Month: June 2009

Have Vince Lombardi as a Coach!

Vince Lombardi was one of the most successful coaches of all time. He’s still the most frequently quoted name in sports. A few notable quotes:

“Mental toughness is essential to success.”

“You never win a game unless you beat the guy in front of you. The score on the board doesn’t mean a thing. That’s for the fans. You’ve got to win the war with the man in front of you. You’ve got to get your man.”

“Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there.”

“If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.”

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”

It’s clear that he places mental toughness in a high regard. I want you to honestly answer this question:

What percentage of your athletic success is mental?

If you’re like most people, you responded anywhere from 50-90%. Now answer this question:

What percentage of your training would be considered mental training?

If you’re like most people, you responded anywhere from 0-10%.

You understand that mental preparation is key to peak performance. You acknowledge that you aren’t spending adequate time performing mental training.

What’s the solution?

I wish it were possible for all of us to play for a coach like Vince Lombardi. Unfortunately, we all missed that boat. Tomorrow I’ll reveal the next best thing. Stay tuned!

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The Best Lesson I Learned from My College Coach

The other day I was watching Any Given Sunday with my girlfriend Emily. One of the underlying themes of that movie was that no individual player is bigger than the team. This mentality is a HUGE problem in youth hockey, as players that develop faster tend to think that they ARE the team, not a part of it.

Having been through the youth hockey system myself and had the opportunity to watch many younger players develop after me, a couple trends have become clear.

1) The players that are best at very young ages are rarely still the best players at the collegiate level, if they’re even playing at all.

2) How good players think they are is directly related to the ability of the players around them (or their exposure to other skilled players). This is a simple point. Generally, as players are exposed to hockey from different areas of the country/world, they’re humbled a bit.

I remember being the best player at my high school and thinking that was something special. Then I played against Sidney Crosby and his Shattuck St. Mary’s prep school team and realized that being the best player at my high school didn’t mean much. I’d likely be the worst player on several other high school teams around the country. Exposure is key.

All of this reminds me of something my coach at the University of Delaware said to us. To paraphrase:

“None of you are bigger than the program. Delaware Ice Hockey was here before you came, and will be here after you leave.”

This really clicked for me and changed my mentality toward my college hockey experience. I realized that I was a part of something larger than my current team; I was a part of a program with a successful history.

Whether you’re the best player or the worst player, remember that you’re never bigger than the team. The more you learn to work with and help your teammates, the more you’ll be contributing to the program.

– Kevin Neeld

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I Have Swine Flu!

I don’t have swine flu…but I do have a new job! As of Monday (June 8th), I’ll be starting as the Director of Athletic Development at Endeavor Fitness in Sewell, NJ.

The facility is awesome. Check out the pictures on their site www.EndeavorFit.com.

I’m excited to get started. We have an impressive line up of NHL draft picks, pro, and D1 college players training with us this summer. I can confidently say that we’ll have the premier training facility for hockey and lacrosse players in the New Jersey, Eastern PA, and Delaware area.

I’m in the process of filling up my training groups for the summer. If you’re in the area and are looking for a place to train (regardless of whether you’re a hockey/lacrosse player, athlete from another sport, or general fitness enthusiast), feel free to shoot me an email at kn@kevinneeld.com and we can talk about setting up a situation that best helps you reach your goals.

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Learn from the best, wherever you are

click me

Whether you’re an ice hockey enthusiast or strength and conditioning professional, you won’t want to miss this opportunity!

After my longwinded talk about the importance of education (and continuing education) last week, I thought I should forward this along to you.  Eric Cressey just sent me an email letting me know about Strength and Conditioning Webinars, a site that Anthony Renna put together to make it easier for all of us to hear presentations from the best in the industry.

Strength and Conditioning Webinars is a brilliant idea.  Presenters like Eric Cressey, Mike Boyle, Mike Robertson, Gray Cook, Alwyn Cosgrove, and Joe Heiler (just to name a few) are able to present their power points online, so you get to see their presentation and hear their voice dubbed over each slide.  It’s a great opportunity for you and I to get high quality information without the inconveniences and high costs of attending live presentations.

This is the best part.  Attending most seminars will cost you between $100-$300 PER day!  Anthony, for some reason, is only charging $29.99/month for a membership to Strength and Conditioning Webinars.  Each month you’ll get access to at least two new webinars from the best coaches and minds in the industry and access to presenter forums so you can ask any questions you may have.

Even better, for the people that recognize this as a no-brainer, Anthony is offering a special intro rate of only $19.99/month for those that sign up by Monday, June 8th.  If you pay for the entire year at once, you’ll save another $40, as the price for the year is only $199.

With all the crap that’s circulating the internet these days, it’s rare to find an opportunity that offers such an incredible value.  Every time I hear a presentation from one of the presenters on Strength and Conditioning Webinars I change some aspect of the way I train my athletes.

For my hockey audience, Michael Boyle is the world’s expert on training ice hockey players.  The last few presentations I’ve seen him give on youth hockey and hockey injuries are ones that EVERYONE involved with hockey should see/hear.  Knowing that he’s on the site is worth the price of admission by himself.

Go to Strength and Conditioning Webinars and check it out for yourself.  Remember, after June 8th the price goes up!

Kevin Neeld

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Hockey-Specific Grip Strength

I remember a conversation I had with Michael Boyle last Summer about grip strength. To paraphrase, he was joking about how ridiculous it is for hockey players to spend so much time doing wrist curls when they’re legs are so weak they’ll never get to a puck anyway.

The take home message is that you’re likely to get all the grip strength you need from other exercises. As an example, let’s look at Mike. Although he’s withered away to a measly 205, he’s kept his deadlift around 600 lbs. He’s doing a high rack pull in this video. Think he needs to do wrist curls?

[quicktime]http://www.kevinneeld.com/videos/Mike-Rack%20Pull%20675.mov[/quicktime]

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