Advice for Parents to get a Head Start for their Kids
In this article, former Montreal Canadiens captain and Stanley Cup winner, Ryan Walter talks about the importance of taking time off away from hockey during the off season.
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If you are Canadian, you have kids playing hockey, and you let your mind wonder just a little bit, I am 99 % sure that at one point you have thought: “How could I help my little Johnny or Suzy make the NHL (I mean make the rep team) in September?” Ok, maybe it's not the rep team; maybe it's the very worthy goal of helping your kiddos enjoy the next hockey season a tiny bit more. Well, you've come to the right place… I humbly suggest that now is the time to start thinking about this. Focusing on two general areas will get you moving in the right direction. The first is the area of SKILL development. The second is the area of WILL development. Young hockey players are the same as old parents. People can force their desires and ideas on us for awhile, but at the end of the day, to really make it work, we have-to-want-to-do-it! The SKILL development side will be no surprise to you. At every level of the game, if you want to increase your son or daughter's experience, increase their ability to skate. When I was a kid, there was no such thing as power skating lessons. My folks had the foresight to suggest that I take 2 years of figure skating (you heard what I said). This developed my edge control, helped me to better understand how to power out of turns, and, in the end, improved the most foundational part of my game. When you can skate you have a chance to improve everything else. Puck-handling skills are important, feel for the game is important, overall strength and conditioning is important, how to take a check is important, but you see where I'm going, everything else takes a back-seat to increasing your player's ability to skate. So, off-season hockey schools can be fine, but be sure to ask the question: which coach or instructor can best improve your player's ability to skate? The second focus should be on the WILL development side, increasing our players' enjoyment of our great game. Over the past 5 years a number of great books have been written about how to coach people's best. (Go to my blog at www.ryanwalter.com for a list of my favourites). Recent research indicates that:
Here's my point: your little Johnny or Suzy has to WANT to practice, might I dare say, LOVE to practice, because 10,000 hours of “deep practice” takes quite a commitment! Developing the WILL side of your little players means that they need time off to refresh their WANT. Diversity of sport and time away from the 24/7/365 day-a-year Hockey Industry helps freshen their spirits and refocuses their hockey energy. I give my Dad and Mom a lot of credit as I look back on how they developed this in me. I would gladly have played hockey every day, all day, but they recommended that I play Lacrosse in the spring and take fishing holidays with our family in the summer. WILL development comes by balancing our approach and renewing the INNER energy and is as important as SKILL development. Here's why: Before coaching at the NHL and National Women's Team levels, like many of you, I coached our children through minor hockey. As I observed minor hockey players on the ice, I could tell you whether it was their dream to play or their Dad's dream for them to play. When the puck went into the corner, even with a player size differential, the player coming out of the corner with the puck proved to me that it was his or her dream to play. Secondly, I would listen to players' vocal and body language. Did they have to be at practice or did they want to be at practice? These simple indicators revealed whether the player had the WILL to get themselves and their skills to the next level. Over the years when I was playing minor hockey, I noticed other players with more external skill than me who didn't continue to play. They had highly developed SKILL, but an under-nourished WILL with which to implement it. It takes INNER energy (WILL) to play and to maximize our personal enjoyment of our game. There are some things you, as a parent, can do to increase your young player's enjoyment of the game. It might be a fun exercise to ask your child which teammate he or she respects most. From this you can develop a conversation around the bright spots of character your player is observing in that person and may wish to adopt. Another tip is to use your driving time to build your relationship with your child. My wife and I found that there was no time like driving time, to and from games and practices, for conversation with our children. Whether it's a 5 am practice or an 8 pm game, you can use your before and after time to ask good, relevant questions, provide positive feedback, and emphasize fun. Current research tells us that we should be providing 4 positive comments for every negative one. To maximize your young athlete's ability and mindset, the ratio moves up to 6 to 1, so do your best to focus on some of the great things your child is doing and watch their WILL flourish. The WILL can be manufactured or boosted by parents for a little while, but over the long term it must come from deep inside your young player. Come September, refreshing your players' WILL may be the best way to improve their SKILL. Courtesy Ryan Walter & Hockey Now Ryan Walter is a regular columnist with Hockey Now, an author, and motivational speaker. Ryan Walter is a Stanley Cup® winner played and coached for 17 seasons in the NHL and is now President and CEO of the American Hockey League's Abbotsford Heat. His new book on leadership will be published this summer. Check www.ryanwalter.com for more information. Hockey Now is Canada's most widely distributed hockey publication. With a focus on hockey development, Hockey Now produces separate editions for British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Visit Hockey Now at www.hockeynow.ca |
"Spectacular achievements are always preceded by unspectacular preparation."