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player tips

02

October

Summer Hockey Camp in Summer Hockey Camp in Massachusetts

The start of the NHL regular season has fans excited to ‘tune in’ and cheer on their favorite team. For youth hockey players, this is also the time of year to ‘tune in’ to specialized skills to be super successful!

October means that hockey players have traded in their golf clubs for hockey sticks and that the season is officially underway! Golf clubs you might ask? Hockey players – especially NHL’ers – are notorious for also being ultra competitive golfers and as such, it should come as no surprise that they take after PGA pros and constantly work on their game at the driving range, putting green and just about anywhere they can gain an edge and a stroke. And when a golfer really wants to get serious, they take lessons and work with a swing coach who helps fine tune their swing.

In the same way, hockey players need specialized instruction to help refine and master specific skills. When the hockey season starts it’s important for players to not only work on team aspects of the game, but to also continue down the long term player development path. USA Hockey created the American Development Model (ADM) to aid in age-specific skill development for youth hockey players across the country. The success of this program has been undeniable, especially among players fortunate to play for coaches utilizing the ADM throughout their youth hockey career.

What we have found over 25 years at Greg Carter Hockey Schools is that many players seek out extra opportunities for skill development. Players who have participated in our Sunday Night Skills Sessions gain access to extra ice time for additional skill repetitions. We offer players the option to come every week or simply walk in and sign up at the rink which provides maximum flexibility to train when they are motivated and inspired. Our Thanksgiving Clinic also offers additional in-season specialized skill training.

Why is skill training important not just during the off-season but to also stay ‘tuned in’ during the season? 

  • It’s important to train throughout the season to maintain the skill progression that you made in the off-season. Don’t put unnecessary distance between what you learned over the summer and what you are working on this season! 
  • It’s important to push and continue to improve your skill development and working on specialized skills can accomplish this.
  • It’s important to be ready for the most important time of the season, the playoffs! 

As your season begins we encourage you to continue to fine tune your skills, work hard and always bring a great attitude. Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink soon!

 

 

11

September

Summer Hockey Camp in Summer Hockey Camp in Massachusetts

Greg Carter Hockey School just wrapped up our 25th year of hockey schools and what a fun and exciting summer we had training great hockey players from across the United States. Throughout our more than two decades of running hockey camps we have always maintained that what you learn at camp is important, but how you retain and continue to work on the skills you learn is even more beneficial to your long term skill development.

September is a busy month with the transition from summer to fall, the start of school, the first kickoff for your favorite football team and ultimately, the start of the hockey season! It is also the transition month when players are either going to continue working on the skills they developed during the season and retain that knowledge, or lose focus and let some of it slip away.

“Skills in September” is an easy reminder that development is a marathon, not a race and that to master any skill it requires repetition and practicing ‘the right way’. For example, if you were struggling to take a slap shot and learned the proper technique this summer and finally developed that “A Team” power and accuracy, it’s important that you continue shooting pucks in September, and not just shooting pucks, but shooting them with the proper mechanics that you learned at summer hockey school.

The staff at Greg Carter Hockey Camps was super impressed this summer with the level of talent hockey players have and especially how young players start to acquire awesome skills at such a young age. The youth hockey game is more competitive than ever and to get to the next level, players need to have all of the tools in their toolbox.

Hopefully you went to hockey camp this summer with skill development goals in mind and you are entering the season with more confidence in your game, more desire to get better and a positive work ethic. September is the month to continue bringing that energy and excitement to your training so that you can continue the momentum and hit the ice when the season starts turning heads and impressing coaches.

Thanks again to everyone who attended our camps this summer and to all of the hockey players out there, good luck with the start of your season and remember, your success this season starts NOW, in September!

12

June

Defining A Game 7 Superstar

Posted by Greg Carter
Summer Hockey Camp in Summer Hockey Camp in Massachusetts

As a Massachusetts-based hockey school for 25 years, our rooting interest in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs was obvious, Bruins all the way! As we watched the intensity and excitement of the playoffs unfold, it is always so amazing how even the most talented players in the world are able to elevate their game to an even higher level, a ‘must watch TV’ level! And wow did Jordan Binnington do just that for the Blues!

While the path to the Stanley Cup Finals was different in many ways for the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, when it comes to the level of play and ability to get the job done, both teams and the players left us with many lessons.

Grit – When Zdeno Chara left Game 5 for the trainer’s room after a deflected puck bloodied his face, anyone that knew his strength of character wasn’t shocked when he returned to the bench later in the same game. Throughout the playoffs, time and time again there were examples like Chara, when players from many teams pushed through pain and adversity to help their team to the ultimate prize. Grit matters in hockey and Game 7 superstars have plenty of grit.

Skill – Jaw-dropping passes and highlight reel goals were plentiful this playoff season and when you consider the skill and talent that it takes to win, it’s inspiration and motivation for the next generation of players to emulate today’s Game 7 superstars. For all the goalies out there, look no further than Binnington! If you have the will, you can develop the skill.

Leadership – When it comes to the biggest games on the biggest stage, the greatest leaders get the job done by doing what they do best, leading! Perhaps there is no better example of this than the Game 6 guarantee by the captain of captains, Mark Messier, in the 1994 Conference Finals. Needing a win to stay alive, Messier guaranteed a win.  Down 2-0 late in the second period, Messier set up a goal and followed that with a pure hat trick in the third to win the game 4-2. Leaders lead.

This summer as you train to become a better hockey player and prepare for the upcoming season dare to dream bigger than everyone else and like Charlie Coyle, practice those Game 7 dekes and dangles. Take your game outside of your comfort zone. Work hard on skating, shooting, stickhandling and the skills that matter most.

We are excited to celebrate our 25th year of summer hockey school and invite you to train with us and pursue your own dream of one day being a Game 7 superstar! Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at the rink this summer!

 

18

March

This summer is an excellent opportunity to develop your hockey skills and continue down the long and winding path of player development. And when it comes to mastering the skills necessary to make it to the top of the stat charts, there is no easy road or short cuts.

The best way to start your journey is to establish goals, and then just as important as those goals is a plan to achieve them! There are many reasons to have a solid plan for your goals and one of the best is so that you don’t start down another path every time a new opportunity presents itself.

As the game of hockey has progressed and the skills of hockey players have reached new heights, there are more options than ever to work on your fundamental hockey skills. One of those reasons to consider a development path however, should not be FOMO.

One example of FOMO is a player who sets a plan for the summer to work on a very specific set of skills. Maybe it’s stickhandling, shooting or skating, or maybe it’s all of the above! Regardless, a plan is in place to become more skilled in defined areas.

Then the phone rings. On the other end of the line is someone who is offering an opportunity to play on a team that sounds like it has some good players, fun friends and plenty of games and tournaments. Decision time. Do you stick to your plan to spend the majority of your summer hockey time working on skills, or do you accept the opportunity to play on this team…which sounds like a good opportunity and you don’t want to miss out! FOMO has arrived!

While there is nothing wrong with playing a few hockey games or maybe some summer hockey tournaments, it’s no secret to anyone that skill development does not happen during games. USA Hockey puck possession studies done at National Tournaments with top players show that an average player touches the puck less than a minute during every game. Definitely not the place to develop skills!

But you don’t want to miss out on some fun weekends, opportunity to maybe play with some new players and a variety of other things. FOMO.

All you have to do is listen to the top players in the world talk about how they arrived at the top of the game. They worked on skills every chance they possibly could. And they will also say that player development is a marathon, not a sprint. So don’t worry, you won’t be missing out on anything by not taking advantage of every opportunity that comes your way today, tomorrow, next week and next year!

Thanks for reading and we hope this summer you will continue in your player development at one of our camps in 11 states across the U.S.! For more information, dates and locations, click here!

Summer Hockey Camp in Summer Hockey Camp in Massachusetts

“Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

–Wayne Gretzky

For their gift this holiday season, kids aren’t going to the North Pole or flying a drone to intercept Santa’s Sleigh, instead they are headed to where the presents are going, under the tree! In the same way, players need to head to where the puck is going!

Watching kids play hockey, especially at the younger ages, it’s interesting and entertaining how they swarm around the puck and as a group, chase and follow it like it’s the town mayor handing out candy at the 4th of July parade. While coaches continually stress the importance of spreading out and playing position, it’s almost as if the puck is a magnetic force they are attracted to like, say, their cell phone or video game!

The ability to read the play in hockey is an extremely important skill as players progress through their development, and the best way to understand how to read and react is through experience. The time spent around the rink playing, practicing and even watching hockey on TV will help provide this experience.

The importance of understanding position play and the flow of the game looks natural to some players, but that intuition and ability to pick out tendencies is a learned behavior. I love driving by parks, ponds and driveways where kids are playing hockey in unstructured environments. Not only are they developing creativity and fundamental skills, but they are also mentally building an understanding of the natural flow of the game so that when it comes go game time, their instincts can take over.

Watching the best players at the top levels of the game, it’s not a coincidence that certain players always find themselves with time and space, and often, in breakaway situations. These players read, react, anticipate the play and as the Great One said, go not to where the puck is, but to where the puck is going.

We hope this holiday season that your player not only heads to where their gift is going, but learns over the course of the hockey season to go where the puck is going. Thanks for reading and we invite you to celebrate our 25th year of hockey camps in 2019! Dates, locations and registration information is now posted for our Greg Carter Hockey Schools located in 10 states across the U.S.!

 

 

 

 

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