Across New Jersey, tryouts for Tier 1 Mite-Bantam hockey start on May 4, with Tier 2 starting the following Monday on May 11th. That’s only a few short weeks away! Here’s a tip for your hockey player. One of the best ways to increase strength, speed, and endurance is to strength train. Unfortunately too many well-meaning coaches and parents don’t allow kids to lift weights because we’ve all been told that it’s bad for growth plates. Here is some news for you – this is a big myth! It’s simply not true. Don’t believe me? Just check out what the Mayo Clinic has to say here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/hq01010
If the Mayo Clinic says it’s OK for kids to strength train, that’s good enough for me. So now here’s the even better part. Strength training is relatively simple, inexpensive and delivers big results quickly. To learn more about the best way to strength train with kids check out Fred Hahn’s great advice on his web site http://www.seriousstrength.com/. (The bottom of his home page features a great video of his daughter Georgia doing his workout!) Fred has been known to work with some hockey players himself! And if you're here in Northern New Jersey you can check out the good work of Tim Lynch and his crew at Maxability Sports & Fitness in the Ice House in Hackensack. (http://www.icehousenj.com/healthclub_hockey.aspx)
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4 years ago
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It's a mad, mad world (and backyard) for us puckheads By John Buccigross
ReplyDeleteESPN.com
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We are all certifiably insane.
All of us who let this game of hockey wash over us for most of the cold winter months.
If you play the game, go to a game, watch it on television or the computer, or have a son or daughter who plays, none of it is easy.
Playing hockey requires coordination, courage, balance, hands, strength, vision and ice time. It also requires parents and coaches who have the patience, tenderness and care to usher you along. This selflessness is a bigger gift than the actual skating.
Watching the game requires an innate understanding of the sport, usually gained by playing at some level. It also requires a thick skin as the media bashes the sport, whether it be ignorant radio-show hosts or most sports anchors who treat the game like a carnival show by making fun of European and French-Canadian name pronunciations and not taking the time to understand the context of each game.
Going to a game requires a large wad of cash for tickets, parking, $8 beers and a Hal Gill bobblehead for little Sparky. You won't have extra money for a stamp collection. Hockey will have to be your hobby, as well as your life.
Having a son or daughter who plays hockey requires the ability to write large checks that allow another adult to scream at your child four times a week. Every weekend, you'll drive for countless miles, stand in freezing rinks and yell "PASS!" and periodically observe the commandment, "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy."
If you have two children playing at the same time, multiply all of that by two. The check-writing, tire wear, oil changes and screaming; your assertion that the opposing coach, at one point in his life, served time; and understanding that you will spend the afterlife in hell for never keeping the Sabbath holy.
Once again, we do all of this because we hockey folk are all certifiably insane. To quote the Todd Rundgren-produced band Bourgeois Tagg -- and I know I'm just a follower in a long line of writers who have played that card -- "I [We] don't mind at all."
But, for some of us, that's not enough. We have to take this insanity one step further.
We build a backyard rink.
After the temps hit 70 earlier this month, winter came back to Connecticut last week. An arctic blast of Canadian air was forecast by Todd, the local weatherman (it's a scientific fact that 65 percent of all weathermen are named either Todd or Jim Cantore).
The low temperature was expected to hit single digits for two successive nights. That was my cue.
I had planned on storing the giant white liner I purchased from nicerink.com and using it next year, but this sudden blast changed everything. Time to move. You can't be a hockey parent and be lazy. The two don't mesh. It's perpetual and maddening, but not as perpetual and maddening as Kiss' 1991 song, "God Gave Rock and Roll to You." Believe me, I think Kiss rocks, but if you can listen to that song and not staple gun your ears shut, you, my friend, are brain dead.
Now, the construction of a backyard rink is pretty elementary. In most cases, it involves the following:
• Find a level piece of real estate approximately 60-by-40 feet. I say 60-by-40 because that's the size of my surface and I can't imagine going much smaller and enjoying a good fast twirl without perpetually going around in circles. I do wish it were 90-by-50, but family life is largely about compromise.
• The surface must be surrounded with some sort of boarding. I have 2-by-6s that keep as few pucks as possible from leaving the surface. At one of the end zones, I have 5-foot-high boards to keep as many pucks in play as possible.
• The boards are kept in place by a stake system. Mine are durable blue plastic stakes that slide into the 2-by-6s. I bought everything in 1999 and it still works. The only thing I buy every autumn is the liner. A couple of years ago, I purchased a liner designed to last for a few years. But after storing it in the shed, field mice made the liner their home and nibbled millions of holes in it. Now, it's one and done. Nothing is worse than trying to find a leak in a gigantic white liner. For some, it's like trying to find a hockey game on TV.
(I keep my boards up all year round to allow for summer street hockey. This makes the whole backyard rink experience much more sane for me. As you can see in the photos, I have a couple of basketball nets. We've had many good on-ice basketball games. Personally, I would watch more NBA games if they played on ice. I imagine Canadian Steve Nash would still be the MVP. Although, Yao Ming might average 67.8 points per game considering he would be 8 feet tall on skates. I'll still take the Nash.)
Once you've securely fitted the boards, you are now ready to put the liner on the surface and over the boards. You'll then need to secure the extra lining with something. I use yellow bumpers with slits on one side. Pulling them apart with your fingers, the bumpers then clasp on the boards and keep the liner in place. You are basically creating a swimming pool, the more shallow the better. Then, pour water from the garden hose into the liner. My initial water dump requires 24 hours of constant flow.
• Then, you wait and pray for cold weather (no snow or ice storms) and low humidity.
When you have a backyard rink to maintain, the cold is now your friend. I've tried to make the best of every situation. Dealing with the winter cold is actually a pleasing experience when you have a backyard rink. You root for it. From Christmas to March 1, I root for 29-degree days and 18-degree nights. Once the March sun basks more direct sunlight on my ice cube, it is Slurpee City, baby.
From time to time, you'll need to spray water on the surface for resurfacing. Unless you are Denis Leary. I went to the actor/comedian's home in rural Connecticut two winters ago to skate on his backyard rink. Leary has piping underneath his surface to allow for a colder base and better freezing probability. He had a homemade Zamboni and the coolest skate-changing shed full of Cam Neely, Bobby Orr and other memorabilia from Leary's beloved Bruins. There were also many trees to supply shade.
Courtesy of Bucci
"Go the distance ... "The biggest negative of my setup is the lack of shade. My hope is to one day star in an FX drama that will enable me to purchase large pines to surround my rink. This will provide shade and wind blockage. The résumé tape is in the mail.
So, now I have backyard ice. Over the weekend, the rink was in full use. On Sunday night, my son Jackson (wearing his Shjon Podein hat) was playing shinny with two neighborhood squirts, Joshua and Stephen. The sun was falling fast and the only thing you could see is what you could hear -- pucks, sticks, boards and laughter. Skating invariably brings smiles and laughter. There is no such thing as a bad skating day. I took my turn on the rink, skating by myself, with my Dell Jukebox playing the latest Shins album. I shoot pucks in the upper left-hand corner of the net, always the upper left-hand corner. This is life and how I live it.
The next thing you hear is a knock on the sliding glass doors and the sight of a 7-year-old nose, reddened by the January chill.
This is why we go through the toil, expense and sacrifice of being a hockey fan and building a backyard rink -- because of all the possibilities and promise shining through that 7-year-old's face. The hope that even a portion of what the game has to offer will seep into his soul and be passed on to his 7-year-old. We do it out of love, honor, guilt and reconciliation. We do it for the love of a game that will just not go away no matter how hard we wiggle and squirm.
And we do it because we are #@%!#%! nuts.
Jacquie's right about strength training for kids. Not only is it not dangerous to growth plates but it actually increases bone mass and muscle mass in kids.
ReplyDeleteAnd we're not talking body builder muscles - we're talking 10-20% greater increases in lean mass than they would normally experience from the normal growth process.
But eating right is very important too. Kids need adequate fats and proteins. Eggs and fruit are better than breakfast cereals and toast. Steak is better than pasta.
Think meat, fish, veggies and fruit.
If anyone needs any advice I'm more than happy to help. FHahn@seriousstrength.com
Myths vs. Facts
ReplyDeleteThank you Jackie for providing some information to help readers understand this huge myth which Coaches like myself must discuss with parents every day.
What we do at MAXABILITY for young athletes is Athletic Performance Training. For parents to understand what that means I explain that what we do is make your child more Athletic. This involves the development of many components such as Speed, Quickness, and Agility which some parents love the sound of and others do not fully believe is even possible. Whatever side parents are on they should really understand that in order to develop anyone into an athlete it involves many components at many different levels. There are 3 that are so important at a young age that I would like to discuss:
1. Coordination- learning how to use your whole body as a unit, to move in different directions and perform skills that are mentally and physically challenging. Whatever ability an athlete has there are movements that can be very challenging to perform correctly. When overcoming these challenges our bodies can move more efficient within our sport. The athlete will be able to develop other sport specific skills at a faster pace with their new understanding of full body movements.
2. Hard Work – properly challenging athletes physically and mentally is extremely important at a young age in order for them to understand what hard work feels like and the positive feeling they get through accomplishing what was once difficult.
A. The Shy Athlete- many young athletes don’t understand how to exert themselves at all. Some may be uncomfortable or unwilling to demonstrate strain or effort. This may be due to a combination of several reasons. For one, most people don’t know how to ask the right way. Parents and Coaches can’t just say “jump higher for rebounds” “be more aggressive for the ball or puck” and expect kids to just do it. Using realistic challenges to ignite the fire that’s inside these young athletesis necassary. At MAXABILITY we describe this as teaching them to get excited!!!
B. Effort with Purpose- Unlike the shy athlete there are a lot of young athletes who just don’t stop working too hard. This may not make sense to many but we compare these athletes to chickens running around with their heads cut off. Many children with this type of behavior may appear as very athletic and in many cases will be successful at the high school level just on effort and body composition alone. However very successful athletes must have a balance of Physical/Mental Strength. If you watch an elite athlete perform, in your sport, many times they will move in a way that appears effortless. To move our bodies at top speeds our body must be relaxed. So if your athlete looks like they’re moving fast with their fists clenched and a facial expression that looks like it might explode, they’re not moving as fast as they could and they definitely do not have the composure to make smart decisions.
3. Strength- There it is I said it!!! That’s right Moms and Dads we want to see if we can get your 11 year old to Bench Press 250lbs. and Squat 500lbs. KIDDING OF COURSE. Based on some of the discussions I have with parents, I really think that’s what they believe I’m going to do when I mention the words Strength Training. Strength is so important for young kids to develop in order to run FASTER and jump HIGHER, which we all want to do better. Also with the proper development of Strength our bodies can be balanced in order to prevent overuse injuries which is becoming more common in young athletes who are practicing and playing more games than ever which asks a lot from our bodies. The human body is an amazing tool, and we should be asking a lot from it in order to achieve higher levels of performance.
Thanks for taking the time to read my comments.
Maxability.net website will be available by May 15, 2009
Any questions about training please call 551-404-4294 or email tlynch@maxability.net
Thanks, Tim Lynch
Owner and Head Coach
MAXABILITY
111 Midtown Bridge Approach
Hackensack, NJ 07601