Tag: Athletic Development Resources

This Week at Hockey Strength and Conditioning

Today is Emily’s 25th birthday. I know, she’s getting old. But we still have a few years before society forces us to buy white sneakers, move to Florida and start eating dinner at 4pm every night. Em, if this is one of the 3 times you read my site every year, Happy Birthday!

Partial nudity aside (he has boots on), let’s get into what’s been going on over at Hockey Strength and Conditioning.

A couple weeks ago at Endeavor, Karl Kurtz (one of our coaches) mentioned he was reading an article and came across a new exercise that may be worth playing with. I played around with it a bit and really like it. I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as a “staple” exercise, but it’s another one to have in your tool box and a great way to add variety for players that have a long training history. Plus, I’m a “new” exercise junkie and am always interested in testing new things and seeing what else is out there, especially when it involves equipment we already have Check out the video at the link below:

Check it out here >> Stiff-Legged Sled Drag

Endeavor’s own David Lasnier wrote an excellent article on supplement recommendations for hockey players. I work with David so I get to benefit from his infinite Canadian wisdom on a daily basis, but this was still a great read. He and I both agree that the overwhelming majority of supplements are crap, and that most companies are marketing-heavy and quality-limited…meaning they’re good at getting you to buy, but not good on delivering on their promises. His article describes the supplements that are actually worth looking into, both in terms of having research-documented benefits and in terms of being safe. I’m looking forward to more stuff from David in the future.

Check it out here >> Supplement Recommendations for Hockey Players

Sean Skahan (from the Anaheim Ducks for those of you that don’t know Sean) did another interview with our “behind the scenes guy” Anthony Renna about post-workout nutrition the training he’s doing with his guys at this point in the season. It’s always enlightening to hear Sean speak, especially about his situation with the Ducks. Pro hockey presents a lot of unique challenges and training at that level has a different emphasis and application than training at lower levels. Sean has done a great job with the Ducks and provides a lot of insight for young coaches like me in this interview.

Check it out here >> Audio Interview with Sean Skahan

Click Here for the best in Hockey Strength and Conditioning

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Try HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com for 7 days for only $1! It’ll be the best dollar you’ve ever spent.

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Premier Hockey Training Program: Q & A

This week’s gotten off to a great start. Monday we were empty mid-day at Endeavor so I audibled from our typical mother-approved playlist and let Lil Wayne run wild for an hour. Apparently, it was the right call. Matt, David and I all hit Trap Bar Deadlift PRs…during the same song.

Matt-425

David-445

Kevin-515

I’ve also gotten a ton of email from players about my “Premier Hockey Training Program” that opened on Monday. Questions comes in a variety of forms, but ultimately what everyone wants to know is:

Is it for me?
Is it worth the money?

With that in mind, let’s answer your questions and see if you’re a good fit for the program.

Is it for me?
I can’t speak for everyone, but the overwhelming majority of the hockey players I’ve met are amongst the most competitive people in the world. In fact, they’re frequently competitive to a fault. Simply, most players fall victim to the more is better approach and suffer some unnecessary injuries in the process. NOTHING will guarantee results like well-directed enthusiasm.

The problem most players have is that they lack the “well-directed” component. Most players just do the same crap that their “expert” friends tell them they should do and completely overlook the fact that training to look better naked and training to play hockey aren’t entirely the same thing (although training for hockey will get you bigger, stronger, faster, and leaner…so it can be the best of both worlds).

Since I first got involved in “coaching” by running clinics while still in high school, I’ve always held the hard working kids in a higher regard. There are lots of skilled players out there, but it’s the players that are willing to put the time and effort into achieving their goals that are going to be successful in the long run, in hockey and in life. Sometimes these players are incredibly skilled, sometime they aren’t (yet), but all of them always improve, because of their work ethic. This is EXACTLY the type of player I’m looking for in my Premier Hockey Training Program.

I don’t care if you were the most skilled or least skilled player on your team last year. If you’re the type of player that takes pride in outworking everyone else on your team, this program is for you.

If you want to train hard AND smart, this program is for you.

Is it worth the money?
To be honest, this is a hard question for me to answer. When I played, I paid for almost all of my own equipment and for a significant portion of my team dues. Money wasn’t exactly abundant, but I would spend every dime I owned on things to make me a better player (and on hockey cards).

If you think investing in your progress is money well spent, then this will be worth the money. Customized training programs are nearly impossible to come by. A lot of so-called “individualized” programs are spit out my computer programs. I’m intrigued by the magical algorithms these programs use, but the bottom line is that it’s not a human writing your program and you have no guarantee that the program was updated anytime recently. The players that get access to high quality training programs at younger ages are at a SUPREME advantage over other players, for the rest of their careers. In consideration of how many players are using programs that are not only unlikely to substantially improve their performance, but are also likely to cause breakdowns and predispose them to injuries, players that are following quality programs have the dual advantage of improved performance and injury resistance.

The internet makes this drastically more available than it was when I was growing up. Imagine the benefits players would have if everyone had Sidney Crosby’s skating coach, for example. This isn’t possible because coaching skating technique is still pretty limited to in-person formats. In contrast, players that have a pretty good grasp on exercise technique can follow a professionally written training program anywhere. Because the program is written based on the equipment availability of the player, there is no guessing your way through exercise replacements when you don’t have the equipment to do what automatically generated programs suggest.

Many of my colleagues have online program design services for in excess of $350/month, and people gladly pay it. I know that many of the applicants for my program will be high school players that have to pay for it themselves, so the cost of my program is less than 1/3 of that.

As for whether it’s worth the money, I guess it depends how much you value your progress. As I said in the video, I back all my training, at Endeavor or online with 100% money back guarantee, so there’s really no risk for you.

Think you’re right for the program? Apply at the link below!

>> Premier Hockey Training Program <<

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Premier Hockey Training Program

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. A lot of the players we train were in Districts so I went out to watch a few games with David and Matt on Saturday. It was great to get out of the house (and Endeavor) for a few hours to watch the kids play.

Last week I mentioned that I had an important announcement for you today. This is something I’m really excited about because I know it will have a HUGE impact on a few select hockey players’ performance and careers.

Click here to check it out >> Premier Hockey Training Program

I’ve done this in the past with a few players, but have never advertised it publicly because I never had the time to work with more than one or two players. The player’s I’ve worked with in the past have raved about their experience, which brought me to the conclusion that I need to MAKE time to offer this to more players. Enrollment is still limited though, so don’t put this off. Go to the link below and watch the video now.

Click here to check it out >> Premier Hockey Training Program

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Hockey Strength and Conditioning: Training Programs and Off-Season Conditioning

Before I jump into today’s post, I have a couple announcements:

You can now download my hockey speed training manual “Breakaway Hockey Speed” for free if you sign up for my newsletter (look left).
I removed the membership requirement for checking out the videos at Ice Hockey Training so you can now watch them all for free. I did this because I’m not happy with how long it takes the videos to load on each page and I’ll probably be deleting those pages altogether in the next few weeks as we continue to build our video library over at Hockey Strength and Conditioning
Lastly, I have an exciting announcement coming early next week. If you’re a player (or parent) and really want to take your off-season training up a notch, you won’t want to miss it.

On to the good stuff…

It’s been a busy couple weeks at Hockey Strength and Conditioning

To start, congratulations to my friend Jeff Cubos who was recently added to a very prestigious “expert panel” at our site (one that I managed to sneak onto!). I’ve learned a lot from him over the last year and look forward to more great stuff from him in the future.

Sean Skahan, Mike Potenza, and Darryl Nelson have all added really great articles and programs. I especially like Potenza’s contribution to our new “Youth Off-Ice Training Program” section, which caters directly to coaches and parents that are running off-ice training for their kids with little-to-no equipment. You can check them all out at the links below:

Improving Shoulder Mobility from Sean Skahan (Article)

Teaching Circuit Phase 1 from Mike Potenza (Youth Off-Ice Training Program)

Training Around an Injured Arm from Mike Potenza (Training Program for Injured Player)

Beginner Off-Season Strength Training from Darryl Nelson (Training Program)

The reason I’m keeping the article descriptions so short today is because I want to highlight a recent forum “conversation” on off-season conditioning for hockey players. You hear me boast about how good forum conversations can be, but if you never see it for yourself, you may be skeptical. Due to length restrictions, I’ve included the posts from only one member. Fortunately, that member is Jim Reeves, who has an OUTSTANDING reputation for training and developing elite level players.

Jim drops some wisdom on us…

Round 1
I’m not sure I agree with the recommendations given. I look at physical principles as unique qualities to develop in specific ways. Strength coaches are mistaken if they feel they can blend one exercise into the goals of another. Power development is a unique quality, move body weight or weighted implements for speed in finite quantities. Conditioning is workload tolerance. Move your body weight in specific movements within time specific or performance specific guidelines.

The error occurs when your begin to blend power exercises into a conditioning routine. A recipe for disaster. Power is power, conditioning is conditioning. Don’t blend the two, you will get sub-par results in both aspects.

My suggestions would be two fold. On the one hand, you have three weeks to begin a more aggressive off-ice workout workload, but choose basic exercise planes and do not introduce lifts you would not do in-season. ie RFE Split Squats would be out, hip flexors too sensitive to loading in-season. Sounds boring, but it works and no-one gets injured/irritated.

Conditioning is the other element. Target two high intensity sessions per week off-ice in addition to the on-ice sessions they get in the next three weeks. If ice-time is limited, then their on-ice sessions are critical, something you may not have any control over. Bikes are probably best, slide board good in the first two weeks but may not be the best choice in the week before on-ice competition.

Round 2
I always throw up a red flag when someone suggests an Olympic lift as a means of conditioning. The tendency for it to go wrong is too easy and happens too fast to closely monitor as a coach in most situations. These lifts are not meant for conditioning purposes, save them for training an athletes power. Square peg, round hole analogy applies here.

To add to my thoughts, I think that introducing treadmill sprints and hang cleans after a player has just finished their season may be too aggressive for this time of the year.

First, running I find is not very well received in the first couple of weeks of an off-season program, never mind with players who just stepped of the ice the day before. If they were on the ice 6-7 times per week as indicated, then I doubt they have had much in-season running work performed up till this point. Last thing you want to do is run the risk of irritating the hip flexors with only three weeks before the next major on-ice event.

Second, the one area of the body which is almost across the board restricted at the end of a season is a players wrist extension. To catch a clean repetition at high speeds with moderate loads will push this area of their body beyond what it will comfortably be able to handle, again introducing risk where it is not necessary.

Also, if I put a stop watch to any of my athlete’s clean reps, I doubt they will get more than two reps in the interval times suggested. I can think of many other safer “power” exercises which would allow for more repetitions in the given interval time, thus increasing the metabolic demand on the body, which is the intended goal of the session. Or, the athlete will load heavy in order to get some level of fatigue with so few repetitions. Again, introducing risk if they have not been performing hang cleans throughout the season right up till the beginning of this short time off the ice.

I would move toward conditioning modes which achieve the goals of the metabolic and energy demands you are looking for but in safer exercises for this time of the year. In late July after 8 to 10 weeks of an off-season program, substitute weighted jump squats or squat jumps into the suggested protocol and the players will find it is a good conditioning session. 10/10 on the treadmill may be a little slow for only 10 second intervals, maybe closer to 11.5-12mph for most 16+ athletes.

Round 3
As I said above, I would stay away from running right now. Bike or condition on the ice. If twice a week is off-ice for you right now, then add one or two on-ice sessions as well. If you are looking to keep their strength, then strength train. TB Deadlift, Front squat, single leg squats all good options, add in 2-3 hip isolation ex’s and upper body lifts and you have a pretty good day right there. Add power exercises before strength work as you see fit, 2-3 per workout, basic movements like hurdle jumps, Single leg box hops, Med ball rotation and chop throws.

In all honesty I would look hard at mobility and flexibility issues at this point over focusing on power development. You will get more bang for the buck and players will perform better during this short term focus.

Round 4
No, primarily the wrist. Maybe a little bit of pronation/supination loss observed but not much of anything lost at the elbow in my experience. Any loss of elbow range is in guys who focus on the “hunting workout”; all guns and traps!! (editors note: this is hilarious) We don’t get many of those around here.

As for running, I implement a progressive increase in the distances and the length of the shuttles as the initial weeks of our off-season program begins. More stops and starts initially to work on deceleration skills, but I think more importantly the short distances limit the ability to get into a full running stride. The length of the stride increases as the shuttle length increases. We bike a little at the beginning, then progress off the bike and into the slideboard and short shuttles, then lengthen out the shuttles before beginning any acceleration work.

Sled drags are started as a walking/marching speed for the first 8 to 10 weeks, and we do a lot of unloaded acceleration work after the 6th week of the program before looking at implementing resisted sprint work with any resistance.

Round 5
No direct acceleration work for the first six weeks of the off-season. Deceleration is the focus. The distances are increased for both conditioning in the early part of the off-season and for when acceleration work is introduced after the 6 week mark.

Round 6
Yes, we get some players starting at the end of March, I stretch that period out to 8 weeks, versus 6 weeks if they start mid-May. If they start with us at the beginning of July and haven’t been on the ice for quite some time, then they get a fast forward version of 2-3 weeks of deceleration then we start the acceleration work.

But there are always exceptions, for example last year I had one player still playing in the Stanley cup finals, so by the first week of July he was still only three weeks removed from being on the ice. The most important aspect I am trying to respect here is the inability of a player to perform high speed hip extension through a full ROM. I feel the need to eliminate muscular guarding, specific tissue restrictions and re-educate/re-train the muscular recruitment patterns around the hip joint. Shorter shuttles and reduced acceleration work accomplish that goal for me and give the athlete’s body the opportunity to adapt to the workouts before we ask them to move in that manner.

I still strongly belief that the best way to become better at anything is to have good mentors. With this in mind, I look at a Hockey Strength and Conditioning membership (which is only $1!) as an investment in a mentorship with multiple coaches that work with and develop NHL players more so than a traditional “information site.” This situation would not have been possible 10 years ago, and it’s an incredible opportunity for people that train hockey players at any level to learn form the guys that have been doing it the longest, and the best.

Click Here for the best in Hockey Strength and Conditioning

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Try HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com for 7 days for only $1! It’ll be the best dollar you’ve ever spent.

Please enter your first name and email below to sign up for my FREE Athletic Development and Hockey Training Newsletter!

Leadership In Hockey

When I was growing up, the captains on my teams were always the best players. Having trained several dozen youth players over the last couple years, it doesn’t seem much has changed in that regard. The most skilled/talented players are awarded “letters” and the rest of the team tends to look to those players for answers.

I never questioned this growing up, but I do now. Unfortunately many of the more skilled players completely lack any semblance of leadership ability. In a team setting, leadership means:

Attentively paying attention to the coach when he/she is speaking
Being in the front of the line to start drills
Encouraging teammates when they need it
Saying and doing the things that will make the TEAM better
Having INTEGRITY

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard so-called leaders say things like “we lost 7-2, but I had our two goals!” To be clear, I never under-recognize individual achievement. It’s these small “wins” that build confidence in a player. I also understand that youth players are, well, just kids, and that they haven’t always learned the importance of self-sacrifice for the greater good of a larger group.

Instilling Leadership Values in Players
That said, I think leadership qualities can and should be taught and reinforced. As coaches, it would be helpful to place a greater focus on habits than outcomes. For example, if a slow player is working extremely hard, commend the work ethic instead of the outcome (mediocre speed). Giving the players responsibility and holding them accountable also goes a long way. In an off-ice training setting, I had the captains on one of the peewee teams I trained run the warm-up for the second half of the year. I made it clear that they were expected to know it inside and out and to run the team through it, smoothly. And they did.

If you’re a coach, try to find ways to encourage your players to take responsibility for their own success and to reward habits, instead of outcomes. Reinforcing these things will not only make your players better at hockey, it will likely make them better citizens and functioning members of society in the future.

Becoming a Leader as a Player
If you’re a player, know that integrity is the number one requisite to being a leader of any group. Integrity, simply, is doing the right thing whether someone is watching or not. Players that joke around, but then work hard when the coach is watching are usually hated by their teammates, regardless of how talented they are. Be the player that is recognized for always doing the right things, constantly working hard, and making those around you better, and you’ll always be regarded as a leader.

It’s also important to know that not every leader will have a letter on his/her jersey, and that different teammates will look for different things in leaders. On a personal note, my final year at Delaware, I was the captain of our team (quite an honor). We had one assistant. Realistically, we could have had 3 “C’s” and 3 or 4 “A’s”. There was a lot of character on that team. After talking it over with the assistant captain, we agreed to not put letters on our jerseys at all. The thought was that we were a TEAM of leaders. While we had some responsibilities and expectations that other players didn’t, I frequently looked to other players for leadership or motivation.

Manliest mascot ever…

A few players in particular really stood out to me:

Every practice ended with “over backs”, which is just a brief conditioning drill skating between boards width-wise. Every practice, regardless of how terrible I felt, I lined up next to my friend Joe, because I knew that, regardless of how terrible he felt, he was going to go 100% every time. To me, THAT is leadership (not surprisingly, he was the captain the following year).

We had another player, Ben, that was probably the best penalty killer I’ve ever played with. I’ll never forget one game, where he went down to block a shot and took it in an unprotected area. He was hurt. He was slowly getting back up to his feet, when he picked his head up to realize that, oddly, the puck had bounced off him right back to the defenseman who took the original shot. The defenseman immediately wound up to take another shot, which Ben immediately dropped back down to block, again, taking it in an unprotected area (a different one). It’s not a glorious job, but it helps a team win. That behavior is contagious. Nothing makes other players want to sacrifice to help the team succeed more than watching a teammate sacrifice to help the team win. THAT is leadership.

Players need to recognize that leaders come in multiple forms and play multiple roles on a team. EVERY player can be a leader, and not every leader needs to wear a letter. In fact, I’d recommend that no leaders do. You may find the team is more cohesive that way.

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

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