16 things that cost nothing to do to IMPROVE your GAME.

Getting better at hockey is a marathon not a sprint! It takes time to build a great player and a great kid! Getting better at Hockey can be expensive but does not have to be. Be patient!

Becoming a great player DEPENDS ON THE PLAYER themselves, “you can lead a horse to water but……..!!!!

A lot of money is not needed to become a better or even a professional hockey player. My brother and I grew up lower, middle class with a dad that could not even skate, my sons grew up middle class.

What matters most is what is inside of your player and their habits and love for the game.

We can not and do not always need to be on the ice learning with your Team or a Coach, there are many positive alternatives that cost little of nothing that will make us a better player and a better kid. Start slow, build good habits, learn great skills, commit to success, keep grinding and finish strong.

Along the way try to incorporate these 16 things that we Conroy’s did that cost little or nothing and enjoy being a kid.

To ensure the success of the 16 things below Parents need to take the lead, you help to create the habits and environment and much needed discipline. Parents should facilitate and lead, don’t push. And support your coaches. If your kid has a terrible coach move to a new team.

Great athletes and kids are supported by a great set of Parents. Teach your player to do these things and even better do them with your Player and I guarantee improvements. Always lead by example. We can all be in better shape.

GET STRONGER!!!!! The single easiest means of becoming a significantly better hockey player is to become physically stronger and more fit than those you compete against. Everyone and anyone are capable of this and it costs nothing.

Kids today are softer and weaker than any prior generation, often surprisingly so at least for me. My kids were not soft or weak. They were stronger and more capable than their peers.

Rising above your peers is easier than ever and being physically stronger and more dominant and aggressive is a HUGE advantage to you.

There are no negatives associated with being stronger and more fit. Anyone can achieve this and once your player does, they will be eternally grateful for your support. Kids love being stronger than their peers and it is positively addicting and of course offers many benefits besides improving in sports.

Not only does exercise makes you better, but it also further (and more perhaps more importantly) ADDS CONFIDENCE in the Players own abilities and body. The confidence comes from the understanding that the player made these changes and improvements THEMSELVES.

Being fit starts young, my sons were doing push-ups at age 2 (for fun not as a routine), in games we would play. And I made sure they were outside and active.

Exercise is easy to add into your life. Walks/hikes that involve hills and uneven terrain to strengthen core, legs and ankles. We always had races sprinting up hills!!! Make a game of this, race, compete, TRY. And remember win now later you won’t be able to!!!!
GET RID OF THE DAMN SCREENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Snow shoeing is an excellent skating exercise, or you walk they ride their bike or you bike and they roller blade just keep moving. BE ACTIVE WITH YOUR KIDS. Lots of easy family friendly ways to exercise.
1. Actual exercise routines also help but they need to be age appropriate. Kids under 12 focus on isometrics, 13/14 add plyometrics, 14 add steel to their programs. U 15 AAA players are STRONG! Make sure you are exercising enough, minimum 4 days a week.3days a week will matter.
2. A little regular exercise goes a long way and starts to build good habits. Kids mimic their parents and mentors, please lead your kids.
Carry a Tennis ball around. My brother was always carrying a tennis ball with him and did 2 things with it using both hands.
1. He was constantly bouncing it off things and catching it developing his eye hand coordination.
2. He was constantly squeezing it. Here is a link to my video on this.
Keep one in the family car and squeezeeeeeeeee. Strong hands and forearms will improve your shot, improve your stickhandling and help you to battle CH style, CH players have one hand on their stick and one hand to cheat with.
The Golf Ball as a puck, Self Practice.

Practicing by yourself is wonderful and you don’t need much or anyone else to do this and doing this is far better than playing inside or playing Video Games.

By using a golf ball, we can practice on the street or rougher surfaces with no need for puck board or anything else. Use an OLD stick not your current hockey stick and just practice.

I recommend a golf ball to be used as a puck. Why Coach?
- Mom or Dad usually has a Golf ball around and that’s free.
  - Walk near any golf course and you will find many and can even resell them,
- A golf balls moves easily like a puck on ice.
  - This allows us to practice both our stickhandling and our passing. But I do NOT recommend it to practice shooting.
- A golf ball has weight to it mimicking a puck.
- A golf ball makes a noise when it contacts your stick just like a puck does this allows us to both hear and to feel the puck.
  
  PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT the GOLF BALL AGAINST WALLS inside.
Flexibility. When I was a kid stretching was “what hippies did 😉” and I pulled my groin 2 or 3 times a year. I have evolved and I am now more flexible than any kid I coach.

Yoga is a wonderful way to stretch and to get strong and it is easy to find a free program to watch. Stretching before and after a workout and NOT on the ice, stretch off ice, don’t waste precious ice time.

Stretch Stretch Stretch! Martial Arts training is created for stretching.

Stretch while watching TV. Stretch will reading, stretch while gaming.
Martial Arts Training Typically not free but typically also not expensive. Akido is a good one as it teaches one to use the energy of another. Striking arts are also good.

I highly recommend this, highly, highly recommend this. Train Martial Arts during the off season.

Reasons to love Martial Arts:
- Martial Arts Coaches are tough!!!
  - There are strict rules to be followed precisely.
- Respect is so important.
- Discipline is key and required.
- Lots of exercise and lots of stretching.
- Balance is key.
- Learning to defend oneself is a useful life skill.
  - Take crap from no one on and off the ice.
- Your player will LOSE in the beginning and losing is good.
  - It is something new for your player to learn.
- Learning to fight is both a hockey and life skill.
- It teaches CONFIDENCE, in life many will challenge us, in Hockey many, many more will challenge us. STAND UP and defeat them.
When Ryan became a teenager, we enrolled in martial arts for 3 summers. This provided additional toughness/courage/confidence/fitness and added a useful skill set.

As a smaller player it was CRITICAL that coaches knew that he could handle himself especially as a D-man. Goalies loved Ryan.
Attend Free Skates. Stick and Pucks, Public Skating, Outdoor Rinks. Take advantage of any free ice time that you can access. Bring a friend or two, practice:
1. Skating and practice the stuff you are poor at.
2. Passing this is a very valuable skill and it is grossly under practiced,
  1. Saucer passes.
  2. Forehand and Back hand
  3. Off the Boards
  4. Practice N E V E R missing a pass.
  5. Catch and move the puck.
  6. Trick passes behind the back.
  7. Shot passes.
3. Shoot the puck, low and hard!
4. PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY & have fun, engage others on the rink, teach others play with others PLAY PLAY PLAY.
5. Push yourself imagine game scenarios and
6. Smile and work hard.
After the ODR make sure to sharpen your skates. ODRs have the added advantage of being rough and hard to skate on and this improves our balance and power.
Watch Hockey. If you are U 11 go watch the U 13 A team, U 13 go watch the U 15 AAA team. See what the future is for you, At the level of U 15 AAA kids are doing most of the right things and it is good hockey. Observe what they don’t do well, this is a lesson learned for you.

Watch Hockey on TV, invite some friends over talk about the game, watch the game, watch players away from the puck, watch the forecheck, the back check, the POSITIONING! Watch them ANTICIPATE!!!!!!!! Stop the action review the play, learn learn learn.

Watch and learn and love the game!
GO OUTSIDE For the love of God please go outside. Play, communicate, hike. Bike, wrestle, run, jump, explore, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. No electronic devices (there is no way to improve inside an electronic device). Be a KID, enjoy being a KID, life will never be better than when we are kids.
Play Raquet Sports My brother and I played Ping Pong for hours and I learned to use both hands. Excellent eye hand coordination game, played intensely its works your cardio, playing with my brother helped to develop your wrestling and fighting skills (we were a bit competitive). We played Badminton, Tennis, Ping Pong then later squash and racquetball.
Help with Home Chores. Say what Coach???? HELP YOUR PARENTS ?? Darn rights, the more you do for your parents the more time they have for you. Do your share and do your part to be a great kid who helps his Parents Help YOU!
1. Clean the house (good exercise and helps the FAMILY.
2. Rake the yard, dig the garden SHOVEL SNOW. Take out the garbage, do bicep curls all the way to the curb.
3. Walk the dog, heck jog with the dog, play with the dog, chase the dog, wrestle the dog!!!!!!
4. Make a simple meal for yourself or your family when old enough.
5. Be READY for your own EVENTS!!!!! No Parent should have to yell at a child to get them to go to practice EVER.
  1. If you don’t want to go to practice, then QUIT and be a couch slug. Practice is what Players DO!
PLAY/PRACTICE HOCKEY OFF the ICE. You know the story about Syndey Crosby and the dryer, right????? My brother and I played hallway sock hockey. My brother and I played street hockey 10 to 20 hours a week, running, passing scoring, crying, fighting in for supper out again after supper. So much street hockey which is almost EXACLTY like Hockey and its FREE.

A frozen tennis ball to the nads teaches toughness. As a Dad I played with my kids and the neighborhood kids. Great hands, and great skills are developed in street hockey not to mention cardio and BEING OUTSIDE!!!!!
1. Shoots pucks against? Make sure they are practising proper technique with a stick that is 5 cm shorter than their game stick.
2. Play road hockey. We played 20 hours of road hockey a week as kids. Our games were great we ran, shot, passed and occasionally threw the mitts 😊.
3. Stickhandle in the garage or basement with a golf ball and pass, pass, pass the puck/golf ball. Again, focus on your technique from practice.
4. Play on outdoor rinks. Go have fun, dangle, try new things work hard, push yourself. Make mistakes fall down get up play against bigger kids. Win, lose it does not matter.
5. PLAY, PLAY, PLAY with no supervision just play anything but video games and work hard, sweat!
Be Prepared, Positive & LOVE to Practice. Practice rocks, it is where we get better. We practice more than we play. Being pumped about practice is a great way to get ahead and to play better. Great players love practice.

In practice listen, be positive, support your coaches & your teammates. Be a great teammate and you will be a great player.

There are 3 ways to learn:
1. Listening
2. Doing &
3. Watching others do.
Be thankful and respectful to all! Hockey players are famous for being polite and great human beings. Be aware and thankful for all the things that need to happen for you to get to practice. All Coaches like supportive players.
Become TOUGH! Stop whining, stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop letting your Parents do everything, stop Blaming others. Suck it up buttercup, Tape an aspirin to it!!!!!

In my checking programs I tell kids there are 4 reasons that you can lie down:
1. Your Dead
2. You got the wind knocked out of you.
3. Your unconscious
4. You broke a bone below the waist, other than that GET UP and get off the ice.
In my learned and experienced opinion toughness matters almost more than any other skill or attitude. My son and my brother were EXCEPTIONALLY tough. I was not until grade 10.
- Getting up, are you hurt or are you injured? If you are hurt GET UP!
- Never quit, push yourself and others by leading.
- Push yourself I guarantee you that you are not meeting your potential, you have no idea what you are capable of until you are forced to find out. Embrace that journey.
- Lose with grace.
- Fear nothing, you got his.
- Help others, LEAD!
- Listen and learn.
- Find aways to succeed.
- THINK!
As mentioned, a few times my brother and son both became Pro Hockey Players at 5 8. Neither of them were more than 170 lbs and my son is a d-man and my brother played when there was actual non stop violent body contact in the NHL. Small men succeeding in a world of bigger men. Toughness was the difference maker.

Parents STOP DOING EVERYTHING for your PLAYER. Stop accepting their weaknesses. MAKE THEM TOUGH. Hold them accountable, lead them to toughness or find a coach who can,

Being tough was normal in my day. EVERY ONE LOVES A TOUGH KID! Toughness does not mean you are a bully off the ice. On the ice YEP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tough kids protect the weaker kids, tough kids become leaders and winners.

One of my favorite phrases is:

Get Up!
Pains fades
Chicks digs scars
Glory lasts forever!!!!

Physical and mental toughness is everything. Every great player is tough.

The ability to get up and shake it off, get back on the horse, fight back against bullies, win the battles with bigger kids should be taught at home and is taught at Conroy Hockey.

Becoming tougher is an enormous difference maker. Being tougher will make you a leader amongst your Team and Coaches.

Parents your player is as tough or weak as you make them or allow them toughness is 95% the Parents department. I will do my part in this, and I rarely have a problem in this area. Kids enjoy becoming tougher.
BE COMPETITIVE. Learning to be competitive is good. Participation ribbons are not good after 6. Learning to win and to lose properly is great. Almost every kid I have trained knows the score of every scrimmage we have EVER had. Never discount winning never pretend they didn’t lose, its normal. Players need to win and lose and to learn what it takes to win!

I teach many battle drills for 3 reasons:
1. Battle is a big part of the game, a true skill.
2. Battle teaches toughness, compete levels, winning and losing.
3. CH Kids always get back up after a battle to battle yet again.
They should also lose, and they need to learn about losing.

Losing is normal!

Read that again:

Losing is normal!

Our lives are full of losses we will lose far more than we will win. How we deal with those is the key to personal success.

Don’t fancy up losing, they lost, everyone loses, learn about it, talk about it prepare for it, it is a bump in the road not a game changer. To lose is fine, to not try is unacceptable. Quitting is unacceptable. Teach your kids to lose with grace and to win with grace.
CONFIDENCE The single biggest difference between my brother and I was the difference in confidence. He had it in truckloads and I didn’t! Develop real confidence in your player.

I have spent a great deal time thinking and learning about how to develop confidence in my players. I have concluded that confidence is earned, not given and Al did more to earn it than I did.

Our father was tough on us and Al responded better to that! Confidence is everything. Helping players to developing confidence is one of my focuses.

One thing I have learned is that there is nothing better for a child confidence than learning they can make themselves better and that work equal’s reward. This builds CONFIDENCE and CONFIDENCE is EVERYTHING.

https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/general/how-to-build-confidence-5-tips-being-more-confident
https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-build-confidence
LEADERSHIP. Leadership is another highly desired skill welcomed by all. Leadership is learned from others. Be the first to be on the ice and the last one off. Help your Coaches and your Parents.

Take risks; be the hardest working player on the ice. Be the best listener, ask smart questions, be the most respectful kid on the ice including being respectful to the referees. Don’t be a follower, don’t be bullied, be a leader! Do the right thing when no one is watching. My best students do all of these things.

These 16 things were a big part of Al and Ryan persona they made a difference for them and will for your player. I am here to help I have spent hundreds of hours over the decades working with Parents on this.

Success comes easier when we are both on the same team!