Slide board 

-Slide board lets us evaluate stride efficiency, power, and quickness.  The slide board will be set to age and size-appropriate lengths of 4’, 6’, 8’, and 10’.  Through our video breakdown software, we will show the athlete percentage to sit down in a seat position which is the ideal position to skate.  We can use this by measuring the player in a 20-second shift on the slide board.  This will also show the ability to hold the ideal position at a 90-degree angle or as low as the athlete can.  

Shooting assessment

The athlete will be tested on age-appropriate shots and efficiency at hitting targets from the slot, right dot, and left dot locations if they were on the ice.  Each position is measured from the post to the dot and slot to be consistent from on and off the ice.  The player will be evaluated on their ability to shoot with their head up and hit top right, top left, bottom right, and bottom left targets.  Each player will get 20 shots to hit each target.  Shots will include, snap shot, slap shot, wrist shot, and slap shot.

Proper shooting position with hands off the body and using the top hand to pull toward the body to generate maximum force and accuracy.

Stickhandling 

There will be two puck-handling tests.  One test will be the athlete's speed and amount of times the athlete can stickhandle through a figure 8 obstacle.  This is important and shows the ability to move the puck in multiple directions with the puck in front of their body.  It also stimulates the ability of a player to deke in a 1v1 situation and on a goalie, the ability to pull pucks out of scrums and make quick movements with the puck to make the next play.  The second test is stickhandling in a windshield wiper motion.  This is an indicator of a player's ability to effectively put the puck in a position to shoot or pass.  Once a puck possession is gained by an athlete it is important for that player to carry the puck and put it in a position on their forehand or backhand to then shoot or pass the puck.  This will be evaluated on speed and ability to keep their eyes up.  

Handling the puck with eyes/head up.  In an ideal puck-handling situation, the athlete is seeing and evaluating the ice and is still able to see the puck because they are handling the puck with their hands off their body.  

Development:

The day to day development sessions are focused on each athlete's specific skill set and needs. Our experienced staff provides rep to rep feedback, from mechanical cues to posture and positioning. The problem in today's youth landscape is these youth athletes become part of the crowd and don't have the guidance necessary to:

-make adjustments, 

-understand why 

-to grow.

Sample 1-hour hockey session. 

5-10 minutes warm up 

Warm up soft tissue work. Dynamic warm-up, rolling out muscles, increasing core body temperature to perform.    

15-20 minutes slide board 

Focus- Stride extension (pointed toes, reaching with leg) and recovery (recovering underbody to the outside of foot lined up directly under body)

10-30 second shifts

10 rounds

15-20 minutes Puck Handling

Stick handle wide 45 seconds x 3

Stick handle short 45 seconds x 3

5 puck stick handle diamond 45 seconds x 3

5 puck straight line 45 seconds x 4

Deek 1 (Lemieux) x 20

Deek 2 (Kane) x 20 

15-20 minutes Shooting

Focus-top hand off body and proper follow through on a shot 

Slot-Right Dot-Left Dot

Forehand push to snapshot bottom left and top left targets x 10 each target (5 min)

Forehand push to snapshot bottom right and top right targets x 10 each target (5 min)

One-time snapshot x10 top right and top left x 10 each target (5 min)

Game 3 bar- player competes vs coach first to hit all 3 bars right post/left post/crossbar  (5 min)

Additionally, we use sports performance as a method to hasten the acquisition of new skill development. So often, a player is in a less desired athletic position, slow, lacking balance because all of their experience is specific to hockey and not developing a foundation of strength, speed and athleticism.

In our experience developing hockey specific skill has very little to do with ice time at the youth age groups, they're getting that: in practices, games, etc. What these athletes are lacking are quality touches, immediate feedback from a coach, and a development model to establish a foundation and build upon. I liken it to baseball hitting...you don't need to be on the field to work on hitting, and in a hitting session the athlete is receiving rep to rep feedback and adjustments. We are doing the exact same thing with hockey skills.