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22

January

Greg Carter Hockey Camp

In recent articles we have talked about the importance of being well prepared with development plans and that youth hockey skill development is much more of a marathon rather than a sprint. FOMA should not be a driving force in determining how, where or with whom you train this summer and when it comes to making your final decision, one size definitely does not fit all.

A great way to start this process is setting goals for what you hope to accomplish with your summer hockey training. Once your winter season is over, write down areas of your game that need improvement and that you would like to focus on over the summer. Whether it is very specific positional play or fundamental skill development with skating, stickhandling, passing or shooting, it’s important to identify areas of growth opportunity.

Next, research opportunities that can provide the specific training that you need and match those opportunities against your goals and objectives. This is an important step as there is so much variety available to youth hockey players that one can easily get lost in the confusion. One tried and true recommendation that we offer at Greg Carter Hockey Schools is that development won’t occur by simply playing games all summer long. Find a place to train and then dedicate yourself to that training, which brings us to ‘training versus straining.’

When we talk about training versus straining it’s important to recognize that no player is going to magically take their skills to an extreme level overnight, or over a summer. Improvement can definitely be made, and sometimes significant improvement can be made. But running from camp to camp, game to game, skill session to skill session and lesson to lesson all summer will in all likelihood create a single outcome; burnout.

After a successful summer, players should have a burning appetite to hit the ice in the fall refreshed with new skills and excited for the season, versus burned out from a strained non-stop summer hockey regiment.

Bottom line, take the time to set goals, research and align opportunities with your needs. Of course we invite you to train with us at any of our 2020 Summer Hockey Schools taking place across 11 states this summer!

Good luck with the rest of your season as you head into playoffs and please email us with any development questions that you may have!

 

 

07

January

New Year, New Me!

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

With the excitement of the holidays in the rearview mirror, it’s back to business as usual which, for those of us in a cold climate, means trying to survive the rest of a snowy, cold winter. But there’s plenty of awesome hockey to come in the next few months!

It was fun to be at the rink over the holidays and talk with so many parents and players at practices, games and tournaments. One of the things that struck me was the number of times conversations turned to summer hockey plans.

The trend over the past several years has been a growing urgency to make plans for the summer earlier and earlier, and trends of our summer hockey camp registrations support this.

While there seems to be a rush to make decisions about how and where to play and train during the summer months, there also is a very calculated approach.

As the game has become more sophisticated and players are bigger, faster and more fundamentally skilled than ever before, planning for player development and training has followed suit, with plenty of planning and research going into these important decisions.

If you are a player that in the past has typically taken more of a wait and see approach to summer hockey training, maybe this is the opportunity for a “New Year & New Me” when it comes to planning and preparation.

An old coach used to say that the best players are also the best prepared, and as the game continues to evolve, I think these words of wisdom ring truer than ever.  Sure, the best players have great talent, but that talent comes from hard work away from the spotlight of the in-season practices and games. Players who have great talent have a burning desire to continually improve and therefore are always prepping and planning for what’s next and taking their game to the next level. These players are oftentimes the first to register for our summer hockey camps and clinics.

With the New Year upon us, we invite you to contact us to help make your summer skill development plans. We are excited to once again offer summer hockey camps in a variety of states with many great options to improve your game. Make this the year you are proactive about your puck plans!

Thanks for reading and make this a New Year & A New Me!

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!

07

May

The Secret To Summer Hockey Success!

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

Every hockey player strives to get better over the summer and the big question for each player is, how will you become a better player? While there is no simple, single answer to that question that would apply to every player, what we know is that a secret to success is SKILLS.

While this might seem super obvious, it is also something that can get lost in the many considerations players face each summer about how to become a better hockey player. Skill development should define your goals for your summer hockey training. Just as a professional in any trade or business needs to continually hone their specific skills in order to master their craft, hockey players need to continually work on very specific skill sets.

If you haven’t already done so, it’s a great idea to make a list of areas of your game that need improvement. Skating is something that every player should spend time working on. Shooting, passing and stickhandling are critical skills. Improving speed and quickness gets more important with each passing season.

Look no further than the players who advance on and play at the highest levels of the game from the junior, collegiate and professional levels. The separation between good and great players is often times the smallest of margins and skill is a huge factor in that equation.  In past blogs we have talked about the rule of 10,000 and other attributes that define high skill players, and it all starts with not just a general plan to play some hockey this summer, but instead a very specific plan to improve individual skills!

If you haven’t already made plans to attend one of our camps located in 11 states this summer please check out our dates and locations. We are excited to celebrate our 25th summer of hockey school and invite you to join us!

Thanks for reading and good luck with your summer hockey skill development!

Greg Carter Hockey Camp

This summer hockey players will take a break from the warm sun and blue skies to work on their game and goals to become a better hockey player. How? Here in our home state of Massachusetts we are proud of Tom Brady’s sixth Super Bowl, and therefore rather than the five reasons to register for a summer hockey school, we added a “Tom’s Take” and now offer you SIX super reasons to increase your skills at summer hockey school!

Become a better hockey player! An old coach used to say that ‘if we get better each and every day, we are going to be just fine both as a team, as well as individuals.’ We believe this to be true and carry that motto with us into all of our hockey camps. Our talented and knowledgeable instructors work hard to make sure that when the week of hockey school is over, players leave with more skill and a better appreciation and understanding of the game.

Meet new friends & learn from teammates. Attending a week-long hockey school is a great way to step out of your comfort zone a bit and meet new players from different areas of the state, or even the country! While every player at summer hockey school shares a love of the game, it’s very interesting to see some of the differences in styles of play from state to state. Players who attend summer hockey school have a unique opportunity to not only learn from our talented team of coaches, but often from other players who by the end of the week, become another hockey friend!

Specialized skill development. We pride ourselves at teaching the many fundamental skills needed to become a great hockey player and likewise, summer hockey camp is an excellent opportunity to work on the specific skills needed to take your game to the next level. Skating, shooting and passing are just a few of the areas we like to focus on. If you have a specific skill development need, our coaches love to talk about it at the start of the week!

Setting goals. Each summer we work with players to evaluate their game, determine areas of improvement and set goals to achieve something special. Great players all set goals for themselves and then constantly remind themselves of their goals and progress towards reaching them. If you come to summer hockey camp with clear goals, you are well on your way to success!

The CARTER Method. For 25 years we have been teaching hockey with the CARTER Method. We are very proud of the success that we have achieved and look forward to developing the next generation of hockey players with this time-tested method of development.

Become a champion! We all want to win, and here is some great perspective from six-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady:

“I was the kid that was the 199th pick that never had the body for it. People didn’t think I’d play one year in the NFL.”

This is a great reminder that hockey development is a marathon, not a sprint. It is also a testament to working hard, dedication and perseverance. You may not be on the first line today, but if you set goals and dedicate yourself to achieving them, anything is possible, even six Super Bowls!

Thank you for reading and we hope that you continue to follow your hockey dreams this summer at one of our hockey camps located in ten states!  For dates, locations and registration information, click here.

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