Minor hockey tryouts (was: How to motivate a novice (or any) player for tryouts?)

[jetsmooseice]

I explained she needed to work on her strength and shooting.

For pre-teens, what does this typically entail? I get that shooting can mean shooting pucks on ice or on the driveway. But for a 10, 11, 12, even 13 year old, what are some recommended ways to build strength? Are kids that age putting in time in the weight room, or is it something else?

 

[oldunclehue]

For pre-teens, what does this typically entail? I get that shooting can mean shooting pucks on ice or on the driveway. But for a 10, 11, 12, even 13 year old, what are some recommended ways to build strength? Are kids that age putting in time in the weight room, or is it something else?

Exactly that, this girl was quite a bit behind on shooting, like hard time raising a puck and hitting the net at the time. She was a good skater but behind in a few places but shooting was the biggest.

She put work in from what her mother said after, shooting pucks, focusing on that. It showed as the next year she had caught up and made the top team where she was a great addition.

13 year olds for sure are now working out. My 13 year old went to a trainer this summer for hockey work outs. Most kids trying to make the jump to AAA are doing at least workouts if not much much more. We don't have a lot offered here for hockey focused training but rather than spending thousands to drive to the nearest big city for that, we paid a fraction for him to go to a trainer and do weights/plyometrics related to hockey. I see it as a positive either way, hes now comfortable and enjoys the gym and can do his own routine at home which is positive for life, but also get stronger for hockey.

I believe 10-11-12 might be a bit early to start weights in a routine, but there is actually nothing that says they can't or shouldn't. But their is always different means to try and add things, body movement, quick feet work. This was our first year of doing any sort of hockey related training outside of shooting pucks and passing/stickhandling games at home.

 

[Slats432]

For pre-teens, what does this typically entail? I get that shooting can mean shooting pucks on ice or on the driveway. But for a 10, 11, 12, even 13 year old, what are some recommended ways to build strength? Are kids that age putting in time in the weight room, or is it something else?

My son at 10 years old. 500 pucks a day.

My son at 14....still at it.



He ended up with a 90+ MPH slapshot and 70+ MPH snapshot. Put in the work.

 

[Yukon Joe]

For pre-teens, what does this typically entail? I get that shooting can mean shooting pucks on ice or on the driveway. But for a 10, 11, 12, even 13 year old, what are some recommended ways to build strength? Are kids that age putting in time in the weight room, or is it something else?

As I understand it, 13 is the absolute earliest they should start with any kind of weight training, but before that you can absolutely be doing some body weight training. Think sit-ups, push-ups, and the like.

Getting better at shooting can absolutely be as simple as shooting pucks in the driveway.

My 2010 kid has been working with a trainer for about the last year or so - with weights.

I did email my 2012 kid's former coach and I got back a nice reply, complemented on how far he's come, said the things to work on are speed and puck control, commenting on how those can be difficult when you're going through a growth spurt (which my kid definitely is).

 

[Yukon Joe]

tryouts roller-coaster is now on the upswing.

2010 kid, after a strong exhibition game last night, is told he doesn't need to dress tonight.

2012 kid is at least placed in the top group for community hockey. Still has more tryouts to go, but making Tier 1 would still be pretty good for a kid in Tier 3 last year.

 

[Minnesota Knudsens]

tryouts roller-coaster is now on the upswing.

2010 kid, after a strong exhibition game last night, is told he doesn't need to dress tonight.

2012 kid is at least placed in the top group for community hockey. Still has more tryouts to go, but making Tier 1 would still be pretty good for a kid in Tier 3 last year.

I worried over nothing. My son went out and worked hard on the ice and is a shoe in for his Select team. This year instead of just being a player, he looks like a team leader out there. Really proud of him.

 

[Yukon Joe]

And the hockey try-out roller-coaster is on a downswing.

2010 kid survived the next round of cuts. There are now 7 defencemen for 6 spots. But A: my kid was specifically told he's on the bubble, they want him to be more physical and vocal out there, and B: apparently the team is calling around looking for a right-shot D (my kid is a left-shot, along with most of the D-men).

 

[Yukon Joe]

And the roller-coaster is... up.

2012 kid is still in the top group for this weekend's scrimmage - which will be the last one before teams are formed.

Bittersweet news - he has two really good buddies that play hockey - one a goalie, one a forward. All three of them go to a hockey school and I drive them in the morning to school. First skate - my kid and the goalie were in the top group, forward in the second. Now for this second skate, my kid and the forward are in the top group, goalie in the second. I very much doubt it would happen but I would love for all three of them to be on the same Tier 1 team.

 

[Oilslick941611]

Yup - Edmonton minor hockey, and he's a 2010 kid. He (I think understandably) doesn't care about "tiers" - he just likes to play hockey, preferably with his friends if he can, and of course he likes to win more than he likes to lose.

So from his perspective it makes sense to almost to not try very hard in evaluations.

But from a parents perspective... look my kid isn't making the NHL. What I want from him playing hockey is for him to love the game I love, and to learn that hard work and effort can pay off. Being placed in a tier that doesn't challenge him isn't going to get him to work any harder or inspire him in practice. Which is why I want to make sure he tries hard in evaluations.

Yes, in our evaluations his tiering last year makes no difference, as does the camps he did (other than the improvement in his skills I observed). Evaluations is based on the skates, but as mentioned modified by how they do in two exhibition-type games.

Let your kid be a kid. Don’t force it on him.

 

[Slats432]

Let your kid be a kid. Don’t force it on him.

You quoted a 2018 post. A lot of water has run under that bridge in 6 years.

 

[Oilslick941611]

You quoted a 2018 post. A lot of water has run under that bridge in 6 years.

its still there for other people who might have questions/need advice. Also 2018 is like what, a 2 years ago?

 

[Slats432]

 

[Yukon Joe]

its still there for other people who might have questions/need advice. Also 2018 is like what, a 2 years ago?

Like, I know - wasn't that just a few weeks ago?

But I still think my frustration from 2018 (and really - I was talking about something from 2017) was warranted, because I just went through the exact same thing in evaluations two weeks ago.

My club, and several others (but not all) start evaluations by doing a series of timed skating drills. Forward skate, backwards skate, pivot, and weave through cones with a puck. Those times then become the starting point of where kids are tiered, which then gets adjusted up and down after some scrimmages.

So I like the fact that it's 100% impartial - skate times don't lie. It doesn't matter what tier you played in the year before, it doesn't matter who your parents or siblings are - if you blow the doors off in the timed skates you're in the top group.

But there's a difference between doing good writing a test, and between actually knowing the material. You can be a great hockey player (and fast too) but if you don't perform well in 1 10 minute span of time you can be moved way down. Similarly you can be a great skater, but not a good hockey player, and get pushed up way too high.

I'll never know, but in part I think that was to blame for my youngest quitting hockey. We put him in a camp or two and he turned in really good skate times. He therefore got placed in a really high tier - which was not where his ability or desire was. So at the start of the year he wasn't touching the puck, then just got discouraged, and it was a whole downward spiral from there.

But anyways, two weeks ago - I was again out there trying to help coach for the skating drills. And I could see some kids really knew what to do, while others were struggling - not with skating or hockey itself, but just with the damn drills. And these weren't even my kid's age group - I was just volunteering.