Stumbled upon this picture the other day of the “Commitment Continuum.” This was something Dr. Colleen Hacker shared with USA Hockey’s Women’s National Team, and serves as a powerful tool for all team sport athletes to self-evaluate their own commitment.
The off-season is a time when players in all sports can completely re-invent themselves through training. Taking a few months to dial back the volume of sport work and increase the attention on improving raw physical capacities (speed, power, strength, conditioning, movement efficiency, etc.) can change the course of an athlete’s career.
There is a small segment of athletes that will OBSESS over training. Some will COMMIT fully. Many more will just show up and do the work; they’ll comply. The rest, frankly, will get left behind.
Where do you fall on this continuum?
Being fully committed means different things at different ages, but if you’re >13 years old and have aspirations of fulfilling your athletic potential, you should be following a structured training program, at least 2-3 days/week in the off-season; 4-5 days/week if you’re competing at U-18 levels or above.
If you’re a hockey player and need help with programming, check out the link below.
Feel free to post any comments/questions below. If you found this helpful, please share/re-post it or tag a friend in the comments section so others can benefit.
To your success,
Kevin Neeld
SpeedTrainingforHockey.com
HockeyTransformation.com
OptimizingAdaptation.com
P.S. If you’re OBSESSED with making this your best off-season ever, check out the comprehensive hockey-specific training programs for players at different ages here: Ultimate Hockey Transformation.
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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.
“Kevin Neeld is one of the preeminent Strength and Conditioning Coaches in the country. I have personally benefited a great deal from his writing and educational products and much of what I do with my athletes is a direct reflection on the education Kevin provides.”
Devan McConnell, Director of Sports Performance, UMass Lowell