Burnout and Other Concerns for Young Hockey Players

Here is an excerpt from an August 26, 2008 Globe and Mail article by Tralee Pearce where she discusses the burnout factor in sports.

Until last week, Oakville, Ont. hockey player Stefan Legein was a poster boy for youth hockey. After star turns with the Canadian junior team and a stint with the Ontario Hockey League, he was drafted in the second round by the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets last year.

But last week, when the 19-year-old decided to call it quits on the eve of training camp, many observers wondered if youth hockey’s gruelling expectations might be to blame.

“Not getting a break from that high-pressure environment can lead to burnout,” says Scott Oakman, the executive director of the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

Coaches and sports administrators admit that the relentless pace exacts a price. “There’s been a big shift in philosophy. There’s much more year-round hockey taking place,” Mr. Oakman says. “That certainly lends itself to kids dropping out of the game earlier than historically they would have. They might be getting a lifetime’s worth of hockey in a shorter period of time.”

There’s no research to suggest that young kids who love their sport will risk burnout, says Joe Baker, an associate professor of kinesiology and sports health at York University. But with so much at stake, it’s no wonder some kids don’t speak up about not enjoying it…

Beyond the mental strain, there are also growing reports of injuries due to intense training in single sports in the past five years, according to Tony Reynolds of the U.S. International Youth Conditioning Association, which provides youth-specific training programs to coaches.

In sports such as hockey in which players are dominant on their left or right side, lower back and shoulder injuries are cropping up at younger ages. “It’s going to get worse,” he says. (Mr. Legein suffered a separated shoulder in a Christmas World Junior game last year.)…

In his 20-year experience, youth hockey coach Ron Sticklee says he has observed that it’s more often the parents with NHL stars in their eyes.

But even if a child is mentally and physically prepared for a hectic sports schedule, new research suggests throwing a kid’s sports eggs in one basket can make him a worse, not better, player. York’s Prof. Baker has been collecting data on athletes considered the “best of the best.”

“Some of the data we have shows they spent a lot more time playing at their sport in an unorganized way,” he says. Fewer rules and drills appears to promote a flexibility in the way kids think about problems on the court or rink.

From my experience more players that make it to the pro level truly have fun playing and competing. And, their parents understanding the importance of fun for the athlete. Rarely did the parent or athlete have an NHL-or-bust attitude.

Click on Article below to get the full story from The Globe and Mail.

Gearing Up for the Pre-Season

You are either already in your pre-season or it is just around the corner. Season plans should have been in place by now, along with the regular season schedule and practice sessions. Are we excited or are we panicking?

What did you learn from previous pre-seasons that you will use to make this year the best ever? Are you going to have a catchy slogan to rally the player around?

Here is an excerpt from The Hockey Conditioning Handbook that will give an overview of your conditioning objectives and areas of emphasis. The book also contains information for on-ice and off-ice training and programs for you to use. Go to the Store tab at the top of the page to buy the book.

Pre-Season means on-ice workouts have started but league games have not. It’s your last chance to get all your conditioning ready for the ultimate test – game time.

Pre-Season Conditioning Objectives: 1)      Top Up Off-Season Levels

2)      On-Ice Transfer of Conditioning

The first part of the pre-season usually has 2-3 weeks of dry land training for ‘topping up’ your off-season training. The off-season foundations must then be adapted to the ice. Your running legs get switched to skating legs. This is also the time to incorporate specific high energy and explosive energy training. Dry land work can be done to help develop these energy systems initially. But it will be essential to ultimately train these two systems on ice as well.

During the pre-season a player should be able to gradually reduce his aerobic workouts from 5-6 per week to 2-3 per week, with at least 1 of these being done on the ice. Players should put their strength training gains to use while practicing skills and reduce regular strength workouts to 1-2 per week. Flexibility work should still be done as a ‘loosen up’ in warm ups and as a ‘tension relaxer’ at the end of all workouts. Otherwise, players will start to lose the flexibility gained from off-season training. Less time can be spent on flexibility now. One or 2 repeats of an exercise for each major muscle group should suffice at this stage.

High energy training is difficult to do on ice psychologically because of the combination of intensity and time (very hard for 40-90 seconds) needed. Skills drills are not easily adapted to these training requirements. For this reason, optimum high energy work (60-90 seconds) is easiest done off-ice. Specific high energy work (30-60 seconds/a typical shift length) should be done on ice.

Explosive energy work should be done daily, primarily on ice. This system will be a key to quick skill execution during games.

Pre-Season Training Emphasis:

1)      Foundations On-Ice

2)      High Energy Training

3)      Explosive Energy Training

Use the pre-season to finish getting completely physically prepared to play games. All physical aspects of conditioning must be transferred effectively to the ice. Here are samples of pre-season training sessions for both on-ice and off-ice work.

Do you have your overall goals and objectives set for your pre-season? Are you rebuilding or just fine tuning around a core of returning players?

What is your player selection criteria? Do your staff and the players trying out for the team know the criteria? They darn well should. Is fitness testing included?

Use the pre-season wisely. It is an ideal time to set the standards, discipline, culture and environment for your team for the season.