Reply To: Game Intelligence / Decision Training

[hockeygod]

gaffz4 wrote:
Malkin is bringing his trainer to Russia again this summer. He said Malkin won't get on the ice until August!!!!! If it is good enough for Malking, why do we insist on getting kids on the ice in the summer?

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=637783

Bob

To answer your question about why we insist kids should get on the ice in the summer… after a bit of thinking, there are several things to consider.

A week or two of hockey school or power skating instruction are good platforms to work on building sport specific skills. If people want to practice their hockey skills off ice, they can do sport specific stuff with 'fake ice', slide boards, hockey balls, etc.

Malkin is an adult with fairly proficient skills; as attributed by his League MVP Award! He is talking about getting on the ice in August. Most pros do this to start to convert their physiological gains from the gym (and dryland) to a more sport specific venue (practice their Sport Specific Skills). Skating (while dribbling / passing / shooting a puck) is not a natural motion and it takes this lead time to get the neuromuscular and skeletal systems ready for training camp and the competitive season.

EDIT: I should add that after a long season, elite (junior and above) players need to get off the ice for a stretch of time. At least 2 weeks of active rest; could be longer depending on the player, injuries, the length of season (how far into the playoffs did they go this year and any cumulative effects from previous years playoffs / starting the year in Europe, west coast vs east coast teams, etc.)

But back to youth hockey – no doubt, there are bucketful’s of money to be made from unsuspecting, or overly keen hockey parents! Spring and summer hockey (training in general) has become a commercial enterprise and it looks like it is here to stay. Caveat Emptor to the consumer…

I liken it to an arms race and sadly, I see it starting younger and younger all the time. For instance this year I saw someone locally start a Timbits Spring Program (4-5 YO's) that ran for 2 months; on the ice twice a week for 60 minutes per session. He had 40 kids per session with two session’s back to back (so 80 kids total) and he had 20 on a waiting list… all this within 24 hours of sending out a mass email! He hadn't even paid for the ice time or bought insurance yet; not to mention this was his first year of coaching and he himself didn't play above midget! (His son started Timbits this past year so 'dad' wanted to get extra ice for his boy… it really took off!) He made over $10,000 on this program after expenses, so this shows there is money to be made…

Speaking of skill development: Guess what happens when someone gets extra exposure to a novel skill (regardless of the quality of instruction)? They get better (often due to their own trial and error process… one can argue it's the 'opportunity' or exposure to extra time, facilities and / or coaching that cause the improvement. Just read Daniel Coyle's blog and his book, "The Talent Code".)

In this Timbit example, spring training added an extra 16 hours of instruction to a first year players total of 40 hours of regular season practice and 6 – 10 hours of 'games' (multiply that by 2 for a 2nd year player)… so spring training equals almost another 40% of training (half a season!) in the two month program when looking at total hockey training time for a first year player. Those players should be 40% 'better' than before!

When these kids tryout next season and lo and behold, they are better than when they finished the past season; especially when compared to those kids who didn't take a spring or summer hockey program, other parents see this 'talent discrepancy' and think if they don't jump on the bandwagon, their kids will get left behind! So even more people enroll the following year… and it continues to suck more and more people in. Everyone is trying to give their kid the best chance to advance to the highest level possible. “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions…”

Once kids hit 14 or 15, if they are serious about hockey or late specialization sports, they should start to specialize a bit more and focus on two or three sports only; as they get older, drop the focus to two and then eventually (sadly) to one.

Read about the LTAD recommendations here:http://www.canadiansportforlife.ca/learn-about-canadian-sport-life/ltad-stages

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."