-up should last at least 15 to 20 minutes.  So, throw the IPod on, do your body a favor, and take care of it.  ALL of my high end hockey players have been taking care of their bodies and going through a scripted dynamic warm-up.  Now, I’m teaching the young ones to do it too.

Dennis Chighisola here, and I’m wondering if members noticed anything seemingly unusual about Scott’s description of a warm-up routine.  I mean, he described all exercises that involved movement, or as he labeled it, a “dynamic” routine.

Sample Static Stretch

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Nowhere in there did he suggest doing the “static” stretches we so often see local kids doing — like holding a set position for a time, then trying to stretch the affected muscle group.  The reason? It’s because Scott knows what most top trainers know today.

Now, I often brag a bit in these pages, mainly because I feel all of the writers at CoachChic.com are trying to arm you with the very latest in scientific information.  And, nothing can put you further ahead of others than what you’ll find on this page.

In trying to explain this in non-scientific terms, let me say that physiologists now believe that those generally prescribed static stretches are not helpful to athletes in explosive or speed-oriented sports.  (And yes, that means hockey players.)  In fact, they believe static stretching prior to practicing or playing can actually prevent a body from reacting quickly.

What they advise instead — as Scott has, is for the explosive sport athlete to perform a series of exercises that are similar to those he or she will ultimately have to do in their practice or game.  Of course — and as Scott also suggests, those exercises should be gradually increased in intensity, the purpose being to S-L-O-W-L-Y bring the athlete’s body from a resting state to one that’s ready to go all-out.

Want to be strong? Earn it!

By Scott Umbergerger

“The #1 rule in investing is don’t lose money.  Rule #2, refer back to rule #1.”

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– Warren Buffet – Owner of Berkshire Hathaway, probably the greatest investor of our time

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In my first post I talked about several areas of athletic ability.  If you missed it, here’s a quick recap, plus a little more…

• Strength is #1.
• To get stronger, do the exercises listed below.  These alone will start you on your way to being faster and becoming a better athlete.
• What is strong?  Reasonably strong is being able to do 50+ good push ups, 20+ pull ups, and parallel squats at twice your body weight.  Then, once you are reasonably strong, you can progress into plyometrics and explosive movements.
• Learn to decelerate and accelerate first.  And to achieve this, learn how to land when jumping.  That’s a place to start.  Understand, if you can’t slow down correctly, you can’t accelerate.
• Here’s the thing about strength:  You have to earn it.  Much like creating wealth (see the quote), you have to pay your dues over time and allow it to grow.  It isn’t rocket science; it really isn’t.  Strength isn’t rocket science either.  Both strength gains and wealth building just take a certain amount of discipline to achieve what you want in the end.
• Strength is obtained over the course of years, not days.  Nor can you take weeks off from training and expect to make consistent gains.
• Your off-season is a time to get stronger and to fix any issues (or injuries) you may have experienced during the past season.  And don’t forget:  Since skating isn’t a natural motion, there’s a chance it (or some other hockey specific motion) has caused some imbalances in your body.
• Strength is to be maintained throughout the regular season.  (Sure, the off-season is a time for devoting even more attention to strength training.  But you don’t want to lose those spring and summer gains once the regular season gets underway.)

So where does this leave you?  Weak?  HA!  Let’s hope not.

My point in all of this is that strength is something that you have to commit too.  It has to be part of your game.  You work on hockey skills and you train your body.  Oh, it’s not all hockey, and it’s not all lifting, running or skating.  There has to be a balance in all this, just as there needs to be balance in your life.

In the next post I’ll discuss specifics in what needs to been done in the gym.  But you must understand that it will involve a commitment on your part.

Then, as important as all your skill, strength and conditioning work is, let me also stress the need to eat correctly.  I’m not talking perfect here, but you should pay attention to this important area, and perhaps aim to do better than what you are doing right now.  Nearly every athlete I talk to thinks he or she eats perfectly. So let me end this discussion with a few more tips:

• Watch your calorie intake, making adjustments according to whether you might be a little over- or under-weight.  Reaching your desired weight is really as simple as that, in that taking in more calories than you burn will have you gaining weight; burning-off more than you take in will have you losing weight.
• I might recommend getting 1 to 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
• Be careful about wasting your money on some hot product that promises a shortcut to strength or weight gains.  And appreciate that supplements won’t help calorie/nutrient deficient athletes.  All any athlete needs is a quality multi-vitamin and fish oils.

See you shortly with more specific ideas…

Adjusting Our Plan (A Bit)

Q: Alex, a local friend (and a hockey parent), said he’d read my article on Planning Tonight’s Hockey Practice.  I guess he liked the fact that I was firm in my commitment to get certain things done on a given night.  But, he wondered if I REALLY stuck to that plan.

Hmmmmmm…  Actually, the more I thought about his question, the more I thought my answer would benefit both coaches and parents.

A: Quite honestly, I’d have to say that I stick to my plan something like 98% of the time.  I mean that.

I don’t know how other coaches or parents feel about this, but I usually don’t finalize my plan until a few hours before I head to the rink.

Most of our practices fall about 2-days after a previous practice or a game.  And there’s something to be said for designing the next practice while the last session is still fresh in my mind.  (I wouldn’t criticize another coach for doing just that.)

Of course, I have my game notes — and notes from earlier practices — to fall back on, so I’m not likely to forget too much in reference to the kids’ needs.  At the same time, I like to rely some on my gut.  In other words, my players are going to get the most from me if I’m really into the practice.  So, the final plan is likely a mix of exactly what the guys need, and what I’m really going to enjoy teaching.

Okay, so when do I vary from the script?

Sometimes I realize that I’ve either over-shot or under-shot my players’ capabilities in a given drill.  So, even though they don’t realize it, I’ll make a small adjustment of some sort to give the guys a fairer challenge.

Probably the greatest reason to change things comes from our practice attendance.  For example, imagine if my game notes dictate that I help a given kid (or two or three) in a certain area, and I put a detailed drill into the practice just to help him (or them).  Then, picture that the kid or kids who need help don’t show.  (Darn.)  So, I’ll probably see that drill coming-up, and I’ll substitute something else in its place.

I think a coach also has to read the mood of his or her team…  Now, I’m not talking about changing things every other night.  No, it’s important to stick to a plan, and to get as much repetition in as possible — from practice to practice to practice.  At the same time, there will usually be two or three times in a long, grueling season when we coaches can just see “that look” on our players’ faces.  We can tell they need a change-of-pace, and we probably ought to give it to them — right then and there.

Two follow-up points on the latter problem…

First, parents would be wise to monitor their young athlete’s mood year-round.  As I’ve said elsewhere, “Sometimes it pays to just go dawgoned fishing!”

Secondly, and as I’ve also pointed-out elsewhere, there are some real benefits to “going fishing” or blowing-up a practice practice.

Oh, and by the way…  When I suggest I’m blowing-off a practice, that doesn’t mean that session won’t have huge value.  For, while we might not work on our forecheck or powerplay that night, we are probably going to do some things that will cause my players to both laugh a lot and leave the rink absolutely exhausted.  What I’m talking about is a solid hour of races,  weird games, and other confrontational activities the kid want to succeed at.  Ya — just for a night, your players and mine will go all-out in that kind of practice, just so they can own temporary bragging rights.  Again, I might do this only a few times per season.  And again, I’ll tell you that the times I’ve done it have reaped us huge rewards for months to come.

Finally, I do really think we (players, parents and coaches) have to stick to a plan.  However, if either a small or large change needs to be made, I think we’re doing the right thing by altering that plan.

Ideas for a Goaltender’s Strength Training

Michael Mahony once again contributes some great insight, this time for goalers!

– Dennis Chighisola

Strength Training and Your Player

By Michael Mahony

I have been extremely active in bodybuilding and strength training for several years now. At the same time, my son has been climbing the ladder to higher and higher competition as an ice hockey goaltender.

His job on the ice is extremely demanding, both physically and mentally. So last season we asked his goalie coach what would make him an even better goaltender.  The answer wasn’t what we expected.  “He needs to get a little bit older,” the coach said.

I was not really content with the answer, so I delved deeper with the coach. I was finally able to get him to explain that for most kids, speed and quickness is an issue, but it resolves itself as they hit puberty and gain in strength. Gaining strength — that sounded right up my alley.

I sat my boy down and discussed his goals with him. Upon hearing everything he had to say, I asked him how he intended to get there. He commented that he’d like to join me in the gym. I was excited because a) I love lifting weights, and the thought of sharing that with my oldest son was amazing; and b) he was telling me that he wanted to get better on the ice, and was willing to work hard to do so.

The following morning we headed to the gym together (at 4am!).

I started him out on a basic strength training program popularized by Mark Rippetoe. I had my son doing squats, bench presses and overhead presses one day (workout A), and squats, bent over rows, and deadlifts on another day (workout B). We would work out three days a week, alternating every other day between workout A and workout B.

My son’s capacity for how much he could lift on these exercises progressed quickly. It wasn’t long before that 135 lb. boy was deadlifting 150 lbs with relative ease. However, his success was not only in the gym.

On the ice he became much stronger. The leg strength he developed from squats was translating into faster and stronger butterfly slides. He could push himself from one post to another in far less time while down on the ice. His focus increased tremendously (this being an offshoot of his having to focus intensely while training with weights). He became more disciplined at practice, learning that what you do in practice translates into game situations. And his stamina increased because the pain of pushing harder didn’t bother him any longer.

Weight training really transformed my son as an athlete. And, summarizing the benefits he received:

• Greater strength
• More focus
• Increased discipline
• Increased pain threshold

So, if your child wants to improve at hockey (or any other sport), get him or her into the gym. The lessons learned there will translate into the sport they play. And they will become much better athletes as a result.

Doing the Right Thing

This entry is really sort of a follow-up to an earlier post, RESPECTING Young Hockey Players.  And I also want to pose a few questions to members at the very end.

Now, as you might recall, I talked some about my fun approach to training in that earlier piece.  And, although I didn’t mention my work with older players very much, I need to say right now that most of our more advanced level work (or work with older kids) should also end-up being enjoyable to those in our charge.

That said, a major part of my year-round work involves coaching — and actually guiding the development of — two NEHI teams.  One group is of junior high school age, the other made-up of high school-ers.

For a number of reasons, I have to slightly adjust my ways with them — due to their ages, their general age-specific personalities (if you know what I mean), and because of their presumed aims in the game.  And in reference to the latter, each is assumed to be dreaming of making a high school team someday, and they ultimately want to do really well at that level.

So — as I jokingly refer to it, I’ll sometimes have to wear my “high school coach’s hat”.  I mean, if you think about it, athletes don’t only succeed by having great skills and hockey smarts.  No, each team candidate is a whole package, with yet another key ingredient being the way they handle themselves emotionally.  (Just ask Shaun Goodsell and his Mental Edge staff if that one isn’t so.)

Anyway, at different times during our practices and games, I’ll put on that high school coach’s hat and grump and grumble a little.  I actually warn the kids about it, even telling them, “I love you guys, so I’m preparing you as best I can for what’s ahead, even if it comes-off sounding mean.”

Oh, and by the way…  Sometimes I have to fake it — not really being upset with them at all, but instead wanting to ensure they’re going to be able to deal with the mix of positives and negatives that are sure to be thrown their way down the road.

As for the subject of “doing the right thing”…  Don’t you know that I slightly “lost it” at practice the other night, only hours after I’d sent-in the earlier referenced article.

What had happened was that a lot of my long-time players were acting a little too comfortable as we drilled.  They are senior members of the group, they know a lot of what’s coming in some of the basic drills, and they were half-listening or half-working as the practice went along.  More than anything, I worried that they were showing our new team members the wrong way to apply themselves in a practice.

So, at some point I began turning the screws on them.  And I sorta nailed the offenders for anything and everything they did wrong.  Ya, I got their attention — and that of the new guys, too.

Still, comes the time to end practice, and I’m thinking about a few things…  To a kid, they love the game.  I mean, they are all great kids, and they really are into getting better.  And, here they are at a “voluntary” practice on a warm summer night, while some other kids aren’t even there to work on their game.  If you get my drift, I’m thinking that — while the whipping was necessary, I couldn’t send a single player home wishing he hadn’t come.  Make sense to you?

And that caused me to gather everyone together at the very end of practice, to sit everyone in a circle, and to rehash the events of the night.

As close as I can recall, I said, “Hey, I need to explain a few things to you guys…  I think you guys know I love you, and I only do things that will help you in the end.  You also know I love teaching the game.  So, if there are things going on that prevent me from teaching, I’m going to let you know about it.”

Oh, I’m sure I said more than that over about 5-minutes, but that was the gist of it.  No way was I apologizing for holding their feet to the fire.  At the same time, however, I wanted to ensure future practices ran as they should, and I also wanted to give those kids reasons to come back for future practices.

So, my questions — to older players, parents and other coaches…  How do you feel about a coach holding his or her players’ feet to the proverbial fire?  And, how do you feel about explaining oneself as I did?  Further, since I will at least once or twice per year tell my players that I made a coaching mistake (or whatever), how do you feel about that?

What’s In a (Hockey Coach’s) Name?

Hey, why can’t The Old Coach post an entry in this special section?  Actually, because it’s partly personal, and because it doesn’t really fit in any other category, I’ll take the risk…

Okay, you may or may not find this all that interesting.  Yet, my last name brings the occasional question, while the spelling of my nickname seems to raise more than a few eyebrows.  Monikers aside, there’s a thought (or even two or three) in here for other coaches (and maybe even for some business types).

– Dennis Chighisola

Let’s dispense with the last name first…  No, it’s not Native American, nor is it Polish.  Despite my studying in the old Soviet Union, I don’t have personal ties there, and I am not Russian.  That vowel at the the end gives it away to some.  Yes, my dad’s side of the family came here to the US from Italy prior to the turn of the last century.

Next, many of you might be surprised to learn that 1) I never intended to be a coach, and 2) my first coaching stint wasn’t with an ice hockey team.

You see, I was just out of high school when an old chum asked me if I’d help him work with a 13- and 14-year old baseball team.  That’s right, baseball.  (Some old-timers around my hometown have said I was one of the best in that sport.  Of course, I’d have my late dad to thank for that, since he had great success coaching on the diamond.)

That season of chasing my buddy and our team around the local Pony League circuit included a little fun AND some anguish.

The fun part should be obvious — as in my getting to hang with other athletes, and in my getting the chance to stay active with a glove, bat and ball.  (At the same time, I was also playing shortstop for the local semi-pro ball club.)

If there were problems — and there surely were, I’d say that the first one had to do with me not liking the assistant’s role.  Oh, I loved my buddy, but I didn’t agree with many of his managing decisions, and I’d have preferred to practice a whole lot more than we did.  The second difficulty stemmed from us coaches being too close in age to the young guys in our charge.  I mean, my friend was 19, I was 18, and our players likely felt they weren’t that much younger.  Slightly connected to this was the fact that we coaches made a huge blunder by letting the kids call us by our nicknames.  Yes, this made them feel all the more our equals (or nearly so).

Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself, it’s that I’ve always noticed things like I’ve just mentioned.  In other words, I made a mental note, telling myself that I didn’t like being an assistant coach.  And, IF I ever planned on coaching again — which I didn’t, I’d surely want to find a way to deal with that respect issue.

Just a few years later, a funny thing happened on my way home from an Army base in Fort Sill, Oklahoma…  A younger brother was playing back home in the local Little League, and that’s where an odd chain of events begin…  For, one night at the ballpark, the manager of my brother’s team asked my dad if he could replace him as manager.  The young guy, also an old high school chum of mine, explained that he’d just been drafted, and he was leaving for his Army training assignment within a few weeks.  My dad had to politely refuse the offer due to his work schedule.  But, my new wife happened to be standing nearby that night, and she promptly offered, “Dennis will be getting home just about when you’re leaving, and I’m sure he’d love to do the job!”  So there I was, something like 2000-miles away, worrying about lots of more important things, and not knowing I was soon going to be a baseball manager.

As fate would also have it, I was handed a team that was loaded.  I mean REALLY loaded.  So, we trounced most of the league as I got my feet wet.

Now, skipping back a few paragraphs, remember that I suggested how I learned a few lessons from that single Pony League season?  Well, I was no longer someone else’s assistant, and that suited me just fine.  As for the respect thing, or as a way of slightly distancing myself from the players, I introduced myself to them on the very first day as “Mr Chighisola”.  No “Dennis”, no “Chick”, no anything but “Mr Chighisola”.

Just briefly let me say that my teams continued to win, and I found that I actually liked teaching (errrrr… coaching).  I liked it so much, in fact, that I remained on the job (if we can call it a job), and my teams won the title almost every year for a decade.  Let me also say that I remembered and applied a lot of lessons from my days as a young athlete.  I found myself doing things like my dad had, even copying his way of focusing on what mattered most.  I frequently used stations, owing to my old high school football coach, one of the state’s very best.  And, although the sports differ a lot, I’m sure I slipped-in at least a few things from hockey.  Of course, that approach has stayed with me, almost 40-years later, as I continue to borrow from the best coaches in other sports.

Oh, while I was still very young, and shortly after I’d started with that baseball team, I was asked to also help with a local hockey club.  But, my climb up that ladder — including my ditching of an engineering career and studies in favor of a Physical Education degree — is fodder for yet another VERY long story.

Getting back to the history of my name…  As a few early seasons came and went, I found that new players were struggling with the long version.  (How could I blame kids when their parents had difficulty pronouncing “Chighisola”?)  So I just shortened it at some point, henceforth introducing myself as “Mr Chick” (or “Mr Chic”).  Ya, you want to know about that missing “k”, huh?

Well, somewhere out there in the world is a seamstress (or whatever) who hung that “Chic” tag on me.  Oh, my high school football jacket was supposed to arrive with “Chick” on the sleeve.  But, it surely didn’t.  I sensed my dad was a little steamed at that, and he even suggested sending it back.  I, on the other hand, was 17-years old, and I could live with the missing “k” so long as I could continue parading that jacket up and down the school corridors.

Of course you know that all my different team jackets had to ultimately have the same name on the sleeve.  So, the next and the next and the next all proudly displayed the new spelling somewhere.  And so did my first coaching jackets and warm-up suits as I began working on the ice.

Finally, it seems to be a long standing tradition here in The States (but not so in some other countries), that the guy with the whistle is called “Coach”.  (I’ve been to coaching clinics where one call of, “Hey, Coach!” in a hallway is cause for 120 cases of whiplash!)  That in mind, when it came time for me to introduce myself to new hockey players, it only made sense that I’d do it as “Coach Chic”.

So, as the late, great Paul Harvey would say, “Now you know the rest of the story.” 

Who’s Got Your Back?

A Teleseminar for Athletes!

Shaun Goodsell, MA

BEYOND Incredible Stickhandling 2 – 4

Ready for some really challenging puck tricks?  Here goes…

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RESPECTING Young Hockey Players

Although this post SEEMS like it’s entirely geared toward very young skaters, I’d like those who deal with older guys and gals to please drink-in the gist of it.  I’ll have a further comment for you at the very end.

– Dennis Chighisola

Okay, I’m not going to go and get toooooo scientific on you.  At the same time I do want to first make you aware of a study just released in this Tuesday’s (7/14/09’s) issue of the journal Child Development.

The reason I cite this is because I did quite some time ago make reference to certain beliefs in my earliest posts that dealt with “Critical Periods in Motor Learning”.  (The two entries should have frightened those dealing with very young athletes into appreciating the fact that certain windows of opportunity arise during a human’s earliest years, and that once those periods pass, learning given skills can be very difficult, if not impossible.)

Anyway, researchers in the Netherlands now say they’ve found evidence that fetuses have short-term memory of sounds by about the 30th week of pregnancy, and that they develop a long-term memory of sound after that.

Again, I’m not going to get overly scientific here (you can Google this and related studies if you have further interest).  And I’m not going to suggest to you that we should all start preparing prenatals for careers in hockey (or any other sport).

What I do want members to appreciate is that learning begins very early in a human’s life, and that some learning even begins prior to birth.

Then, beyond all I’ve said in my earlier two entries (and several others), there’s yet another thing on my mind this morning…

You see, while I think all very young kids are adorable, I’m sometimes turned-off by coaches of very young ones who overdo it in reference to their kids’ “cuteness” (or whatever).

What really troubles me about this?  It’s that such coaches can oftentimes use that cuteness as a reason — or an excuse — not to teach the kids in their charge.  And, in my mind, they fail to R-E-S-P-E-C-T their young players’ abilities — and maybe their wants — to truly learn more.  Yes, I believe little ones WANT to learn.

Now, I hate to bash other coaches, and that’s not really my intent here.  What I feel the need to do, however, is to ask them not to accept that cuteness as a reason not to have a plan.  Yes, we coaches — and parents — want to see our players gradually move from Point A to Point B over a given span, and there’s nothing to say that we shouldn’t be aiming for Points C and D.  That, to me, is respecting our players, or respecting their abilities to learn.

All that said, let me suggest that both parents and coaches combine the best of both worlds…  If you get the chance to watch my video on “Must-do Skating Drills for Beginners”, you might notice that I keep that cuteness-thing very much in mind.  I mean, I do my fun-loving Mr Rogers routine, and I keep my kids laughing throughout a clinic.  What the kids don’t realize — and there’s no need for them to really know it — is that I have a very serious, scientifically-based lesson plan in place.  Actually, I’m betting my kids sense that I respect them (as I take them closer to Points E and F?).  Yet, I pull it off without any pressures whatsoever.

Finally, the rest of this site is aimed at helping anyone — in this case, parents and coaches — design a training routine based on the very latest in science and the art of teaching.  All that information is worthless, though, unless we first have a certain kind of respect for our youngsters’ abilities to learn.

PS:  Although this entry appears aimed at very young players, I’d like coaches of older guys and gals to think seriously about that respect-issue.  Yes, most older players also have a burning desire to learn more.

Summer Clinics for Your Brain

By Kat Hasenauer

For young athletes, the summer months are filled with camps, clinics and summer league play. It is tempting to fill the months away from the classroom with opportunities to enrich you or your athlete’s play, but it is important not to do so at the expense of fortifying the academic successes of the last school year.

How can you make time during your busy summer schedule to work on academics? Here are some painless tips:

Put away the video games and DVDs on the drive to camp or vacation. Take advantage of the hours spent in the car between camps or tournaments. Instead of playing a portable video game or watching a DVD, read a book. If you are like me and can’t read comfortably in a car, audio books will come in handy. Audio books abound on iTunes and can be uploaded onto an MP3 player like any song. Or, if you want the whole car to listen in, get it on CD or hook up your MP3 player to the car radio.

A quick tip to those who are reading: Don’t read only from the reading list. The first book you read this summer should not be from your teacher’s reading list. Read a book for fun, and then dive into any assigned reading. Consider it your book vacation. For those who are reluctant readers, reading for fun first will ease them into the required reading they will need to do, and will reinforce that reading is a life-long practice that can isn’t always “work.”

Do life puzzles and make the connection. Packing for hockey or lacrosse camp? See that pile of sticks and skate bags that somehow need to make their way into the car trunk? Work on making all of that fit. Parents, you may initially be reluctant to let your young athlete take on this task, but it is a great chance to practice spatial recognition and the mindset needed for geometry.

Continue to find “life puzzles” throughout the summer. Add up the prices of groceries while grocery shopping. Better yet, parents – give your young athlete a budget for grocery shopping and let them try to meet it. (Meet them before the check out, so that you can evaluate their performance and make any suggestions…you might need more than Gatorade in that cart.) By finding “life puzzles” – everyday situations that reinforce math, science, social studies and English lessons – and trying to solve them, you will reinforce your school-year learning in interesting and useful ways.

Pick a college or university to research during the summer. For those in fifth grade to ninth grade, pick one college or university – for any reason, in any state or country – to do some light research on during the summer. The Internet makes this amazingly easy! You may be a few years out from going to college, but exploring college life can be a motivator for some to refocus on academics. For example, a young hockey player might want to learn more about Boston University, since they won the NCAA Division I Championship this past April. Visit their admissions and athletics homepages, look at the different majors they offer, and look at the residence halls online. Seeing what doing well in school now could eventually lead to is a great motivator leading into a new school year.

Prep for the next school year like prepping for next season. A month or so out from the beginning of the school year, sit down and make some goals for the next school year. No matter the grade, goal-setting is crucial. It could range to a second-grader aiming to perfect cursive writing to a tenth grader aiming to get a particular grade on a PSAT or SAT. I’ll cover goal setting in future articles, but just like you might set a goal to make a travel team one year or improve a certain part of your game, you need to set achievable, long-term goals academically as well. By setting these in mid-summer, you can use any extra time you have getting a head start towards that goal. The new school year is your launch to achieving and surpassing those goals.

Parents and players, if you have any other ideas on how to not forget about academics during the fun summer months, feel free to share! If there are any topics you would like me to cover in future articles, let me know!

Introducing Kat Hasenauer

I’ve said it often enough, that I’ve met some of the best and brightest in my Twitter travels.  And as members will soon discover, the young lady you’re going to get to know here fits that description to a tee.

Not mentioned in Kat Hasenauer’s bio (below) is that she works in Student Life at Boston University, helping guide all students through their 4-years at that outstanding institution.  My guess is that she gets to “see it all” in that capacity, and that she’ll be sharing some priceless advice for players and parents who look forward to a rewarding college experience.

Also, Kat is sincere in asking for your input and questions.  So, take her up on that, either emailing her directly, or by using our Ask the Coach form (I always relay those questions to the appropriate experts).

With that, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Kat Hasenauer aboard!

– Dennis Chighisola

Kat Hasenauer is a part-time writer who works full-time in higher education administration in Boston, Massachusetts.

The least athletically talented in a family of gymnasts, curlers, soccer, football, lacrosse and hockey players, she decided as a pre-teen that writing about sports might be wiser than trying to keep up with her siblings and cousins.

She has earned a B.A. in History and a Ed.M in Policy, Planning and Administration with a concentration in Higher Education Administration.

In addition to contributing to CoachChic.com, she maintains her own site — On Being a Sports Girl (www.sportsgirlkat.com), covering pro and college hockey, Olympic sports, football and baseball.

You can email her at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com (and we encourage you to do so).

Being More Than Just a Hockey Player

Older players, parents and coaches are going to love this new area. Please look for the first entry late on July 13, 2009. It’ll be awesome!

Reminder to Hockey Coaches

Just a reminder to my coaching friends here…

Don’t forget to download this month’s members-only free gift.  It’s a practice form I use all the time for my weekly team practices.  You can print the PDF file, then make as many copies as you’ll need for next season.

As you’ll see, spaces are open for you to enter your own information — like the date, the timing of each drill, and any other important notes YOU need to make.  And there’s ample room to sketch each drill if that suits your need.

Also don’t forget that the form will disappear on August 1, 2009, at which time a new downloadable gift will take its place.  So hurry – get it now!

The Role of the Hockey Parent

Man, talk about hitting all the key points on this extremely important subject!  In fact, this article probably ought to be required reading for every parent as he or she enters our sport.  Interestingly, each point struck a chord with me — having witnessed some, having (sadly) been involved in some.  With that, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our first guest writer, Michael Mahony.

– Dennis Chighisola

Michael Mahony is not only a hockey dad, but he’s also a youth hockey coach.  Mike lives in Cypress, California.

The Role of the H ockey Parent

Michael Mahony

The job of a hockey parent is a big one. If you are a hockey parent you probably think you know exactly what your role is. As someone who has been around the hockey world (and hockey parents) for 10 years now I am quite certain that most of you do not truly know your role.

As a hockey parent we have a very specific role in the entire process. I would break that role into the following 4 parts: (1) Be positive with your hockey player; (2) Be supportive of your hockey player’s coach; (3) Be supportive of your hockey player’s dreams; and (4) Be supportive of the program your hockey player plays for.

1. Be positive with your hockey player

When your child is involved in competitive travel hockey you wind up spending a lot of time with them in the car driving from one rink to another. That time is extremely valuable and should be cherished. Make sure that your player’s memories of that time are positive. Don’t use that time to tell him/her how they could have/should have played the game better or how they could have/should have practiced harder. Take the time to tell them what they are doing right. Tell them that you are there for them no matter what. Your player expects correction from the coaching staff and he or she even expects teammates to give him or her a hard time, so from you he or she expects positive comments. Give your player what he or she wants.

2. Be supportive of your hockey player’s coach

This is one area that really gets abused. Your kids will react the way you do. If you find something the coach is doing objectionable take that up with the coach in private. Don’t talk to other parents about it. Don’t tell your child on the ride home how ridiculous the coach is. As an adult you have a right to your opinion, but that opinion doesn’t need to be imparted on your child. When you talk down the coach to your child respect gets lost. The child begins to think about your comments and pays less attention to the coach. This creates a major problem for the coach and for the team. It also creates a major problem for you. How is your child going to develop if they have no respect for the person trying to develop them?

3. Be supportive of your hockey player’s dreams

When I was young I wanted to be a professional baseball player. My mother would always remind me of what a long shot it would be to make it into Major League Baseball. Listening to that constantly eventually took away all my drive and motivation to become a baseball player. As an adult I would never let someone else steer me away from my dreams. Don’t do that to your child. You will know in your heart if their dream can ever become a reality, but let life handle that for you. Eventually, as the child gets older, they will understand whether or not their dream is realistic. Support them in their dreams. Let them spread their wings and try to achieve the things they want. They will thank you for it later in life.

4. Be supportive of the program your hockey player plays for

This one always bothers me. As parents, we pay a lot of money to the program. The cost of that program is generally directly proportionate to how successful it is. Why bad-mouth the program? Why go around telling everyone how horrible it is? If you don’t like the program, don’t come back next season! Why would you ever want to spend your money someplace you have no respect for? Instead of acting this way, be supportive of the program. Volunteer when asked. Take the time to help them make the program better. Give your suggestions in a positive, low pressure manner. If you do this you will be happy with the progress the program makes and proud that your child plays for that program.

These are just some of the pieces of your role as a hockey parent. You are responsible for guiding a child through the greatest sport on earth. Don’t mess it up!

Planning Tonight’s Hockey Practice

As I was readying for my team’s second on-ice practice of this summer, it struck me that member coaches — and even hockey parents — would like some insight into this.

At the same time, I have a chance to explain an important principle of motor learning, this usually referred to as the Mass versus Distributed Method.

To begin, I generally view the Mass approach to training as having to do with older athletes with longer attention spans.  And I’ll usually apply it when a single problem needs to be dealt with.  Perhaps the best example is when I do a private lesson with a player who is at least of high school age.  (Actually, I try to avoid doing one-on-one sessions with younger players.)  In most cases, a parent will call me to ask if I can solve a given skill problem their guy or gal seems to be having.  With that, we’ll schedule an hour of ice-time for me to work with that player.  And, although I’ll give him or her some mental breaks — and tell them to occasionally head-off and shoot some pucks or whatever, we’re able to spend a good portion of our time together working on that one problem area.  If you can appreciate it, the older player is usually able to focus better — and for longer — than a real young one.  So, this Mass approach works okay for that age group.

That said, most players — and especially most young players — tend to do best with a Distributed approach to training.  And, quite simply, this method has me distributing short bouts of work at a given skill over numerous practice sessions.  Said yet another way, this suggests that 10 separate practices at a given skill for 5-minutes per practice will be more effective than if we have the players work at that skill for 50-minutes in a single session.

And this brings me to my planning for tonight’s practice…  For, what I’m doing is using our last practice as an outline for the new one.  In other words, I’ll begin with exactly what we did last week, and then I’ll just make some slight adjustments.  In some instances, I’ll ditch a past progression of a skill and move on to the next one.  Sometimes I’ll substitute a drill that does close to what another had previously done for the kids.  And, at yet other times, I’ll repeat the previous step, and then quickly move on to the next progression.  Not that I’ll change every single drill on the list.  No, some will need more work before we move forward.

If you get what I’m attempting here, you’ll see that I’m gaining good continuity from practice to practice.  At the same time, each practice should bring my guys from Point A to Point B in a given skill (with the next week hopefully bringing them to Point C).

I hope coaches are also sensing how easy it can actually be to develop lesson plans.  I mean, if we begin with a pretty good one the first night, it’s usually fairly simple to just slowly up the ante for the next practice, the next, and the next.

PS:  Having just mentioned the need to first start with a good plan, I promise to provide plenty of help towards that aim as our season nears.

BEYOND Incredible Stickhandling 1

As promised, we’re moving on from the Incredible Stickhandling series to some skill drills that are surely BEYOND those.  Hopefully you’ve kept working on the early skills, because you’ll need those as a foundation for some very challenging new drills.  So here goes, with an introduction and the first new puckhandling problem…

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Dealing with the “Puck Hog”

Now, if there’s one person who is bashed often at most rinks, it’s the so-called “puck hog”.

Ya, parents can be especially tough on that guy (or little girl), which very frequently trickles down to teammates eventually mimicking their (sometimes pretty cruel) comments.

I actually find it interesting that no other skill seems to attract such scrutiny.  I mean, folks seem to admire you if you’re a good skater, they certainly appreciate it when you pass the puck (especially to their kid), and most fans even accept you if you shoot better than others.  But, just handle the puck beyond a few seconds — make one nifty move, and you’re liable to really hear an earful.

From my kzillion years around the rinks, it seems the abuse starts pretty early — with 20- and 30-something parents getting on the likes of 7- and 8-year olds.  And I have to think there’s at least a little emotional scarring taking place with those little ones.

Now, this subject gives me the chance to touch upon some (hopefully interesting) related areas, all of these having to do with fairly young guys’ and gals’ hockey…

Picture, for instance, that a young shooter throws the puck on-net with the puck ultimately hitting a flailing goaltender in the chest.  The folks go nuts in the stands, with at least someone yelling out, “Great save, Joey!  Great save!”

No!  No!  No!  First, young goalers probably cover less than a third of the net, which means there were tons of open spots towards which the shooter could have sent the puck — IF he or she had only been able to handle the puck and look-up.  Secondly, young goalies — at least usually — don’t move that well, remember:  they don’t cover much of the net, so the so-called save was only made because the shooter blew his or her opportunity.  (Oh, conditions totally change at the slightly higher levels, with smart, skilled netminders playing their angles well enough to make shots hit them — on purpose.)

In yet another for instance, a poor skating, poor puckhandling young player barely touches the puck before it squirts to someone who can skate and tote the biscuit pretty well.  The skilled youngster goes on to score a goal, which brings at least one voice from the stands (guess who) to call-out, “Great pass, Jimmy!  Awesome pass!”

Ya, right.  You know what I’m getting at here…  Jimmy had little to do with the resulting goal.  In fact, the team is probably lucky he ultimately got out of the way so someone else could put the puck home.

One quick aside here…  I’m not condoning selfishness with the puck; never have, never will.  But it’s been my experience — or I’ve mostly observed — that few kids under 8- or 9-years old have a selfish bone in them.  I have noticed some kids not able to handle the puck and look-up, which causes them to miss all the passing opportunities around them.  And I have seen young kids who had to keep carrying the puck because other mates weren’t able to keep-up or get into proper position.

Anyway, this line of thinking also brings me to a conversation Todd Jacobson and I were having the other night, this obviously having to do with gifted puckhandlers.  From my side, I was sharing with Todd my experiences as a college coach, especially late in games when the outcome was still hanging in the balance.  And I was telling him that I’d been on both sides of the problem.  In other words, I’d had that good feeling late in some close games, because I knew I had someone really deadly cruising around the ice.  Oh, but I’d also suffered that sick-to-the-stomach feeling some years, knowing our opponents had their own slick guy just hanging in the weeds.  “Game breakers” I call them, or those players who just have a way of making good things happen on an attack.  And, to a man, those game breakers were always unbelievable puckhandlers.

Okay, it’s time for me to apologize if I’ve been a little cruel to those who have been at least as cruel to young kids.  But, as always, there are several good reasons I raise a given issue…

First, I need to warn parents and coaches of young ones that future coaches are going to select players who are skilled enough to compete at the higher levels.  The Jimmys of the hockey world aren’t going to make it, nor are the ones who consistently send shots into goaltenders’ bellies.  (And you can ask Todd Jacobson what he thinks about the chances of a goalie making it if he or she isn’t smart enough and skilled enough to play the angles well and cover a lot of net.)

Secondly, I frequently feel the need to point members towards Coach Chic’s Building Blocks Approach to Skills.  And, while my placing of puckhandling as the second most important offensive skill will surprise some, my real hope is that members understand the reasons I make this claim.  For, once you do, you’ll probably appreciate why capable puckhandlers can make better defensemen — especially during breakouts, and why a higher level coach might lean towards a number of better puckhandlers on his or her powerplay.

Thirdly, North American readers probably know that most Major League Baseball players were usually the top performers on their Little League through high school teams, and that a majority of those guys played the key positions on their younger teams, probably pitching and playing shortstop most of the time.  Only later did they end-up specializing, quite often in a very different spot.  The same can often be said of future pro football players, with the likes of many defensive backs and other skilled guys actually being quarterbacks on their high school or even college teams.  And the same can often be said about a lot of future NHL-ers who end-up specializing — maybe as defensive forwards, penalty killers, etc.  Appreciate that those lower profile guys weren’t the Jimmys in high school, college or juniors; they could play.  And, although they might not get the chance to demonstrate dazzling skills once in the pros, those guys are no slouches — as skaters, passers, receivers, shooters or puckhandlers.

Finally, I’m going to blame one of my favorite CoachChic.com members, Ravi, for setting me on fire this 4th of July holiday — .  You see, Ravi just sent me the following link, suggesting that I might find it interesting (did I ever)…  Click here once you’re ready.

What you’ll discover is that the above link takes you to a YouTube video with a young Tomas Jurco demonstrating some wild stickhandling moves (and I do mean wild).  What I found interesting — and you should, too — is that Jurco is a top Slovakian prospect considered to go fairly high in the 2011 NHL draft.  What we should also get from watching Jurco is the obvious time he’s spent on his stick-work.  Oh, I’m quite sure he can do most other things pretty well if he’s currently rated so high.  But, I think we should also get the hint that puckhandling skills — particularly within the modern game — must rate fairly high with the scouts.

Then my last two points…

I want to remind you that this entry is really all about young kids.  I’m talking developmental ages here, or the ages with which we — as parents and coaches — can have the most impact on their thinking or outlook.

I hope I’ve also convinced my favorite hockey people that the young guy or gal currently considered a hog should probably be viewed in a different light.  For, I’ll suggest, he or she is really the model for others — to emulate or try to catch-up with.  In the long run, I think parents and coaches who deal with very young players will later be pretty glad they did that for those in their charge.

PS:  Those who have been itching for more puckhandling challenges should know that the “Beyond Incredible Stickhandling” program will be starting shortly.  In the meantime, however, how about giving a few of Jurco’s tricks a try? 

Is That All There Is?

Just a little daydreaming today, or a little bit of the old coach’s philosophy.  Not everyone is going to agree with this.  Still, you probably ought to give the gist of this some serious thought, and maybe adapt it a little to your own parenting or coaching approach.

– Dennis Chighisola

Now, older CoachChic.com members might remember the above as the title to a hit song made popular by Peggy Lee.  In that song she talks about finally achieving or experiencing certain things that always seemed so — I don’t know — glamorous, perhaps?  Each time, however, she’d come to the conclusion that the something special wasn’t all it was cracked-up to be when she did attained it.  Or, as the title goes, “Is that all there is?”

Actually, I often jokingly use that phrase with family and friends.  But I also tend to keep it in mind as I deal with young hockey players.

For example, by now, you probably know that I’m not in favor of off-season games.  That wasn’t always the case, though.  No, as I dealt with earlier generations I dragged my teams all over the place, and I had my players skating numerous times per week.

During the winter months, we’d play in tournaments all over creation — throughout New England and to two Canadian provinces.

Of course, some of those experiences were good for my kids.  But then…  But then…

But then, I heard an interesting interview with a Division I college coach.  Because it was long ago, I’ll have to paraphrase it as best I can…  His main concern had to do with the difficulty coaches at that level were having with motivating their players.  Or, as he explained, “By the time we get them, they’ve already played a hundred of the most important games of their lives!”  (Again, I know I don’t have the words exactly right.  But, his point is right-on.)

Among the things that comment made me think about?

How about coaching in a Canadian tournament that had me (an adult) as juiced as I’d ever been?  I mean, even back in the 70s there were pro-like theatrics — with lights, loud music and all sorts of recognition for the players and coaches.  I’m talking excitement here — to the max.

And how about this (adult) coach being so up-tight for a kids’ tournament game that he heaved on his front lawn upon returning from the rink?

And I also have to think about what had to be — and still is — going on at home with families who are engaged in games like I’ve just described.  Are the parents prepping their kids in every way, possibly giving those kids the sense that “This is THE most important game of your life!”?

Don’t get me wrong.  I understand the reasons tournaments are held, and I even appreciate the efforts folks make to organize such great events.

At the same time, I’ve worried in recent years whether kids reared in the above circumstances can get as excited as they should be skating their first varsity high school game.  That should be a big deal, you know.  And so should it be considered a very big deal if a young guy or gal gets to play at the junior or college level.

Then, yet another related matter…  In my audio program A Lot of Things Change As Players Get Older, I make the point that more serious — and sometimes painful — preparations go into playing at the higher levels.  And in order to really attack tough workouts, a young guy or gal needs to have some serious desire or motivation.  One of my concerns, if you haven’t guessed it, is that a player might be completely spent before he or she reaches that level.

Combining these two points, perhaps you’ll at least appreciate my hopes that the next (and maybe the next and the next) goal seems a worthwhile one to an athlete.  And I’m thinking that’s less likely if he or she has already experienced “the heights”, and maybe even asked himself or herself already, “Is that all there is?”

Finally, you’d probably like to ask me how I can espouse so much year-round training while at the same time suggesting we back-off a bit in some ways.  In answer to that, however, I’ll suggest that protecting a player’s love of the game is a really tricky proposition.  I mean, there’s a delicate balance required between making sure a player is totally capable and feeling good about himself or herself, while at the same time holding back a bit so that they still want a little more.