A message from Coach Kasie Strong-
Mapping out your game plan for summer training- How to rapidly improve and still enjoy summer. Balance is the key!
In terms of your child’s on ice training routine, have you spoken to him or her lately about upcoming plans for this summer? With summer almost here, it’s important to have a plan of attack that fits your child’s needs, your schedule and the family budget.
Today’s options for on-ice summer training seem to come in all different forms such as camps, clinics and skill sessions, summer league teams, showcase tournaments and pick-up hockey to name a few. All of these choices can be somewhat overwhelming and it’s hard to always know what activity will benefit your child the most. From my own personal experience as a player and as a coach, I have found that the best plan of attack for summer training is to have balance in your routine.
Too often I see players who take all summer off then cram in some rigorous camps right before the season starts. This procrastination approach as I call it does not allow your player to develop and perfect his or her skills over a period of time. In the end your player will demonstrate the concepts learned for the week they are at camp and then forget everything once they jump into regular season practices and games. We all know this cram model from back in our school days when we would cram for a test, get an “A”, but then can’t remember any of the material we learned a week later. The same thing will happen in hockey if you don’t continue your practice throughout the season.
On the other extreme are the players who are skating all summer and do not have proper balance between being a player and being a kid. They aren’t spending enough time with their friends and enjoying their summer vacation and in the end, suffer from burnout and are dragging come the beginning of September. Like the procrastination approach, both of these extremes should be avoided if possible.
Here is a brief outline of what I mean by balance in your schedule. Remember, you, the parents, are the best judge of what your children’s needs are and what they can mentally and physically undertake. I encourage you to sit down with your children and hear them out. Ultimately it will make for the best family decision where everyone’s needs are considered.
Example of Balanced Hockey Schedule:
March/April- Hockey Season Ends.
TAKE A BREAK and has hard as it may be, limit your time at the rink. I promise, this will help rejuvenate your young players.
May- Spring Sports Start.
I encourage all of my players to play other sports in the off season to help create more dynamic and well rounded athletes. Some of the best NHL players played at least two sports into their high school or college years before opting to specialize in hockey. Example: Bobby Allen- graduated from BC and headed for the NHL, but did you know he was a four-year All-Independent School League baseball selection as a catcher at Cushing Academy? Chris Drury- excelled at both baseball and hockey as a child and in 1989 had the privilege of winning both a PeeWee National Hockey Championship in the same year as he won the Little League World Series. Tom Glavine- drafted by LA Kings and Atlanta Braves in 1984. He elected to play baseball.
June- Schools Out/ Summer Begins J
You’ve had a nice little break from hockey but right about now you’re probably starting to get the itch to jump back onto the ice. Remember to do this gradually and not jump back into anything too quickly. Private and semi-private lesson or some once a week pick- up hockey is a great way to incorporate both fun and hockey to help you get back into the swing of things this summer!
*Late June/Early July- Time to Get Serious. Strong Dynamics Summer Camp June 26 to July 3.
About this time is when I would suggest a week long camp that offers continuous days of training. This kind of camp format provides an opportunity for rapid development because of back to back training days where each day you can build off the previous day without having to spend too much time reviewing the last lesson as it’s still fresh in your players’ heads. A good camp model should also offer ample rest and recovery time between days so that our players can actually make it through the week without getting bored or feeling like they are missing out on summer fun with their friends. A week long, continuous day camp is a great way to build a strong base of core skills that you can build on throughout the summer months.
July- Sustain and Perfect. Weekly Clinics at Strong Dynamics
Take those skills you learned from your week long camp and perfect them throughout the month of July. This can easily be done with private or semi-private lessons or perhaps a once a week skills clinic where your child is able to get specialized and individualized attention without spending too much time at the rink. Don’t forget to keep the balance in your routine and find time for that vacation you were thinking about or the music camp your child mentioned back at the end of spring.
August- Hockey Season is Right around the Corner.
With hockey season only a month away, it might be time (towards the middle/end of the month) to do another week long camp, showcase tournament, some high tempo scrimmages or anything that involves a good amount of actual game play. At this point, you’ve done a good amount of skill development work and now have to incorporate what you’ve learned into a real live game environment. Don’t forget, we always want to sustain what we’ve learned throughout the season and this requires practice, practice, practice. Even though we are incorporating some games into our routine, it’s essential to balance that with adequate skill development time, i.e. practice!
September- It’s Time and You’re Ready!
The hockey season is now here and hopefully you’ve had a fun filled summer where you were able to balance summer fun with on-ice development. This balance is what will keep your athlete in top shape physically and mentally so that he or she will be able to compete with the best this season. Congratulations on a successful summer and here’s to an even more successful season!
Mapping out your game plan for summer training- How to rapidly improve and still enjoy summer. Balance is the key!
In terms of your child’s on ice training routine, have you spoken to him or her lately about upcoming plans for this summer? With summer almost here, it’s important to have a plan of attack that fits your child’s needs, your schedule and the family budget.
Today’s options for on-ice summer training seem to come in all different forms such as camps, clinics and skill sessions, summer league teams, showcase tournaments and pick-up hockey to name a few. All of these choices can be somewhat overwhelming and it’s hard to always know what activity will benefit your child the most. From my own personal experience as a player and as a coach, I have found that the best plan of attack for summer training is to have balance in your routine.
Too often I see players who take all summer off then cram in some rigorous camps right before the season starts. This procrastination approach as I call it does not allow your player to develop and perfect his or her skills over a period of time. In the end your player will demonstrate the concepts learned for the week they are at camp and then forget everything once they jump into regular season practices and games. We all know this cram model from back in our school days when we would cram for a test, get an “A”, but then can’t remember any of the material we learned a week later. The same thing will happen in hockey if you don’t continue your practice throughout the season.
On the other extreme are the players who are skating all summer and do not have proper balance between being a player and being a kid. They aren’t spending enough time with their friends and enjoying their summer vacation and in the end, suffer from burnout and are dragging come the beginning of September. Like the procrastination approach, both of these extremes should be avoided if possible.
Here is a brief outline of what I mean by balance in your schedule. Remember, you, the parents, are the best judge of what your children’s needs are and what they can mentally and physically undertake. I encourage you to sit down with your children and hear them out. Ultimately it will make for the best family decision where everyone’s needs are considered.
Example of Balanced Hockey Schedule:
March/April- Hockey Season Ends.
TAKE A BREAK and has hard as it may be, limit your time at the rink. I promise, this will help rejuvenate your young players.
May- Spring Sports Start.
I encourage all of my players to play other sports in the off season to help create more dynamic and well rounded athletes. Some of the best NHL players played at least two sports into their high school or college years before opting to specialize in hockey. Example: Bobby Allen- graduated from BC and headed for the NHL, but did you know he was a four-year All-Independent School League baseball selection as a catcher at Cushing Academy? Chris Drury- excelled at both baseball and hockey as a child and in 1989 had the privilege of winning both a PeeWee National Hockey Championship in the same year as he won the Little League World Series. Tom Glavine- drafted by LA Kings and Atlanta Braves in 1984. He elected to play baseball.
June- Schools Out/ Summer Begins J
You’ve had a nice little break from hockey but right about now you’re probably starting to get the itch to jump back onto the ice. Remember to do this gradually and not jump back into anything too quickly. Private and semi-private lesson or some once a week pick- up hockey is a great way to incorporate both fun and hockey to help you get back into the swing of things this summer!
*Late June/Early July- Time to Get Serious. Strong Dynamics Summer Camp June 26 to July 3.
About this time is when I would suggest a week long camp that offers continuous days of training. This kind of camp format provides an opportunity for rapid development because of back to back training days where each day you can build off the previous day without having to spend too much time reviewing the last lesson as it’s still fresh in your players’ heads. A good camp model should also offer ample rest and recovery time between days so that our players can actually make it through the week without getting bored or feeling like they are missing out on summer fun with their friends. A week long, continuous day camp is a great way to build a strong base of core skills that you can build on throughout the summer months.
July- Sustain and Perfect. Weekly Clinics at Strong Dynamics
Take those skills you learned from your week long camp and perfect them throughout the month of July. This can easily be done with private or semi-private lessons or perhaps a once a week skills clinic where your child is able to get specialized and individualized attention without spending too much time at the rink. Don’t forget to keep the balance in your routine and find time for that vacation you were thinking about or the music camp your child mentioned back at the end of spring.
August- Hockey Season is Right around the Corner.
With hockey season only a month away, it might be time (towards the middle/end of the month) to do another week long camp, showcase tournament, some high tempo scrimmages or anything that involves a good amount of actual game play. At this point, you’ve done a good amount of skill development work and now have to incorporate what you’ve learned into a real live game environment. Don’t forget, we always want to sustain what we’ve learned throughout the season and this requires practice, practice, practice. Even though we are incorporating some games into our routine, it’s essential to balance that with adequate skill development time, i.e. practice!
September- It’s Time and You’re Ready!
The hockey season is now here and hopefully you’ve had a fun filled summer where you were able to balance summer fun with on-ice development. This balance is what will keep your athlete in top shape physically and mentally so that he or she will be able to compete with the best this season. Congratulations on a successful summer and here’s to an even more successful season!
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