29Nov 2012 by Jeremy Weiss 4 Comments

6 Ways to Make your Hockey Practices More Effective

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy, Useful Products
The Ice “Crisis:” It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of ice in a lot of hockey towns. Different organizations have tried to address this problem in different ways… with some outcomes working out better than others. Many organizations run half-ice practices, with two teams sharing the ice. Other programs are running “station practices,” with 50-60 players rotating through various stations. Some programs are still using the “old-fashioned” method of full-ice practices, with one team on the ice at a time. I believe most organizations are using some combination of the scheduling methods above. The purpose of this article isn’t to critique the various “ice accommodation strategies” that have been tried over the years, nor is it to attempt to solve the world’s ice scheduling issues (although that might be…
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25Jun 2012 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments

HockeyOT: Hockey Training That Will Take Your Game to the Next Level!

Nutrition, Off-ice Training, Skills, Speed, Strength
HockeyOT was designed by pro hockey players & coaches. It’s like having your own personal hockey strength & conditioning coach at a fraction of the cost It's no secret I'm a huge believer in off-ice training. In my last post we talked about the importance of understanding who your competition is, and how to gain an advantage over them. You an check that post out here: Who IS my Competition Anyways…? Biggest Potential to Gain an Advantage: In that post, we talked about some of the on-ice factors that go into being an effective player... these on-ice factors are definitely important, however, where you're really going to gain an advantage is off the ice! Off-ice strength training and conditioning is probably the biggest category that will give you an advantage…
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31Aug 2011 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments

Breakouts: Color-coded Breakout System

Defensive Zone, Team Systems
Color-coded Breakout System and Options As we discussed in our video on Hockey Systems for Youngsters, structured systems CAN be taught to young hockey players, and a color-coded breakout system is one way of doing this. Young hockey players are often more advanced physically than mentally. Because of this, players at higher levels of play can typically execute the basic patterns of a breakout (i.e. skate the puck behind the net and pass to a winger on the boards) long before they can read which option to select in a given situation. Color-coding a breakout system allows the "read" portion of "read and react" to be passed along to the coach, who can call the plays from the bench using the color code. Well-trained players will hear the call, and…
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08Jun 2011 by Jeremy Weiss 5 Comments

Shooting: Hockey Radar Gun iPhone App

Coaches' Corner, Hockey Equipment, Off-ice Training, Skills, Useful Products
Track the Speed of your Hockey Shot with this Radar Gun iPhone App! A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the developers of a new iPhone app called Speedhero. I took a look at a few of their YouTube videos, and was blown away by what I saw: The folks down at Speedhero have come up with a way to track the speed of a shot using your phone! It all centers around a basic equation you've probably seen before D=RxT (Distance = Rate x Time). If you have any two of these components, you can figure out the third. With Speedhero, you program in your "Distance" from the goal, then it uses the microphone in your iPhone to pick up two important sounds: your stick hitting the puck,…
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23May 2011 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments

Introduction: Course Overview

Coaches' Corner, Hockey Equipment, Off-ice Training, Skills, Useful Products
Welcome to Weiss Tech Hockey's Home Hockey Training Center! As you know, hockey is a complex game that combines MANY different skills. Great hockey players can skate well, stickhandle, shoot, pass... they're strong, fast, smart, and make the right decision at the right time! One of the biggest mistakes many hockey players make is that they only work on their skills at the rink; they only work on their speed and strength at the rink; and they only work on their hockey smarts at the rink. In today's game, if you're only developing your abilities during your regular practices and games, you're probably not going to achieve your full potential. The best players I know are at the gym on their own, working on their hockey skills off the ice,…
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