1. The summer hockey growth spurt I talk about is no joke. Make a game plan for the summer. Plan your work and work your plan.
2. Hydrate every day. Drink 10 eight ounce bottles per day.
3. The summer training regime is a marathon not a sprint. Do your due diligence everyday. Try not to skip even one day or stick handling, running, lifting, shooting pucks. Chart what you do every single day of the summer. Start on the day after school ends.
4. Make the most of your ice time and camp instruction. You will get out of your training what you put into it. Your parents have invested in you. Invest in yourself. Engage mentally and physically and prepare for hockey camp. Already be in shape and mentally ready to learn.
5. Eat well, rest well, repair battle wounds from the winter hockey season, and your spring sports. Run every single day. Even if it is not far. Set aside 30-45 minutes to run/jog explosively. I always tell the story of the summer I spent golfing and training with NHL all star and my buddy, Jeremy Roenick. We would work out in the gym and golf together at our club at the Cape. After 36 holes and a two hour work out, many days I would see him set off for a run through the course in 85 degree heat and humidity. Don’t forget, no matter how hard you are training, someone else is training harder.
6. Lift if you of appropriate age under the supervision and guidance of a professional trainer.
7. Use your hand grips every single time you are in the car with your parents. Do 100 per hand. Leave them in your parent’s vehicles. You will be amazed how much this will help your shot in the fall. I had a rocket of a shot. I was faithful with my grippers.
8. Shoot pucks every single day. Not a bad idea to build a shooting station in the garage or basement. Look on line and see how many others have done this. Set targets and work on your accuracy. Use the MR. ASSIST product I sell. Use it in the garage for ten minutes daily.
9. Be hard to play against in your summer league. Do this by being the hardest worker…even though it doesn’t count. It does count.
10. I am always confused when I am playing golf with my buddies and they don’t putt everything out. I don’t want the “gimme” because I want to make sure I am improving my skill for tournament play. I am competing with myself at all times, trying to improve. Take this same attitude in hockey. Especially over the summer when you can change your game. The fall is going to be a clean slate. No matter what team you are placed on, your goal should be to be an impact player on that team.
11. Work on blocking shots this summer. This is a part of the game that is not going away and becoming more and more important.
12. Make a commitment to work on your communicative skills on the ice this summer. Even if you don’t know the other players at camp, get to know them enough so that you can communicate on the ice during scrimmages.
13. Win your battles. Work on winning all battles. Battle for the puck. Never give up.
14. Beat your opponent to the puck. In drills, scrimmages and at hockey camp. You are really competing against yourself to change your game this summer. You can do it. It will happen. Take it one day at a time.
15. Oh and do your summer reading early. Don’t wait until August. When you do the little things right, surprisingly enough the big things will fall right into place.

Looking forward to meeting all of fellow mules this summer, for those of you who don’t know me yet…
the mules are the defensemen.

Sincerely,  Jeff