Hockey Training Frustration

What I Saw at That Other Hockey Camp

I was waiting to get on ice with my campers watching another hockey camp and skill session.

I looked closer and realized one of my former teammates, a former NHL player and a really skilled guy, was running it. And I was frustrated. Not at him personally. At what I was seeing for these kids.

The amount of time the players spent standing in line was maddening. The drills were just drills. Nobody was teaching. Nobody was engaged. There is a massive difference between running kids through a drill and actually coaching them through a skill. One kills time. The other builds players.

Why I Lose Sleep Over This

I spend all of my time studying the game and more importantly my own curriculum. I study and learn on a never-ending journey for information. I think constantly about ways to make my product better. I honestly lay awake at night thinking about how to break down the game for teaching purposes.

Sometimes my drills play over and over in my head until I have an "ah hah" moment and wake up to write down the missing puzzle piece. When I listen to interviews with my favorite songwriters and musicians, I can honestly relate to how a song comes to them and they have to stop everything to write down the lyrics. Same thing happens to me with training the youth of the nation.

Most coaches show up and run the same drills they ran last summer. I do not accept that. The game evolves. My curriculum evolves with it.

Why Pro Ambitions Leads the Industry

All of this work is the reason we have paved the way as the leader in the hockey development industry. I believe it comes down to four things: Passion. Curriculum. Coaches. Technology.

Those are not buzzwords. Every one of them has a system behind it. You cannot fake the results we get, and the hockey community is small enough that people talk.

Battle Drills and the Core Curriculum

The majority of our battle drills, which are the core curriculum and built into everything else we do, contain three distinct features: a battle element, a skill element, and a conditioning element. All three are the foundations of hockey. You cannot develop a real player without all three working together.

Part of what separates us is the second puck. After players complete a drill, here comes the second puck fired right at them. It creates urgency. It creates gap control. It conditions kids to be ferocious and hungry for the puck. I tell players directly: if you do not fight for that second puck, you will not win battles in your games. This game is about puck possession, and we train that reality every single session.

A lot of programs talk about compete level. We actually build it into the structure of the drill so players have no choice but to compete. You will see the difference in your child's game after a week with us.

The Summer Hockey Growth Spurt

I coined the term "summer hockey growth spurt" but the concept behind it is real. Periodization training over the summer is the largest window of development in the entire calendar year. The body is fresh. The mind is open. There are no game obligations getting in the way of pure skill-building.

This is the time to take your player out of his or her comfort zone. Comfortable players do not grow. Our staff pushes kids to the edge of what they think they can do and then shows them they can go further. We have no agenda except making your child the best hockey player he or she can be.

If you want your kid a little better each summer, that is a choice. If you want a real growth spurt, that is a different commitment and we are built for that.

Technology and Evaluation

Our evaluation system gives each parent real feedback after camp. This is not a generic report. It is specific to your child's development and tied to what our coaches observed on the ice. Our internal and virtual training system also supports our coaches so that what we teach stays consistent across every session.

We have invested in technology because it sharpens the training product. Feedback matters. Data matters. And parents deserve to know exactly what their child is working on and why.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my kid spend so much time standing in line at hockey camps?

That is one of the most common frustrations parents have and it is a legitimate one. Lines form when a coach prioritizes managing a group over actually teaching it. At Pro Ambitions, we design drills specifically to keep players moving and engaged. Standing in line does not build hockey players. Repetition with purpose does.

What makes battle drills different from regular hockey drills?

A regular drill isolates a skill in a clean environment. A battle drill forces a player to execute that same skill under pressure, fatigue, and competition. Real games are never clean. We train players to perform when it is hard, not just when it is easy. The second puck element is a direct example of that philosophy.

How much can my child actually improve in one summer hockey camp?

More than most parents expect, provided the player is coachable and the program has real structure. The summer is the single best window for development in the hockey calendar. One focused week can produce visible changes in a player's compete level, skating, and puck battles. Multiple sessions over a summer compound those gains significantly.

How do I know if a hockey camp is actually worth the investment?

Ask around. The hockey community is small and people talk honestly. Look at the curriculum, not just the credentials of whoever is running it. Being a former pro does not automatically make someone a great teacher. Ask how much ice time the players actually get versus how much time they spend in line. That answer alone tells you a lot.

As always, contact us anytime with hockey questions. We are here to help.

info@proambitions.com