Kevin Neeld — Hockey Training, Sports Performance, & Sports Science
Strength Training: Neural Recruitment

Strength Training: Neural Recruitment

Once athletes reach a certain training age, improving maximal strength requires using near-maximal loads. Loads above ~85% will maximize recruitment of the involved motor units (nerve and connected muscle fibers), and also lead to positive adaptations in rate coding (i.e. the firing frequency of the nerves), both of which lead to improvements in force output…. Read more

Rotational Power Training

Rotational Power Training

Rotational power is an essential physical quality to train in most team sports. There are a few key layers to improving rotational power: Does the athlete have the foundational capacity to effectively perform rotational patterns (i.e., do they have optimal hip and thoracic spine rotation)? Can the athlete separate/dissociate lower/upper body rotation? Can the athlete… Read more

Passive Coaching Strategies

Passive Coaching Strategies

Creating environments for an athlete to “self-organize” (e.g. try, fail, recognize failure, try a different way…) can be a powerful motor learning strategy. Particularly in group settings, having strategies that allow the coach to teach without speaking frees up the coach to work with individuals/exercises that require a more hands on approach. This is an… Read more

Hockey Training: Year-Round Periodization

Hockey Training: Year-Round Periodization

One of the big mistakes that the most committed youth athletes make is training the same way in-season that they do in the off-season. These graphs are from a talk I gave at the @nscaofficial Training for Hockey Clinic several years ago and provide an overview of how the emphases on specific physical qualities should… Read more

Kevin Neeld

Kevin Neeld Knows Hockey

Kevin has rapidly established himself as a leader in the field of physical preparation and sports science for ice hockey. He is currently the Head Performance Coach for the Boston Bruins, where he oversees all aspects of designing and implementing the team’s performance training program, as well as monitoring the players’ performance, workload and recovery. Prior to Boston, Kevin spent 2 years as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the San Jose Sharks after serving as the Director of Performance at Endeavor Sports Performance in Pitman, NJ. He also spent 5 years as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with USA Hockey’s Women’s Olympic Hockey Team, and has been an invited speaker at conferences hosted by the NHL, NSCA, and USA Hockey.