Tag: mike potenza

Hockey Strength and Conditioning Update

This is the first Hockey Strength and Conditioning update of 2011! As I mentioned in a previous post (2011 Hockey Strength and Conditioning), we have a few exciting things in store for our members this year. If you didn’t read about it yet, click the link above to check it out. The overall intention was to expand our content to provide more information that youth coaches and parents could use. If you weren’t sure if the site was right for you last year, it will be in 2011!

There’s been some great stuff over the last couple weeks:

My Road to the Top from Michael Boyle
Hopefully you’ve read this already, but this is a must-read for aspiring strength and conditioning professionals. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the underlying theme of Coach Boyle’s article really applies to anyone that aspiring to do anything. This hit home for me.

In-Season Core Training-Phase 3 from Sean Skahan
This is the third phase of Sean’s in-season core training program for the Ducks. It’s a great mini-circuit that would hit all the major movement patterns in a short amount of time. For youth coaches, this progression is something you could pull off the site and start using immediately. As long as your athletes demonstrate proficiency with the movements, it’s okay to progress to the next phase.

Video of the Week: 1-Leg DB Row from Darryl Nelson
Darryl shows a variation to a traditional 1-arm db row and provides some coaching cues to correct some common errors that the athlete in the video is demonstrating. It’s always interesting to see what other coaches look for while their athletes are lifting.

Table Stretching from Mike Potenza
Four partner-assisted stretches to loosen up the hips. Mike walks you step-by-step on how to perform the four stretches, what compensations to look for, and how to position your body to ensure the athlete is moving in the right places. I may just be lazier than Mike, but if I was working with older athletes that were mature enough to get it, I’d teach the team how to do this so I didn’t have to stretch everyone out personally. It’s all situation specific though.

By the weekend we’ll be posting an article I wrote on “Dissecting the 1-Leg Squat” (which dives into why I’ve abandoned the pistol variation altogether and exactly how I think the exercise should be performed to get the most bang for your buck) and a youth team dynamic warm-up with videos. This dynamic warm-up is the first part of our “youth training programs” addition to the site. In my opinion, establishing a dynamic warm-up should be the first priority of youth coaches because it’s something that can be done before EVERY practice and game. This warm-up is exactly what we use at Endeavor with all of our youth hockey teams and I’ve included videos of all the exercises so people unfamiliar with the names will know how to do them. Any questions, just hit up the forum.

Which leads me to…

The forum activity has been outstanding over the last week. Kevin Schaeffer asked a great question on how to improve sleep quality, especially for teams that are traveling a lot. Interesting responses there. Sean started a thread on the controversial topic of whether VO2 max testing is worthwhile for hockey players, and I added a video I stole from my friend Maria Mountain that redefines how we think of “strong.” The Hockey Strength and Conditioning forum is starting to turn me into one of those guys that just lurks around the internet all day waiting for an exciting update.

This guy knows what I’m talking about

If you aren’t a member, go check out what you’ve been missing by clicking the link below. If you are a member, go check out all the content I mentioned above and hop on the forums to comment on the threads!

Click Here for the best in Hockey Strength and Conditioning

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Remember, it’s only $1 to try HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com for the first week. You will never find more hockey training content anywhere for $1, and it’s only getting better.

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2011 Hockey Strength and Conditioning

As I mentioned on Wednesday (2011 Hockey Development Predictions), the hockey community can expect some pretty significant changes over the next 12 months. I also mentioned in that post that one of the most “simple” ways to improve on-ice performance is to follow a well-designed training program. In this regard, I don’t think you’ll find a better resource than HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com.

Since the site’s opening last year, I’ve personally made relatively substantial changes to my programs and coaching methods based on information I attained from the site. There aren’t any other hockey-specific resources out there that I can attest to with the same enthusiasm. With that said, there are always ways to make the site better. Yesterday, Anthony Renna (the technical brains behind the site), Mike Potenza (San Jose Sharks), Sean Skahan (Anaheim Ducks), our newest addition Darryl Nelson (U.S. National Development Program), and I spent an hour on the phone discussing how we could make the site better for you.

Here’s a glimpse of what you can look forward to in the near future:

  • A MASSIVE exercise video library. This was a feature that people really liked about my Hockey Training Expert site before I merged it with Hockey Strength and Conditioning, and we’re bringing it back! With this, you’ll get access to a ton (200+) exercise videos divided by training category (e.g. warm-up, speed, etc.). This is a huge pain in the ass to do so it will take time, but we will get it done!

Anthony, after adding 300 separate video pages and linking to all them on one page with specific categories.

  • A recommended equipment page so those of you in charge of making equipment decisions can easily find the products that we use in videos or reference in articles.
  • Lastly, we’re planning on adding youth off-ice training programs. The rationale behind this was simple. People with advanced academic backgrounds can pull a lot of information from the training programs and progressions that we post currently. But these aren’t always “season-relevant” and many of the people responsible for youth off-ice programs either don’t have the academic background and/or the equipment to implement similar strategies in their environment. The goal of these new programs is to provide minimal equipment programs that coaches can print off the web and put to use immediately. All the exercises will have videos too so there’s no confusion there. I’m more excited about this than any other aspect of the site because I think it will be a HUGE help to the thousands of coaches and players out there that want to train, but don’t have the necessary means to do so in an optimal fashion.

2011 is going to be an exciting year for hockey AND Hockey Strength and Conditioning. Head on over to the site and sign up for a year membership. With the content on the site already, the brain power on the forums, and the changes we’re making moving forward, we’re truly revolutionizing hockey training. You owe it to yourself to be a part of it!

Click the image below for more information about Hockey Strength and Conditioning!

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Did you remember to sign up for this? 2011 Sports Rehab to Sports Performance Teleseminar

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Top Hockey Development Posts of 2010

With 2011 officially upon us, I can’t help but reflect on what a great year 2010 was. A few of the highlights:

  1. We had an extraordinary Summer at Endeavor (awesome to watch Eric Tangradi score his first NHL goal and Colby Cohen play his first NHL game).
  2. I was able to make a trip out to San Jose to spend some time with my friend Mike Potenza, and another trip down to Raleigh to meet Pete Friesen and attend his Physio-Fitness Summit (which I recapped for a HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com article).
  3. My Ultimate Hockey Development Coaching Program was not only a big success, it was a lot of fun to do. The thing I like about doing “interviews” is that I pick up a lot of new stuff too. Joe Heiler, Jeff Cubos, Brijesh Patel and Jared Beach’s talks were especially enlightening to me, but I’ve heard great feedback about all the other talks as well.

  4. Along those same lines, the launch of HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com was particularly exciting. When I was growing up as a player, it was nearly impossible to get access to NHL coaches, players, trainers, etc. Now, the internet has made this exceptionally easy. The fact that you can now make a nominal investment and get immediate access to the guys that have help develop elite level hockey players at all ages doesn’t only appeal to me as a professional, it excites me as a former player. And the networking possibilities are unreal. When I was a senior at the University of Delaware, I wrote a letter to every US-based NHL Strength and Conditioning coaches inquiring about internship opportunities. While I wasn’t able to grab an internship out of their effort, there were a few NHL Strength Coaches that called me and spent some time giving me advice on how to break into the industry (Mike Kadar, who is now with the Pittsburgh Penguins was especially helpful). At HockeyStrengthandConditioning.com, you can post an inquiry on the forum and get responses from many of the top hockey strength and conditionign professionals in the world (including several that work in the NHL or with NHL players). Awesome.
  5. Emily and I made the move from Baltimore to Philadelphia at the end of August. My commute to Endeavor has dwindled to measly 25 minutes from what was a grueling 2 hour trek. It’s still enough time that I can go through an audio book every week, but short enough that I don’t need to wake up at 5:30 and drink 3 coffees and a spike just to make it to work (awake) by 8:30.

And finally, I’ve gotten terrific feedback on many of the posts on this site over the last year. It’s certainly come a long way from when I first started a few years back. As you continue to spread the word about this information to people you know, I continue to get more feedback to cater the content to your interests.

With all that said, here are the top Hockey Development posts of 2010!

7. Hockey Injuries: Sports Hernia Case Study

6. Hockey Training Tip to Prevent Shoulder Injuries

5. Hockey Training with the Vertimax

4. Randy Pausch, Will Smith, Kevin Neeld?

3. Video Reveals Secret to Developing Elite Level Hockey Players!

2. No One Conditions Alone

1. The Truth About Sidney Crosby

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. If you haven’t yet, go sign up for the 2011 Sports Rehab to Sports Performance Teleseminar. It’s free, and the speaker line-up is incredible!

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This Week at Hockey Strength and Conditioning

On Wednesday night I made it out to my first Flyers game of the year to watch them battle against the Sharks. It was one of the most exciting (and disappointing) games I’ve seen in a while. Flyers gave up a 4-1 lead, scored a goal as time expired in overtime (that was disallowed), and then lost in the shootout. D’oh!

I also got to see a few of the players I used to work with at UMass Amherst (who were out to see former UMasser Justin Braun play) and catch up with Mike Potenza briefly.

Mike had a really interesting video series at Hockey Strength and Conditioning this week on lateral speed training. I’m very progression oriented. With a few exceptions, if I can’t regress or progress an exercise, it won’t find its way into my programs. Coach Potenza demonstrates a 4-step lateral speed training exercise progression that doesn’t require a lot of equipment at all (perfect for most youth organizations). To see Coach Potenza’s progression (and his cat-like agility) click this link:

Videos: Lateral Speed Drills from San Jose Sharks Strength Coach Mike Potenza

I added an article with a few videos demonstrating a somewhat common shoulder movement abnormality we see in hockey players during upper body pressing movements, what the cause may be, and a few of the strategies we use to fix it. You can check that out here:

Videos/Article: Preventing Shoulder Injuries I: Implications for Pressing Exercises from me

The forum discussion on a hip impingement case study has been excellent. My friend Jeff Cubos is in the process of shooting some video on posterior hip capsule stretches (something almost every hockey player needs to be familiar with) so look for those in the next few days.

Click the link below for more information about Hockey Strength and Conditioning! See you on the inside!

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Remember, it’s only $1 to try for the first week. You will never find more hockey training content anywhere for $1…trust me (I’ve looked!).

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This Week at Hockey Strength and Conditioning

Content was booming this week at Hockey Strength and Conditioning! Check out what you’ve missed:

Article: Neck Strengthening for Hockey from Sean Skahan
I really like Sean’s philosophy on how neck training can manifest in the form of exercises you may not suspect. In addition to the videos he includes, there is a lot of other great information in this article pertaining to concussions and the process of returning players to the ice. Great read.

Article: Producing Elite U.S. Players Starts at Bottom from John Buccigross
FINALLY! Someone with a huge audience (other than the HockeySC.com team) discusses what true hockey development is all about. It’s been interesting to see how hockey has developed in the U.S. over the last 15 years. USA Hockey is taking a lot of great steps to improve their development model. The impression I get is that Canada, believe it or not, is starting to recognize that they’re headed down the wrong path and will start to make similar changes in the somewhat near future. File this under the “Must Read” category.

Article: The Disconnect of the Culture from Jim Reeves
Another brilliant article on the importance of developing athletes first, hockey players second if the goal is to pursue elite level competition. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, we had two stud goalies train with us this summer at Endeavor that were also very competitive baseball players. Baseball-characterized by short bursts of high velocity power generation and reactivity. Goaltending-characterized by short bursts of high velocity lateral movements and reactivity. Coincidence?

Article: From the Ground Up from Dan John
Dan John is a legend in strength and conditioning. I’m really looking forward to hearing his presentation(s) at the MBSC Winter Seminar this year. When in doubt, return to basics. This article serves as a reminder that a simple, well- and consistently executed program is better than a haphazardly performed complex program.

Program: In-Season Lifts: Core Movements, Strength Movements and Complexes from Mike Potenza
Mike put together a great exercise library, divided by movement pattern/emphasis, that he uses to train the Sharks in-season. Similar to Dan John’s article, this provides some insight into what you NEED to perform if you’re extremely limited on time, as most in-season players are.

As always, the forum had a few great discussions this week. I particularly liked Maria Mountain’s response to the “Career Guidance” thread so check that out the next time you sign in.

Click the link below for more information about Hockey Strength and Conditioning! I look forward to speaking with you on the inside!

To your continued success,

Kevin Neeld

P.S. Remember that today is your LAST CHANCE to get my Ultimate Hockey Development Coaching Program for free! Check out this post for details: Rapid Response Goalie Training

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