The Cutting Edge to Skate Sharpening

By Jim Johnson

Equipment is essential to the game of ice hockey and one of the most frequently overlooked components is that of the skate blade.  At every level of the game it is imperative for players to appreciate the importance of having their blades sharpened correctly.  It should be the goal of every hockey player to understand the elements of the skate blade and the value of having the blades sharpened correctly. 

 Having played in the National Hockey League for 13+ years and having coached at various levels from amateur to professional, I have a keen understanding of the advantages of having the skate blade properly sharpened.  As a player and a coach I have taken an interest in “what makes the best skaters in hockey the best?”  Not only have I realized the importance of a fundamentally sound skating stride but the underlying theme to success is often that of sharpening the skate blade correctly. 

 Let us understand the four critical elements of the blade in skate sharpening:

1. Contour/radius of the blade – This is the curve of the blade and it determines how much of the blade makes contact with the ice. More blade on the ice creates less maneuverability for quick turns; however players can generate more speed while having more blade on the ice.
2. Apex – The Apex is the center of the contour of the blade and it if is too far forward or to far back it will also effect the balance of the skater.
3. Hollow/Radius of the Hollow – This is the groove between the blades edges. This concave track has two outside edges and the space between the edges is called the hollow. A properly sharpened skate has two equal and even edges. The depth of the hollow will determine the amount of bite the blade will have with the contact of the ice.
4. Levelness – Both edges should line up perfectly even or square so that the player can have equally sharp edges with a flat hollow.

Even and uneven hollow

There definitely is a science and a skill to sharpening the skates, however by understanding the critical elements of the blade and realizing the importance of proper sharpening will provide the hockey player with an enormous advantage.  I would like to address the problems that I most frequently see.  The most common problem that I see in respect to the skate blade is that after sharpening 70-80% of skate blades are uneven.  The unevenness in the blade forces the body to compensate in other areas and can ultimately compromise the health of the player.  It definitely impacts the balance of the skater and the player’s ability to hold their edges.  Secondly, as a coach of young hockey players I frequently see the hollow of the skate is often too deep, thus creating more friction on the ice and impedes the younger player from learning some of the basic fundamentals such as how to stop because of their inability to slide on the ice.  As players develop further and their skill levels rise it still is critical that the hollow not be too deep because it will deter the player from gliding on the ice as they will have too much friction.  This friction will create fatigue, forcing the player to work harder to create speed and power against the ice.  The whole idea is to get as much ice as possible contact the center part of the blade while still maintaining a good edge.  The deeper the hollow, the more friction it will take to get the ice into that part of the blade – less hollow allows the player to be able to glide on the ice more efficiently.  This allows the player to go longer, harder and faster.  Hollows may vary depending on a player’s role, position, size, style and skating skills.  There are a range of hollows that are valuable for various types of players that enhance their performance and effectiveness.

• Deep Hollow (3/8, 1/2, 5/8 of an inch) allows for a more pronounced edge, which makes for tighter turns and more bite for stopping.  The flipside is the deeper hollow makes the blade sink deeper into the ice causing more drag and less glide.  Players with a deep hollow have to work harder because of the friction between ice and blade.  The more pronounced edges of a deeper hollow may chip easier and require more maintenance.  Players who maneuver in traffic or stop and start a lot may feel more secure with a little extra edge and may prefer a deeper hollow.
• Flat Hollow (3/4, 7/8, 1 inch) is more conducive to heavier players.  The less-pronounced edge allows for more glide because the blade doesn’t sink as deeply into the ice.  Players using less hollow will use less energy.  A flatter hollow was greatly beneficial to my teammate and defensive partner Paul Coffey.   He had one of the most efficient skating strides in the NHL.  Paul always experimented with a very flat hollow, between 1 and 2 inches.  The flatter hollow blades are easier to sharpen and need less maintenance.  There certainly is a general misconception that sharp skates can only be achieved with a deep hollow.  In the NHL, a player’s skate hollow is a personal preference based on trial and error and determined after many years of skating.

Shallow vs. Deep Blade Hollow

Presently I am the Director/Head Coach of the PF CHANG’S Hockey Program in Phoenix, Arizona.  Gradually I have altered each of my player’s blades to fit their style of play.  Understandably, players are reluctant to change the hollow on their blade, yet I encourage each of them to allow me to personally sharpen their skates and let the player determine by “feel” how flat of hollow we can take their blades.  Over the years I have witnessed many skates at 3/8 – 1/2 inch hollow that were not level and by sharpening them at 3/4 to 1 inch the players very rarely even recognize it.  I share this because by flattening out the hollow the skating efficiency and speed is increased dramatically.  Skate blades can be very individualized based on personal preference.  (I realize that you might encounter some objections to the different hollow at various skate sharpening services due to the amount of detail and precision it will require.)  I was very fortunate to have great equipment personnel in the National Hockey League (Steve Latin-Pittsburgh, David Smith-Minnesota/Dallas, Doug Shearer-Washington and Stan Wilson-Phoenix) that took an interest in teaching me the finer points of the “blade” on a hockey skate.  If you look at the teams in the NHL that have had a history of success you can usually look to the equipment manager (the guy behind the scenes) who has had a lot to do with that success! 

Below is a list of my team’s hollow:

PF CHANG’S Player Hollow

3/8 inch                 0 players
1/2 inch                 0 players
5/8 inch                 2 players
3/4 inch                 3 players
7/8 inch                7 players
1 inch                      3 players
1 1/8 inch              2 players
1 1/4 inch              1 player

I personally was skating in the NHL with a 1 5/16 hollow and still skate today on that flat of a hollow.  There is one disadvantage to the flatter hollow and that is the player may have to sharpen their skates a little bit more because even if they get a small nick in the middle of the blade it might need to be resharpened…..a small price to pay for the ability to perform at a high level. Again the advantages of having the hollow as flat as possible with the proper levelness are clear to those of us concerned with the important skill of skating.

All of these factors mentioned will enhance the player’s effectiveness and performance on the ice.  The key is finding the best skate sharpening formula for each player.  There definitely is a science and skill to sharpening skates.  You can have the fittest athlete with the best skills and hockey sense, however, if you put them on the ice with a pair of blades that do not have the capability to interact with the ice properly they will not be able to perform to their full potential.

Again, a hockey player clearly can give themselves an edge in the game by understanding the skate blade and addressing their skate sharpening consistently.

Jim Johnson
Co-Founder flexxCOACH
13+ years NHL Defenseman/Coach
January 2009

Physical Training for Children and Young People!

Coaches, this article offers you a variety of tips and ideas for organizing a low-maintenance, off-ice training program. If you use your creativity and a little imagination you will defintely see an improvement in your players before the end of the season. 15 - 25 minutes before or after practice, a couple ot times a week is more than enough to develop and improve the physical qualities your players need. Many of the exercises the players may even take home with them and practice these simple exercises with their friends in the neighborhood.  There is not a need for a lot of equipment or a special area to carry out the exercises.

VARIETY + FUN = IMPROVEMENT

Regards,

kevin S.

 

A hockey player’s career tends to become even longer.   Today youngsters begin their sports practice in organized form as early as 5 – 6 years of age.   How long you play hockey is dependent on the ambition and educational level of the individual.   Some stop playing hockey when they are 20 years old, despite everything have played for about 15 years!    15 years of training in a period when both the physical, mental and social development is enormous.

 We know that people are built for activity but also that the risks of injury in the practice of growing children and young people are great with improper training.   Improper training maybe very early specialization, combined with one-sides/ imbalanced exercises which are performed incorrectly.   It may also be that one uses training programs with young players which are intended for elite players.   We leaders/ coaches have a very great responsibility.   In this article we want to give advice to leaders/ coaches about different forms of exercises that develop young players in their quest to become good hockey players.   It is important that associations and leaders/ coaches provide the players with a stimulating training environment.    The leader/ coach should encourage players to practice a great deal!

 The training of children and young people should: 

• - Prevent injuries
• - Increase the performance capacity
• - Offer greater self-confidence
• - Have a balance between training – diet – rest/ sleep
• - Be Fun!

 We have chosen to prioritize the training exercises, which we believe are good and progressive to carry out with young people during the so-called “Golden Age”,  (9 – 14 yrs.)

 Coordination
The coordination capacity maybe divided into several different coordinative sub-qualities and sub-functions

 Balance:

• Walk on inside/ outside of the foot
• Heel to toe walk
• Lunge walk forward and backward, at the same time pass balls to each other
• Balance walk on upside down bench
  • Go forward, backward, 360 degree turns
  • Dip your hand to the floor
  • Dribble with the ball and stick
  • Balance various objects/ things
  • Close your eyes and walk
  • Jump on a line with turns

 Movement Accuracy:

• Various forms of passing and shooting exercises/ drills
• Juggling  (vary with the hands and feet)
• Juggling with stick and ball.     Stationary and while moving
• Different passing variants with somersaults, rolls and jumps
• Dribble a ball with the stick and one with your feet

 Orientation ability:
The ability to know where different body parts are.

• Somersaults
• Cartwheels
• Somersaults in the air
• Jumps and spins, jump on a trampoline

 Rhythms:
Often use music, vary the tempo.

• Jump over hurdles
• Jump rope in various combinations
• Jumps in hula-hoops (feet together and one legged jumps)
• Various forms of dribbling between pylons
• Jumping over the bench in pairs at the same time
• Skating jumps and stickhandling in pairs against each other
• Running over sticks, intensification runs/ races

Combination skills:
Motor skill combination is the ability to perform movements with various body parts simultaneously

• Stickhandling while running
• Stickhandling in place, quick feet – quiet upper-body
• Stickhandling in place, quiet feet – fast upper-body
• Jump in place in pairs and pass a ball between each other
  • Jump fast and pass easy
  • Jump easy and pass quickly
• Walk/ run and juggle
• Skating jumps and pass balls between each other

Direction changes:

• Fakes/ Feints against fixed (set) and mobile resistance
• Running at different speeds, for example, in the woods
• Play tag/ games
• Various forms of games/ play

 Speed
Special speed within ice hockey is called hockey speed.    Hockey speed maybe divided into skating speed, speed of action and action speed  ( read more about this in the book “Ice Hockey Training Theory”)

Action speed

• Quick shots and passing in different forms
• Quick turns and direction changes
• Sprinting between sticks that are set out at various intervals/ spaces
• Zig-zag hops/ jumps as quickly as possible, one/ two legs
• Quick jumps on one or two legs in various combinations
• Jump rope  (one/ two legs)

Speed of action  (Thinking speed)

• Field hockey
• Basketball
• Dip/ drop ball

Strength
You may train one’s strength in many different ways by using many different exercises.   Remember that the strength of the trunk/ torso creates prerequisites/ conditions for stability.    If you lose tension or control in the trunk/ torso then one’s balance is poor.   Therefore it is especially important that young players train the trunk/ torso a great deal, especially to improve balance and avoid injuries at a later stage.

Below are simple exercises young players can make use of:

• Stickhandling with a weight on the stick
• Forearms, roll the weight up
• Hand press with hand spring or squeeze together a rubber ball
• Shoulder press seated ( in pairs, one stands behind and resists, work up and down)
• Push-ups
• One-legged squats
• Sit-ups  (in pairs with a medicine ball)
• Back lifts (in pairs with a medicine ball)
• Trunk twists  (pairs with a medicine ball from side to side)
• Squats on the balance board

Endurance
Here are examples of both long interval training and the short interval training.

• Long intervals:  6 min., rest 3 min, 4 min. rest 2 min.
• Short intervals:  15 – 15 sec., 70 – 20 sec., 60 – 60 sec.

Interval training does not only mean running, but may be implemented with obstacle courses, inline hockey, floor hockey, indoor bandy, basketball, drop/ dip ball, etc.

Hockey-specific training forms off-ice (indoor bandy/ floor or street hockey)
Small team games with different themes, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 5-5   (Read more in the book “Game Understanding”):

• Width, depth and triangle play
• Play on small or large surface/ area
• Against several goals
• With set or mobile passers

Shooting:

• Stationary shots at the goal
• Shoot while moving, plus sprint toward the goal for rebounds
• Shoot from different angles with obstacles in between
• Several shots in succession, shoot as quickly as possible
• Sniper/ sharpshooter

 Passing:

• Various passes with the puck, large or small balls
• Passing accuracy between cones
• Short or long passes
• One-touch passes
• Passes with tempo changes, direction changes, somersaults.
• Pass receiving with the stick, hands and feet

 Stickhandling
Remember to stand in a hockey stance with the knees bent and the eyes up.

• Side-to-side, front-to-back, diagonally, figure-eight
• Against fixed/ set or moving opponent/ objects
• Vary the tempo
• Large and small play area

Diagram: Stickhandling in a “figure-eight” in various directions	Diagram: Run straight ahead and make quick dribbles around the set out pucks

 Swedish Ice Hockey Federation 2007
www.coachescorner.nu

10 Good Tips For Youth Hockey

 

1. Practices are more important than games
- Skating, standing on the correct leg when shooting and having the right technique at high speed are the prerequisites for being a good hockey player.
- More important than games!

 2. Practice cross-ice
- Practicing in small areas develops skills and avoids players standing in line.

 3. Allow youth to train themselves as much as possible
- Spontaneous training is important. Encourage street hockey in parking lots and driveways when ice is unavailable or floor hockey in all variations.

4. Hockey should be fun
- Skip tactics and systems, let the youth go after the puck. Everyone wants to handle the puck – no one goes to practice and games to play defensively all the time.

5. Parents support and encourage
- Parents should never place pressure on their child. Remember that 1 of 5 youth experience their parent’s meddling in their sports as negative. Provide transportation, fix equipment, console, be there – yes, by all means!

6. Games are not a matter of life and death
- Games should be fun. A change of pace from practice days. Not anything deathly important. Pour it on offensively – youth are creative and like to try things. Let them play to success.

7. Don’t play just your best players and no tactical systems
- Play without tactics and systems. Let youth use their own creativity and develop under their own conditions. Let them be where the puck is – for they have come to play the puck!

8. Show respect!
- Ice hockey means fair play! Show respect for the rules, referees, opponents and coaches. Play fair! No game is won from the penalty box.

9. Try all positions
- Let everyone try all positions on the team. Don’t lock players into defense, center or forward already from the beginning. Rotate around in fives – an elite player can play anywhere!

10. Exchange instead of buying!
- If one is going to follow the market hysteria it will be expensive to try hockey. Organize instead within your association an exchange day or rent equipment for the season.

Then everyone can play hockey!

I don’t want any of those trophies

By BILL PENNINGTON

HAVERFORD, Pa. – Holding his award in his hands, Tom Donnelly, Haverford College’s longtime men’s cross-country and track coach, walked to the banks of the Mississippi River and tossed the trophy in the water. This was 2001, but it could have been any of several years that Donnelly has won an N.C.A.A. Division III Coach of the Year award.

He throws them all away.

“Usually in the garbage,” Donnelly said, explaining that the 2001 season happened to come to an end next to the Mississippi. “We ran terrible that day, so I wasn’t waiting. I blamed myself.”

At Haverford and in the clubby track and cross-country culture nationwide, the trophy-in-the-river story has a place in the considerable Donnelly lore. It goes along with the 62 regional and conference championships, the 113 all-Americans and 24 individual N.C.A.A. champions in Donnelly’s 34-year tenure at Haverford, one of the nation’s smallest liberal-arts colleges.

“Dunking that trophy is typical Tom and maybe explains his unbelievable success at such a small college,” said Marcus O’Sullivan, the four-time Olympian who is now the head coach at Villanova University, a Division I track powerhouse. “Any time in the last 20 years Tom could have gone anywhere he wanted in college coaching. He’s that good. But Haverford has been his team and he could never get himself to look past any new class of kids coming in. He wanted to help them, so he has stayed. And look what he’s done.”

On Saturday, Haverford, the five-time defending champion, competes in the N.C.A.A. Mideast Regional cross-country championships.

Standing next to the track on Haverford’s Philadelphia-area campus last month, Donnelly, a voracious reader of American history books, acknowledged at least one regret.

“I do feel bad=2 0about that trophy I threw in the Mississippi, because you don’t want to pollute an important, historic waterway,” he said. “But

I don’t want any of those trophies.
I appreciate the gesture,

but a coaching award
distracts from the essence of a coach’s job,
which is to educate the students.

You can only justify the existence of a team at a college campus if being on the team benefits the athletes’ educational experience.

“Being a truly committed member of a team can be a highly valuable learning experience. That’s what is important, not some trophy.”

Perhaps then, Donnelly will be pleased by another achievement of his track team: It had the highest cumulative grade-point average (3.43) of any men’s Division III track team this year.

In his nearly three and a half decades at Haverford, one of the most selective college s in the United States, Donnelly has developed a reputation as something of a spiritual running guru who molds teams of decent but not exceptional high school athletes into elite college runners. As a Division III institution, Haverford awards no athletic scholarships, and Donnelly still recruits by writing letters to prospective runners in long hand.

More than high schoolers have been drawn to Donnelly, who as a former all-American at Villanova has deep technical knowledge in the sport. During the 1980s and 1990s, Sydney Maree, the world record holder in the 1,500 meters, and O’Sullivan, then the three-time indoor world champion in the 1,500, went to the Haverford track to be coached by Donnelly.

“I was one of those far from exceptional high school runners who arrived at Haverford and was swept along by the program and Tom’s teachings,” said J. B. Haglund, who as a senior in 2001-2 won the Division III championship in cross-country, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. “I remember one day seeing Marcus O’Sullivan on the track doing a Tom workout, and I remember that Tom spent as much time working with the slowest kid on our team that day as he did with Marcus.

“Whoever you are, if you want to come and work hard, Tom has time for you. He says this over and over: ‘The team is only as strong as the commitment of the least-accomplished person on the team.’ “

When he left Villanova nearly 40 years ago, Donnelly landed his first coaching job at a Philadelphia-area high school. He inherited a last-place, dispirited cross-country team.

Donnelly understood immediately what was going to be his core coaching philosophy, and as dozens of his other teams would later find out as well, his primary coaching messages are not delivered in conventional form.

This first Donnelly team attended a preseason high school camp in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. One night, in the dark, Donnelly took the team out for a walk.

“It was pitch black and all these Philly kids were way out of their element as we walked along following my single flashlight,” Donnelly said. “Suddenly, I turned off the flashlight. I waited about 10 seconds, and when I turned it back on, they were all huddled together, trying to find some strength or courage in a close group. And I said to them, this is how a team works. If you come together, you will get through the times when you really need each other.”

Donnelly’s first team won its league championship.

Decades later, Donnelly’s methods have changed some, but they have remained unorthodox. Last month, a prerace pep talk was laced with tales of Civil War battles and a trivia question about a Philadelphia baseball pitcher with a Civil War link. (The Hall of Fame pitcher Eddie Plank was born in Gettysburg.) What was Donnelly’s point?

“You may be really nervous about this race right now, but this is something we do for fun and it is not pressure,” Donnelly later said. “Nobody is shooting at you in battle. History gives us real examples of pressure. Go back to the Great Depression. Pressure is not having a job with five starving kids. This is a race. All you have to do is try your very best. Then you cannot lose.”

Kevin Foley, who graduated from Haverford in 1983, was a member of one of Donnelly’s early teams and the first Haverford track performer to earn a national championship when he won the 1981 N.C.A.A. 1,500 title.

“No one would have predicted the success Tom has gone on to have at such a small school like Haverford,” Foley said. “For a team to place high at the N.C.A.A. cross-country championships, you have to get five guys to be among the top 50 finishers. So with about 500 men at Haverford, Tom has to get 1 percent of the male student body to be among the country’s best 50 runners. That’s insane.”

Donnelly has needed a dose of perspective to deal with some recent results for his team, whose second-place finish behind Dickinson College in the Centennial Conference championships ended a streak of 15 consecutive Haverford titles. One of Haverford’s top performers broke his leg earlier this season, and several of the team’s runners have been slowed by sickness.

“It’s not what we expected, but we acknow ledge the other team’s accomplishment and we recover,” Donnelly said. “It goes back to the essence of the educational experience. What can be learned from it? Probably a lot.”

On many evenings at Haverford, Donnelly can be found inside his office meticulously plotting the next day’s workout or composing his neat, handwritten letters to recruits.

Looming above him on the walls, crammed from floor to ceiling, are more than 100 framed all-American certificates. One entire wall is just for Haverford track or cross-country national champions.

Why, he was asked, was it acceptable to keep and display those awards?

“Those recognize the achievements of some people who worked extremely hard and had great teammates,” Donnelly answered. “I didn’t have anything to do with those.”

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Pete Carroll’s Winning Coaching Style

Watch the CBS video presentation

(CBS) If your image of a football coach is of a tough guy with a permanent scowl on his face, then you haven’t met Pete Carroll. He’s the coach of the University Of Southern California Trojans, one of the top college teams in the nation. He’s also upbeat, optimistic, and seems to have a permanent smile on his face. And no wonder: he has the highest winning percentage of any active coach in Division 1 football.

As Byron Pitts reports, Carroll took a once great college team that had been on a 20-year slump and turned it around, winning two national championships. If you’re a football fan, you may already know all that, but there’s another side of Pete20Carroll that you probably don’t know. He’s taken his coaching ability far beyond the football field, to a place you might never expect.

He’s been called the “Prince of L.A.,” and Pete Carroll’s “castle” is the L.A. Coliseum, the home field to the University of Southern California Trojans. It’s where 93,000 loyal subjects bleed red and gold on Saturdays. It’s a uniquely American ritual played out with more glitz, glamour and pageantry than almost anywhere else in the country.

“This is how we like it. This is how we want it to be. I don’t want it any different than this. I want it as hyped and as big time as possible. And I want to show that we know how to deal with it and handle it and still play beautifully you know ,” Carroll explained.

“One of your rivals, Charlie Weiss, the coach of Notre Dame, said on this program, on 60 Minutes that all coaches are miserable. You miserable?” Pitts asked.

“No. I never have been miserable,” Carroll replied.

“I keep thinking day to day, that somethin’ good’s just about happen, you know.
And so, that mentality, whether I’m in a game or coachin’ in the midst of the season,
I don’t know how to think otherwise.
And that doesn’t take you to misery.”

It did take him to another win and an 11 and 1 season.

Carroll says one of the real secrets to his success can be found on the practice field.

“A great coach once said that the best players don’t always win, the players that play the best do. That’s why we work so hard. That’s why we train so hard. That’s why we focus so much on practicing better than anybody’s ever practiced before,” Carroll said.

“Better than anybody else has ever practiced before?” Pitts asked.

“That’s the whole idea, you know, you want to do things better than it’s ever been done before or don’t you,”

Carroll explained.

He makes practice as much like a real game as possible – that includes piping in fake crowd noise during a scrimmage, letting fans in the stands, and learning to stop for TV commercials.

Unlike more traditional coaches, Carroll doesn’t tear down his players, he builds them up. That’s what he calls a teachable moment. Take a mistake and learn from it. It’s part of a philosophy that he calls “Win Forever.”

Asked what “win forever” means to him, Carroll said,

“It’s about finding out how good you could become at something and then making it come to life.”

Carroll sees that as his life’s work: teach young people, not just ball players, to seize every opportunity and make the most of it.

Pete Carroll moves easily between both his teams. To him, they are all just young men who need a coach.

“Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out.

And sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching.

And, you know, the greatest of things can happen,” Carroll said.

Asked if he believes that, Carroll said,

“No, I know that’s true. I know that’s true. I’ve seen it. I’m livin’ it.”

Youth Sports Provide Critical Lessons

Robert Rausch is never short of topics for his Children in Competitive Sports class at Westfield State College.

“We never lack for material,” said Rausch, who has been teaching the class for 10 years. “There’s something in the newspaper literally every day.

“We get great discussions. Participation level is very high. Everyone has a story, both the good, the bad, and the ugly, which adds to the discussion and makes the class interesting.”

Interesting? Yes. Good news? Not necessarily.

Rausch, who played sports growing up and has coached and officiated multiple sports in his adulthood, said he has his concerns about the road youth sports, in general, is traveling.

“One time you played soccer for three months of the year, played probably 10 games, and when that was over you moved on to another activity,” said Rausch, 50, who grew up in Green Bay, Wis. “Now, as part of your soccer experience, you’re also doing weight training in many circumstances, or endurance training. And when the season is over in 30 or 40 games, you have a non-traditional season, and you’re encouraged to do something in your offseason.

“From the students, all the time, I get this, ‘I was told I wouldn’t make the varsity soccer team if I didn’t participate on this summer traveling squad.’ We’ve become much more specialized to the point where it’s much less about enjoyment and fun, and really about winning and being the best, which goes against the surveys that suggest kids participate for fun.”

Rausch said a study regarding what youth athletes are hoping to accomplish by playing sports, conducted by Michigan State University, listed winning as No. 10, while having fun, playing with friends and doing an activity ranked much higher. Another study showed 75 percent of kids will stop playing sports by the age of 15.

Other than discussing hot topics, Rausch has the students conduct surveys on campus on athletes and non-athletes.

“We want to teach the students in terms of the dynamics of youth sports, and from my perspective, how it’s changed over time,” said Rausch, of West Springfield. “Initially, (youth sports) was an outlet for energy purposes, good recreational fun, and an enjoyable activity you can do with others, and to some degree compete. Largely today, many people really have an angle, whether it’s a college scholarship or a career in the pros as a means of getting an education; belonging to a team and a support group. I think it’s changed a little bit in that sense.”

Rausch also said there are, among others, two big problems in youth sports: parents’ perspectives regarding college scholarships, and coaches.

“Someone told me about a survey, which I’ve yet to track down, that says 75 percent of all parents think their (high school) child is good enough to get a college scholarship based on their athletic ability,” he said. “And in actuality, it’s a little less than one percent. That’s a big discrepancy.”

Regarding coaching, Rausch said there’s a Catch 22 situation. There are 3 million to 3.5 million youth coaches in American, with two-thirds of those coaches being volunteers.

“There in itself is a dilemma,” Rausch said. “We have a demand for these folks who are giving up their time in the name of their son or daughter, or for giving back to the community. Can we ask them to take a workshop or take some courses so they have a little bit of a background in terms of child development and youth sports in general?”

Rausch said his students enjoying going on Youtube to download videos regarding youth sports, for example, “You can find dozens of videos: the football father running out onto the field to tackle an opponent – an 8-year-old or a 10-year-old. It’s insane.”

For parents interested in becoming coaches and educating themselves, Rausch suggested going to www.nays.org and www.ncaa.org. For a good read, he also recommended a book released in March, written by Tom Farrey: “Game On – The All-American Race To Make Champions Of Our Children.”

Send suggestions to

wellsb6@charter.net

Redefining Winning for Young Athletes

By Lisa Cohn and Dr. Patrick Cohn

Young athletes want to feel like winners – whether or not they are always scoring and beating their opponents. Sports parents can help their kids feel good about their experiences simply by taking the focus off the win. David Jacobson, a spokesman for the Positive Coaching Alliance, says his organization wants to re-define the term winning in ways that provide important benefits to young athletes.

“Of course people want to win, says Jacobson. My organization advocates trying as hard as you can to win.But there’s more going on than finishing with the highest score. There are so many educational opportunities. For example, if you can put forth maximum effort, you become a winner.” If coaches and sports parents can frame conversations in this fashion, kids don’t feel as nervous. “They are more likely to feel successful and be successful,” he says.For example, let’s say your young athletes are outsized and outmatched. How can you help them feel like winners? Ask them to go into the game against a formidable opponent with an eye toward succeeding in small ways, says Jacobson.Give young athletes specific objectives that help them attain excellence. For example, . in soccer, a coach might ask kids to try to nab every loose ball.Even if the final score is 5-0 and your team loses, if you’ve gotten to every loose ball, you’ve won a small victory that imparts confidence to kids!

In sports psychology, we call this focusing on manageable objectives or small, easy-to-accomplish goals. Coaches and parents should ask kids to do this to help them focus on effort, rather than outcome.

When kids are too focused on results and wins, it’s a huge distraction. It’s harder for them to succeed and feel confidentfocus on the things they need to do to execute well in the present moment.

As a sports parent or youth coach, it’s your job to help kids identify and focus on mini-objectives. Ask them to try and get aim for two rebounds in basketball, or to focus on making four out of six quality shots on goal. Change their mindset; help them enjoy the game more by focusing on the process and the fun!

You can also help build kids’ sports confidence and success by consistently telling them mistakes are okay, says Jacobson.

“You have to impart the notion that mistakes are okay. The greatest success occurs if you make mistakes. You can’t learn–or get to other side of envelope–if you don’t push yourself and make mistakes,” he says.

For example, you’re not learning as an ice skater unless you’re falling down.

Not only do you need to tell kids mistakes are okay. You need to reward them for making them and use them as a learning opportunity.

“You want them to keep trying to be aggressive and willing to push the outside of the envelope,” he says.

“Through positive reinforcement, tell the athlete at every turn, ‘You didn’t get the ball there, but you tried something new, and that’s a step in the right direction. Great work,” he explains.

Award winning parenting writer Lisa Cohn and Youth Sports Psychology expert Dr. Patrick Cohn are co-founders of The Ultimate Sports Parent. Pick up their free e-book, “Ten Tips to Improve Confidence and Success in Young Athletes” by visiting http://www.youthsportspsychology.com

Competitive Confined Area Development

Small Area GamesCompetitive Confined Area Development 

Why has there been so much talk in the hockey circles about small games?  What are the benefits of these games if we were to incorporate them in the practice environment?  In order to answer these questions it is important to step back and try to better understand how the game of hockey is being played. I hear a lot of comments around the rinks about small games and how they are a waste of time; “Hockey is not played across the ice, so why are we doing this with our kids.  We should be playing full ice.”  I believe that one must scratch beneath the surface in order to appreciate the benefits of small games. In order to prepare our players to succeed in games it is important to practice how we play.  This is a true statement that has been used as an argument against the use of small area games.  I would argue that we should practice how we play in order to prepare our kids to be successful in game situations, and small games is an invaluable tool in that preparation process because a small area game scenario is precisely how we play.

How is hockey being played today?  Hockey is an instinctive game.  Instinctive games are games that require players to act on their “instincts” in order to have success.  Time is a critical factor involved with instinctive games.  Players that are able to recognize opportunity and execute on the recognition in a “timely” manner are at a competitive advantage.  If the recognition of the opportunity is too slow, then the opposing team will react and defend against the opportunity.  If the execution of the hockey play is too slow, then the opposing team will react and defend against the opportunity.  Recognition skills are intellectual skills, commonly referred to as “Hockey Sense.”  Execution skills are the physical skills required to act on the decisions that players make throughout the course of a hockey game.  Passing skills, skating skills, and shooting skills are examples of the physical skills.  Both intellectual and physical skills need to be developed in order to allow players the best chance to be successful in games.

Hockey is also a game of “time & space.”  The best players understand this concept of time and space.  In order to maintain possession of the puck teams need to have a sound understanding of time and space.  Where do I go on the ice in order to offer support to the puck carrier?  How close or how far do I need to be to the puck carrier in order to offer proper support?  The answers to these questions lie in the understanding of time and space.  Where a player decides to go and how close he decides to get to the puck carrier depend a great deal on the opposition.  Positioning of opposing players, the amount of pressure on the puck by the opposing team, and the level of puck control are all factors that players will consider in order to make the proper decisions.  This information needs to be processed and acted on in seconds or less.  Players have to become “instinctive” when processing and acting on this information. 

Situations in hockey games never truly occur the same way we draw them up in practice.  We, as coaches, would like to make the game black and white.  The fact of the matter is that the game, by nature, is Gray.  Coaches design system play in order for their teams to be somewhat predictable for one another when playing together.  We practice these systems to the point of exhaustion.  We give players “roadmaps” on where to go or what to do in certain situations in an attempt to help our teams be successful.  We work diligently on breakouts, defensive zone coverage, neutral zone and offensive zone forechecks.  We are all well intentioned in the process of trying to teach our players how to play the game.  Sometimes an unexpected bi-product of an over-emphasis on system play is that we condition our players not to think for themselves.  In our attempts to make the game black and white for our players we unintentionally condition them not to think the game.  Although there is a place in hockey for “systems” depending on the age group and level of play, the very fabric of the game is defined by the “Hockey Decisions” that players make within the framework of system play.  These hockey decisions are critical to a team’s success and a player’s success.  These hockey decisions occur because the game is “Gray.”  Situations never play themselves out in games the same way they do in practice.  We can’t go back to the huddle and try something new if the previous play didn’t work. 

The nature of our game is “Instinctive” and “Gray.”   If this is the way that hockey is being played today, then how de we prepare our players to be successful?  What are the necessary skills that players need to develop and possess in order to be successful in games?  What is the best way to develop these necessary “game-like” skills?  We have defined intellectual skills and physical skills as the tools for success.  We have talked a lot about “Decisions.”  Players make decisions with and without the puck every moment of every game.  These “Hockey Decisions” are critical to a player’s success and a team’s success.  We have talked about the concept of time and space and the importance of understanding this concept in order to have success.  Small games are an invaluable tool in order to develop these essential intellectual and physical skills.  Small games will give players a chance to better understand the concept of time and space.  There are no reference points (Hash Marks, Circles, etc…) on the ice to help players get to certain spots.  They can’t be given a “roadmap.”  By placing certain conditions on various games (Making rules) players will be conditioned to think the game for themselves in order to take advantage of the conditions of the respective game.  Small Games, by nature, are “Gray”.  They will condition players to think and make “Hockey Decisions” both with and without the puck.  Small games will give players an opportunity to develop the necessary physical skills to be successful in games, as well.  Players will touch the puck often by nature of the confined space which will develop puckhandling skills.  They will have the opportunity to pass and receive.  They will develop tight area skating skills that will allow them to create time and space for themselves to make plays.   The best benefit of incorporating small games in your practice environment is that they are FUN! Kids love to play and compete.  They will enjoy coming to practice to PLAY HOCKEY not work on drills. Lou Vairo, a well respected USA Hockey Coach and ambassador for USA Hockey says, “We go to the rink to PLAY hockey, not WORK hockey.”   Small games are a fun way to develop essential hockey skills where the game becomes the teacher.  The players will learn and discover the game through the experience of playing and competing.  Research suggests that “experiential” learning is the most powerful way to learn with the longest retention time of what has been taught.  Anatoli Tarasov, the famous Russian Coach says, “The greatest gift you can give to your players is to teach them to Coach themselves so that they can act independently of you, the coach.” 

Incorporating small area games in your practices will go a long way to helping you create the optimal environment for development and fun.  Small Games will give the players an opportunity to think the game for themselves.  Let’s give the game back to the kids!  See you at the rink!     

  “We go to the rink to PLAY hockey, not WORK hockey.”Lou Vairo                                           USA Hockey Coach and Ambassador

When smiles leave the game – by Tim Wendel

Growing up, Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana pitched perfect games in Little League baseball and was so adept at high school basketball that North Carolina State offered him a scholarship.

Baseball slugger Mark McGwire quit baseball temporarily his sophomore year in high school to play golf. If he hadn’t become caught up in the ongoing steroids controversy, he would be playing in more pro-ams and maybe eventually on the senior PGA Tour. He was almost as good with a golf club in his hands as he was with a baseball bat.

Deion Sanders was such a well-rounded athlete as a kid he became the only athlete to ever play in both a World Series and a Super Bowl. “Parents need to make the major decisions that affect their kids’ lives,” Sanders says. “But when it comes to play, they shouldn’t discourage a broad approach. When a child wants to color, do you tell him to use just one black crayon?”

That’s precisely what we’re doing with our budding sports stars. Because of the influence of travel teams and the tantalizing hope of a college sports scholarship, the days when kids marked the seasons by the sport — football in fall, basketball and hockey in winter, and track, lacrosse and baseball in spring — are over. One wonders what would have happened to Montana, McGwire or Sanders if they were young sports stars in this day and age.“

We have reached the point of saturation — a vicious revolving door of never-ending seasons,” says Fred Engh, founder of the National Alliance for Youth Sports and author of Why Johnny Hates Sports. “Children can’t even take a couple of months’ hiatus from a sport for fear of falling behind their peers and being excluded from teams the following seasons. Those elite teams, all those trophies — that’s what the parents want.”

‘Dream for parents’

Summer hockey, fall baseball, indoor winter soccer, elite year-round teams that travel far from their neighborhoods — these are all part of a new kidcentric culture in which specialization supposedly breeds success.

Says sports psychologist Rick Wolff, author of Coaching Kids for Dummies: “Excelling in sports has become as much a part of the American dream for parents as getting their kids into the best school and living in the best neighborhoods.”

But here’s the dirty little secret: According to the NCAA, in men’s college basketball, 2.9% of athletes make the jump from high school to the collegiate level. Only 3.1% of players make it in women’s basketball, 5.8% in football and 5.6% in baseball. For most sports, the odds of a college athlete playing professionally are less than two in 100.

“Parents are using their kids as a lottery ticket,” Sanders says. “Before all this money came along, moms and dads didn’t go crazy at games. They didn’t curse their kids and get on them to play better. It was just fun. Now, there’s a Yellow Brick Road, and parents think it’s their ticket.”

In making youth sports so specialized, so adult, we’re killing our children’s joy for the games.

More than 70% of those who begin playing sports in elementary school will have quit by high school, according to the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at Michigan State University. “Starting out, most kids just want to play. It’s the parents who keep score,” says Christopher Andersonn, author of Will You Still Love Me If I Don’t Win. “They can kill the love a kid has for a sport. Once that’s gone, it’s very hard to recapture it.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics cautions about overuse injuries (tendonitis, stress fractures) in children who were specializing or training year-round in sports. As my two kids have grown up, I’ve coached them in soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse and ice hockey. I’ve told the stories about Montana, McGwire and Sanders to the parents who have children on my teams. Afterward they smile, as if I’m teasing them, and then the puzzlement creeps across their face as they realize I’m dead serious. Most of the best athletes of our time played just about every sport growing up — usually in the back yard, in the street.

That’s not to say my family hasn’t been affected by our society’s single-sport obsession. In almost every sport my kids have played, high-powered coaches and commissioners have tried to steer us away from local leagues to more elite, even travel teams. They’ve often urged my children to play their particular sport year-round and attend intensive sports camps.

Sometimes, we’ve said no. But other times we’ve been caught up in the sports hype, occasionally with disastrous results. My son, who is a pretty good swimmer, recently announced he had had enough. Swimming just wasn’t fun anymore.

What stays with players

At such times I vow to do a better job as a parent, and I remember something Montana said years ago, when he was as All-Pro quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. It was after another game in which Montana had rallied his team for a last-minute victory.

When reporters asked Montana about one of the pivotal plays, when he evaded a blitzing defender coming from his blindside, he smiled that Cheshire Cat grin of his and said, “Didn’t you guys recognize that move?”

Puzzled looks all around. Nobody knew what he was talking about.

“It’s an old basketball move,” Montana explained. “Spin away from your man, remember?”

“You guys forget I was a pretty good basketball player. They offered me a college scholarship in that, too.”

Tim Wendel is a member of USA TODAY’s board of contributors. His books include Castro’s Curveball and The New Face of Baseball.

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