Skills Improvement from Clinics

by barbaragarn

By Mark Chapin and Dan McLaughlin, Lifetime Hockey

We are obviously biased in promoting Lifetime Hockey’s annual Adult Hockey Camp. Regardless of that, we encourage you to take a clinic and try other hockey schools. The only way you are going to improve as a player is to participate in a camp or a clinic. 

Playing JMS and/or league hockey is fun, but it is challenging to improve one’s skill level quickly in a game-only environment. The learning curve is long and slow without good coaching.  Sometimes it can actually hurt player development, to continue our bad habits and actually reinforce them. Working with a good coach is the only way to receive unbiased, targeted and knowledgeable feedback. 

When considering a hockey school or clinic, check out the credentials of the coaches. Do they have experience in coaching adults? It is different with adult learners. How many instructors are on the ice at one time? Are there youth players who are coaching? Are there opportunities to work on your skills in a dryland setting? Is there classroom instruction? What is the coach to student ratio? How many players are on the ice at one time? What do past participants have to say about the school?

Consider attending Lifetime Hockey’s Summer Camp, July 20-23, at Parade Ice Garden in Minneapolis. Tom Bast is returning with his Canadian coaching staff. Lifetime Hockey offers the opportunity to make a partial payment to reserve a spot in camp, which expires on Monday, May 2, 2011.  A special team discount (bring 5 or more players) is available until June 1, 2011.

Announcing Morning Hockey

by barbaragarn

Yes! Starting April 27, JMS will hold a morning hockey game at Breck Anderson Arena in Golden Valley.

The games will be an hour (6:15 to 7:15 a.m.) and the facility has excellent, new clean showers–one side for the women and one side for the men. The location is great for access to downtown: you can play hockey and still get to work by 8 a.m. — and feeling better, more invigorated and awake than probably ever before.

Since the game is just an hour, I’ve limited it to only 18 skaters. It’s a Community Session so we will have the largest possible skater and goalie pool from which to draw players.

Make sure to pack breakfast because you will be ready to eat afterwards (alas, no cheesy hash browns provided, my apres a.m. hockey choice). Morning hockey! You have to really try it to understand its allure.

Here is the link to sign up: http://www.jmshockey.com/games/2761

Hope you can make it!

The Shot That Scores

by barbaragarn

​Guest blog by Dan Mclaughlin of Lifetime Hockey

Why You’ll Love the Snap Shot–Making the Shot That Scores

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A hockey team will get about 30
to 40 shots on net in a game. This
means the average player will only get between 2 to 5 shots on net–so every shot should be a good
one.  The beginning and
intermediate player needs to remember that the three keys to a scoring
shot are: quickness, accuracy
and speed.

Good
goalies watch the puck carefully and set up to take each shot. If you shoot quickly, before the goalie
gets set, your chance of scoring improves immeasurably. A quick shot is one that comes quickly off a
pass, a rebound or a scramble in front of the net. Many players have a tendency to hold
the puck on their stick too long in order to get ready to make a “really good
shot.” This extra time is
all a goalie needs to set up to make the save, or have a defensive player block it. Even marginal
shots should be made quickly. As
Wayne Gretsky has said, “the shot not taken will not score 100% of the time.”

A key to
increasing scoring productivity is to make the goalie move. Players should always be aware of the goalie’s position and try to shoot if they see the goalie move. Discipline yourself to pass
to a teammate rather than shooting if this causes the goalie to move across the
crease. Your teammate
will then have a much better shot.

There are
four primary types of shots: wrist shot, snap shot, slap shot and backhand. You
should be able to use them all and should not rely on just one or two. However, the slap shot should be left at home
if you are playing adult recreational hockey such as JMS because it is the
least accurate shot–and the one most
likely to injure a player. By contrast, our coaches at the Lifetime
Hockey School
emphasize the snap shot because this is the way most goals are scored today in college and pro hockey.

The snap
shot is a shorter version of the wrist shot and is used when you are close to
the goal (below the face-off dot.)  It
has the advantage of a quick release, and
by keeping the puck on your stick until the last moment it can surprise a
goalie. It is also a good
shot to use when skating at top speed and maneuvering in front of the net.
Watch the next breakaway goal from a good hockey player and you will see either
the deke or the snapshot as their preferred scoring approach.

The
snap shot is begun by drawing the puck to your side, but it is not drawn back
as in the forehand shot. You next need to cock your wrist and bring your
arms forward, snap your wrists and follow through.  The snap shot is dependent on your
wrists and arms and does not always require that you shift your weight as you
shoot.  Here
is a good demonstration of the mechanics of the
snap shot and this video really focuses on moving the puck before snapping
off the shot.

The next time you are warming up
before a game, take a few pucks aside and practice your snap shot against the
boards. If you can imprint the snap shot
on your muscle memory, you will be surprised how you will improve your scoring.

New Session Types Announced

by barbaragarn

We are always trying to branch out here at JMS and are excited to announce two new offerings. These new sessions continue the JMS tradition of leading pick-up hockey innovation.

Extreme Parity Session
Tired of teams not being exactly even? This is the session for you.
Preregistration

• Skaters will sign up in offsetting tandem–ie, Level 1 paired with Level 5, Level 2 with Level 4. Level 3s will sign up together.
• Each skater will be weighed and measured to ensure teams are exactly even in size (weigh-in will be at the rink the night before).
• Each skater will also be assigned a jersey bar code for better identification and tracking.

Warm-Up

• The captain will lead the players in a series of on-ice group warm-up calisthenics. Players will then move to their pre-assigned teams.

The Game

• Each player may carry the puck for 30 seconds, and then must pass. We will have someone in the scorekeeper’s box to sound the horn every 30 seconds, all 90 minutes of the game, to ensure proper timing on the passing rule. (We are now soliciting volunteers to track and sound the horn.)
• Each player must score one goal per game. Play will continue until each player has scored at least one goal. (We will book extra ice time for these games, as they may go long. Please plan your babysitter accordingly.)
• Each team must score the same number of points. Teams will trade off scoring opportunities (ie, if Dark scores first, then White must score, and only then will it be Dark’s turn to score again).

We feel the above careful and managed system will guarantee a perfect, 100% balanced game.

For those craving less organization, we are happy to announce the Thunderdome Sessions.
“Rules are… there are no rules.” (on ice, anyway)
Preregistration

• Each player must present proof of health insurance and have an emergency contact on file on their account (under “Profile”)–and we strongly prefer each participant let us know blood type and bring a personal EMT to the rink on standby

Warm-Up

• No warm-up.

The Game

• No rules of any kind–ice the puck at will, hack the goalie after it’s covered, camp out offsides, whatever you like. 
• And no penalties! The game will not stop for broken bones or bloodshed; injured players must conduct themselves to the bench the best they can.
• However, if a player remains prone on the ice for 10 minutes, we will send a special medical team to investigate–but only if the play is at the other end (we will not stop the game just to retrieve an unconscious skater).

We hope you enjoy these new offerings from JMS Hockey and that you have a happy April Fool’s Day–