Feedback
Do you appreciate feedback from your employer? Well hockey players do as well. We all learn faster when we get good positive feedback. This gives us a picture of where we are. Feedback can be visual or verbal and every player learns through different types of feedback

Breaking down
Every skill is broken down into separate parts and practiced until perfected. I’ve read countless articles of Tiger Woods changing his swing to improve his gave and spending hundreds of hours practicing on the putting green. Does your son or daughter get the same time in practice during the season? That’s why proper summer instruction is vital. I became the #2 recruited player in North America as a result of what I am talking about.

Linking
When each element is perfected we link them together into the complete skill, this allows the player to practice each element and gain confidence before moving on to the next element. The player then performs the skill with more confidence and proficiency.

The Player’s Mind
Hockey is 90% mental they say. Confidence is the driving force in a player’s performance. Remember when you had a test to take in school that you were not prepared for? The anxiety was paralyzing wasn’t it? However, when you were prepared you went into that classroom knowing you were going to ace the test. The hockey game is the players testing grounds and practice is the study hall. If the player is not prepared he/she enters the testing ground with anxiety. My camp helps teach the player how to better prepare physically and mentally. To learn more about this very important aspect of hockey development, check out my free e-book at www.ThePlayersMind.com

Multi-Skill Development
Practice sessions are best conducted when using themes. The most effective coaches understand this concept. It is pointless to try and teach every skill in one camp. That is why we specialize in the specialty camp in order to focus on specific themes with skating being the primary theme at all GTNHD camps

Pairing
Players learn faster when paired with others of similar skill. Lesser skilled players learn faster when paired in a mixed-skill group.

Our Teaching Progression – 5 E’s

Elect the skill
Select does not begin with an E, so we decided to get clever and start with electing a skill. I am sure you get the point though.

Explanation
We explain why we are doing the drill and when it can be used in a game. As a player myself I was only concerned with how the skill was going to make me better and when I could use it and how.

Example
We quickly give an example of a current situation when the skill has been used and by whom. For example; Sidney Crosby used a 360 degree leap to escape a check and was able to maintain puck possession while doing so as he chipped the puck off the boards and leaped by the pinching defenseman.

Execute
After a very brief explanation and example or demonstration by our highly trained staff, we give the students a chance to execute the drill until they have achieved some level of proficiency. If the student has not grasped the concept after some time they are then given to a staff member for one on one instruction until they have. No other camp in the country offers this service.

Evaluate
The staff then evaluates and corrects the students with observations and verbal feedback.