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Congrats to @jtheut1 on his graduation from @GoNUathletics. Jake will be playing his grad year at @uahhockey #Nhlbound #goodluck #hcfuture #topdog #hardworkpaysoff #Repost @theut1 with @get_repost ・・・ ‪Beyond excited to announce that I’ll be doing a graduate transfer to @uah.hockey !! Couldn’t thank everyone at @GoNUmhockey enough for the past 4 years. Also, big thank you to all of my family, friends and teammates with this decision! Time to get to work! #UnitedWeCharge ‬

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2004’s at the Chitown Shuffle. #HCFutures

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Another beautiful day in New England. #snowgoaway

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Congrats Kolby Vegara on his commitment to the UMass Minutemen. Very happy for Kolby, he is a great kid.

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The life of an #Hockeyfamilyadvisor. Clients ask me all the time what is the average day. It is this list. Calls that need to be made and calls that have to be made. Right now we are 20 and growing. #lifeofanadvisor #hockeyislife #wouldnthaveitanyotherway #hockeyconcepts

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Congrats to these amazing ladies. You are insperation to all girls playing hockey today.

FINALLY

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Some words to think about. What defines who you are? #motivation #success #positivevibes #integrity #hockeyconcepts #hockey #hockeyfamilyadvisor

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How do you respond when the chips are down. #mental #toughness #percerverance #strength #hardwork #preperation #hockeyconcepts #hockeyfamilyadvisor

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Strength and Conditioning for Hockey: 3 Myths Dispelled

There are many myths in the Strength and Conditioning field in regards to Strength and Conditioning for sports, in my experience, hockey and baseball lead the pack.

We will not address baseball here, but as sports are sports, these points will apply. Let’s get right into the 5 Myths Dispelled in no particular order:

Myth 1.

Parents know more than the coach, or so many of them think. 

After being in the S&C field for almost 30 years, I’ve seen a lot, and one thing that never goes away is that the parents know what the kids need to work on in the gym and the best way for them to do it. 

Now of course, some of the parents, the bulk of you don’t. 

Don’t take this as an insult, it’s not. It’s a wake up.

 I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had parents tell me what to do with their athletes. 

It’s usually the father in this case too. Sometimes they have good feedback, and goals for the kids, but most of the time they are incorrect. 

 So incorrect it’s like they went to the store and bought a 5-gallon jar of Wrong Sauce and covered themselves in it. 

As true S&C professionals, we’ve spent a long time learning, coaching, interning, getting continuing ed and developing our craft. We should know how to do our jobs. 

Think of it like this, if the transmission in your car was broken, would you go to the transmission shop and tell the mechanic how to fix it? 

I hope not, and if you do, that’s why almost every shop I’ve been in has a sign that says something like: 

 Labor rates: $75 per hour if we do the work 

$100 per hour if you watch 

$200 per hour if you tell us how to do it. 

We don’t go to your job and tell you how to do it. If you are willing to pay us to develop your athlete, let us do our jobs. 

Of course, we want information on how your athlete performs, what their strengths are, what they are lacking, but if we truly know how to do our jobs, we will figure all of this out in the assessments and initial training sessions. 

 Go on the internet, do some research on the coach you want to hire, and let them do their job. This industry tends to sort itself out and if you find and experienced coach with a track record of success, chances are they know more than you about this subject. 

Charlatans tend to get exposed quickly.

Myth 2.

Hockey Players Are Different Than Other Athletes and Need Super Specific Exercises

This one applies to all sports and gets my bloomers in a bunch more than most of the myths. Athletes are athletes. They all need to train in a similar fashion, with SOME specifics to their sport and/or position.

Let’s look at what ALL athletes need:

Maximal strength

Flexibility specific to their sport.

EG: a gymnast needs more flexibility than a middle distance runner. Some positions need more flexibility than others as well, goalies come to mind.

High Level of GPP:

GPP is General Physical Preparedness, and this is a fancy term for being in shape and having a high work capacity.

Explosive power:

This should need no explanation. Athletes need to be fast.

Endurance Related to their Sport:

Again, this should not need much explanation. A forward needs a different type and amount of endurance than a marathon runner.

Muscular development:

Athletes need strong muscles and they also need to add an appropriate amount for their sports. 

Being skinny doesn’t help performance too often. No, they don’t need to look like bodybuilders, but they do need to build some muscular mass. 

Take a look at Zdeno Chara with no shirt on. He’s jacked. 

Or Ovechkin. 

He’s not super jacked, but he has a good deal of muscle mass. 

Don’t be afraid of letting your kids pack on some beef.

Speed and Agility:

Again, no explanation should be needed here.

SPP: Specific Physical Preparedness:

This is a fancy term for sport related skills and strengths. In my opinion, and not the opinion of a lot of S&C coaches, this is NOT MY JOB. 

This is the sport coaches job. 

 As an S&C coach, we get the kids, if we are lucky 3 hours a week or maybe a little more. 

To truly make your athlete stronger, faster and more resistant to injury, we have to focus on the big picture. 

Let’s look at what the big picture is. 

Strength trumps all in sports, because in the words of my mentor, Dr. Fred Hatfield, “In all the world of sports, speed is king.” 

A stronger athlete is a faster athlete.

 A stronger athlete is more resistant to injury. 

The best way to get faster is to get stronger. 

 We need to get them stronger with basic exercises using weights that they can handle with as perfect form as their current level of skill allows, with the weight being a challenge. 

There is almost no need for super specific exercises, refer to the GPP vs. SPP statement. 

We don’t need to make up goofy exercise that mimic what happens on the game field or rink. 

That is better saved for drills in practice. 

And I’d argue that it is somewhat unnecessary for most cases. 

Athletes need to develop their limit strength using squats, presses, rows, deadlifts, pushups, pullups, trunk work (NOT CORE!) loaded carries and sled pushes, and at some point, speed development using exercise that require a high level or nervous system recruitment. 

They also need to do unilateral work, meaning one single arm or single leg exercises like lunges, step ups and presses. I can go on for days about this, but I won’t. 

 Find a coach that gets this concept and let them develop your athlete by making them master control of their bodyweight (pushups, pullups, etc.) and gives them a solid program focused on basics. 

Basics work at all levels and you never outgrow them.

Myth 3:

Olympic Lifts are Required

This drives me INSANE. 

 Olympic lifts such are the Clean and Jerk and the Snatch. 

They work very well to develop speed and explosive strength. 

They do this in part by requiring the nervous system learn to fire quickly and efficiently. 

They also are highly technical and take a good deal of time to learn. If we only have the kids for 90 minutes tow or three times a week, there are far better ways to develop the nervous system than spending 45 minutes each session perfecting technique on cleans and snatches. 

Training the nervous system is training the nervous system. 

Your nervous system doesn’t know what type of resistance you are using, so if you can get the desired effect with exercises you can teach quickly, why wouldn’t you? This is particularly with younger athletes with developing systems. 

Their nervous system cannot tell the difference between their body as weight (as in jumps), a barbell, or a medicine ball. 

 All it understands is that a specific demand is being placed on it and it has to adapt. 

Why use Olympic lifts that take a long time to perfect?

 I am not bashing Olympic lifts, I love them.

I just don’t program them often or too early in a program.

If we can get a comparable effect with less teaching using jumps, bounds, medicine all throws and slams, and dumbell cleans, why would we WASTE time?

Let’s use the dumbell clean as an example. 

If I can’t teach a kid to do a dumbell clean in a safe manner in just a few minutes, I should be out of a job. 

 They are low skill, high transfer. 

To me, low skill, high transfer is a winner. 

High skill, high transfer is great too, but in most cases we have limited time. Make the most of it. 

 Let me sum this up for you: 

As parents, if you invest in an S&C coach, drop the kids off, and let them train.

 Don’t interfere. 

You should have done your due diligence and discovered that you hired a qualified coach. 

Let them do their job. 

Sports are sports and the best way to get your athlete to develop and perform is to get them stronger.

 Period. 

And lastly, if the program doesn’t have Olympic lifts in it, who cares as long as it addresses the needs of the athlete.

C.J. Murphy

Totalperformancesports.com 

Murph is the owner of Total Performance Sports in Malden, Mass and has been a Strength Coach and Nutritionist for almost 30 years. 

 He is a member of the Advisory Board for Men’s Fitness and Muscle and Fitness magazines as well as being a featured coach on elitefts.com.

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You need to put in the time to be successful. Most players say they want it but wonder why they don’t make it. #hcfutures #hardwork #success #hockey #hockeyfamilyadvisor #bringit #motivation #drive #determination

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Some great hockey being played at the NHL Cup. #hcfutures playing great. #hardwork #tier1 #hockey #hockeyfamilyadvisor (at New England Sports Center)

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Don't blame others for your failures. Only look at yourself to find the answers.

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Great words by a great coach

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NCAA Recruiting 5 Tips from a Family Advisor

As a hockey family advisor, I get asked all the time by clients how do I get recruited.   Many different factors play into getting recruited.  Do you fit into the style of play, what type of player are you, and many other things play into getting recruited to NCAA school?  Here are 5 tips that will help

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Be the Best Player on the Ice

I know this sounds simple, but sometimes simple is what gets it done. Many parents and players make the mistake of moving up the ladder to fast.  You need to be playing and be the best player on the ice for a coach to notice you.  A skilled player playing fourth line minutes doesn’t help anyone.  The best players play the most critical minutes of the games.  I know there are some exceptions, but this mostly holds true.  

Be Consistent

I was talking with a coach last night about one of our clients.  The kid is a D1 player when he is on.  The coach has seen him play four times, and he has been great in 2 games and so-so in 2. You must be consistent; I know everyone as a bad game. It happens even in the NHL. It cannot become a pattern. In a short season that is college hockey 2-3 bad games by the best players could cost a team drastically. So colleges coaches need players to be on 95% of the time.

Do the Little Things

I say this to all our clients on multiple occasions, and many times a get a blank stare back.  Once a coach notices that you can play with skill, speed and other things they start to look at the intangible things.  It's not always about who scores the goal.  Does the player backcheck? Will they play in the D-zone? Will they block a shot? The little things win hockey games.

Play and Act with Good Character

The first question I get asked from a college coach after they see a kid play and determine they like him. What kind of kid is he? Fortunately for me, we only take good kids into our family advisory program.  Coaches will start to see how you interact with your parents, your teammates and your coaches.  They don’t want cancers in their locker rooms.  They want to know how you react to adversity.  Does the player lose their marbles if they take a penalty? How do they rebound from missing a goal? Are they good teammate. Lastly, on character, they always ask how the parents are.  That is whole another blog post.  

Do Well in School

You can do all of the above, but if you're terrible in the classroom, it won't matter.  Most of the 60 D1 boys programs out there are higher academic schools.  You don’t want to narrow your self to only a few or none. If you need, see what it takes, check out our other blog post on NCAA academic requirements.

I know this is a lot to take in. But getting recruited is a lot of hard work.  If you need any help that is what a hockey family advisor does. We will guide you in the right direction, and make sure you are on the correct path. Check out our website.

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Taking in Some #nepsac action today. Worcester Academy vs Williston and Lawrence Academy vs Nobles. #hcfutures #hockeyfamilyadvisor #hockeyconcepts #ncaa #recruiting

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Great article on developing routines as an athlete. You need to have a routine in order to be prepared to perform at the highest level.

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Hey Recruit,  Your Talent Only Gets You So Far, Character Matters!

written by James Leath (@jamesleath)

“He is going to be shocked we no longer want him.”

“Come again?” I asked the college assistant coach seated across from me at lunch. “You flew across the country to meet him, and now you won’t recruit him anymore?”

The coach had recently stopped for a day in another state to check in on one of their prospects, before arriving at my school in Florida.

“He is a great talent, he certainly has the skills needed to play for us,” said the coach. “Sadly, he just won’t fit in well with our culture. It’s sad how many kids we come across every year that we cannot recruit, and it has nothing to do with their ability.”

As the Head of Leadership at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, I have the privilege of having conversations with college recruiters from major universities every week. One of saddest topics we discuss are stories of top high school talent being passed over because of behavior off the field. High talent and low character is a poor combination.

I have heard these stories enough to feel compelled to write this so that it may be passed onto every high school athlete that dreams of playing in college. There are a lot of talented athletes out there, but talent alone will not land you a coveted roster spot. Your talent may get your foot in the door, but it takes a lot more to hit the field at the next level.

The recruiter is not there to see you tackle, throw, bump, spike, pitch, catch, hit, shoot, or pass for the thousandth time. He already knows your stats. He has already watched your highlight film and read all the press clippings. He has likely seen you play. What he is looking for are called intangibles, the things that cannot be easily measured, but make all the difference.

Of the countless conversations I have had with college recruiters, here are the most common questions recruiters are searching for answers to decide whether they should recruit you or not.

What are you doing when you think no one is watching?

Recruiters are not always wearing their school clothes. That guy in the corner of the weight room talking to your coach? He might be a recruiter on an unscheduled visit. That woman in the stands taking notes? She may be writing down the behavior she sees to report back to her head coach. The more talented you are, the more people are watching you to see your flaws. How do you treat your teammates, coaches, parents, and officials? Do you make eye contact with your coach when she is talking?  What is your body language like when things are not going well? This all matters, a lot!

Are you one thing in person, and another person online?

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