**This post is not meant to downplay the danger or severity of the global coronavirus pandemic occurring worldwide, nor to make light of the situation BUT rather to provide parents/athletes with a silver lining opportunity in our current circumstance. I will focus on youth hockey players here, but in reality, my words can be extrapolated to all youth sports and ESPECIALLY EARLY-SPECIALIZERS who only play one organized sport year-round, and are under the age of 15**
I really try to be a positive guy these days. It is an important quality to have when you deal with people and coach them all day long! It’s nice to have the ability to see the silver lining in many different situations – if I could go back in time to when I was playing hockey professionally, I would force myself to be more positive during difficult situations regarding play, travel, pay, and more. I regret stewing over some things, others I don’t; but as a strength coach, I see it as my responsibility to help my clients draw the best out of any given situation and be able to make the most of it.
CUE THE COVID-19 SHUT DOWN OF 2020
Let’s use an imaginary hockey goalie, Little Johnny, to expose the situations of many hockey parents and their children during the complete shut down of organized sports presently. Little Johnny has been playing goalie since he was 7 years old and he is now 13. Once he turned 10, his parents only registered him for hockey for their club team, a spring team, and a summer team, eliminating the other sports he was playing. Little Johnny goes to 3 goalie camps per summer as well as playing on his summer team. The most time Little Johnny gets off from hockey is a one-week family vacation during the summer (in between tournaments of course). Little Johnny loves playing goalie and his parents want him to succeed and hope that he plays in the NHL some day. For the record, I don’t have a problem with that last sentence; what I do have a problem with is the “strategy” seemingly deemed essential for the end result. Parents need to make better and more informed choices regarding their child(ren)s athletic development.
For the foreseeable future, Little Johnny can’t play hockey. In fact, he can’t play any organized sports at all. Is this a disaster for his “development?” No! THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST THING THAT COULD EVER HAPPEN TO LITTLE JOHNNY (again, this is in terms of athletic development only, not the risk of illness or social distancing that accompanies a pandemic).
WHY AND HOW?
- Little Johnny was playing more hockey games than professionals who make a living playing hockey. The time away from hockey allows the body to heal and recover after a gruelling season and also provides added recovery time to increase the results of off-ice training. If a 76-82 game pro season is a grind for an elite, full-grown professional athlete, a 13-year-old, untrained kid playing 100+ games is excessive, unreasonable, and ridiculously risky.
- Whether he or his parents thought it important, Little Johnny is forced to take time away from hockey – an off-season. I played NCAA D1 hockey for 4 years and then continued my career professionally for 10 additional seasons and always took 6-8 weeks COMPLETELY off of the ice once our season ended, without exception. I would also take one week off of training completely, but returned to lifting 1-2 weeks after my last game. So today, for Little Johnny, this forced time away from hockey provides a great opportunity to begin an adequate off-ice training routine. With that being said, the craze of “sport-specific” training still lives and parents and kids alike will try to recreate playing hockey without playing hockey! STOP! Sport-specific training isn’t about mimicking the sport away from the field of play. It is about developing the base level attributes (strength, power, speed, coordination) required for ALL sports and improving all-around athleticism that transfers to everything that the athlete (adult or youth) does during or away from sport.
- Not being able to play hockey allows for Little Johnny and, more importantly, his parents to have time to learn about the benefits of TAKING TIME OFF FROM THE STRESSORS OF SPORT. Mental fatigue and burn-out play an extremely negative roll in youth sports contributing to declined performance and injury, especially when there is no off-season. Forced rest refreshes everyone’s love for the game and when the world is back on, Little Johnny will be too.
What can Little Johnny and his parents do during the social distancing aspect of the COVID-19 shut down? Lots of non-hockey things. Besides learning, reading, or enjoying time together as a family, athletes can start to learn more about their bodies and their capabilities away from their sport. I will be putting out Instagram and blog content more often during the pandemic isolation period, hoping to spread my reach and help the most people possible. Body weight exercises, especially for the lower body, are a good place to start when implementing a strength program for youth, along with jumping and sprinting. Taking Little Johnny out for a long, slow jog will not make him a better athlete no matter how much you think “endurance” is part of his sport. Don’t simulate hockey with “sport-specific” drills you see online for hockey players when there are much bigger buckets that need to be filled first – unilateral strength, core stability, mobility, or proprioception for example.
Be on the lookout for some general, at-home exercise programs released on my Instagram page @dexshowhighperformance soon. Due to the closures of all non-essential businesses, I’ve also added a Custom Remote Training with Live Video Tutorial service for those looking for more intensive at-home training while my in-person consultations and training are on hold. I hope you stay healthy and productive during the pandemic.
Get strong, stay strong.
Coach Dex
