Playing “Heads-up” Hockey with Purpose….But How?

In 2004, Hockey USA developed their version of “Heads up Hockey” guidelines to promote much needed awareness toward better, smarter and most importantly safer hockey experiences. The program is an excellent resource for all minor hockey associations and parent groups in support of better and safer hockey conditions. I invite you to view their link: http://bit.ly/xXjTHJ

Ron Wilson, who at the time was National Coaching Advisor for USA Heads Up Hockey and Head Coach Team USA 2004 World Cup Of Hockey, believes “players haven’t yet developed their reflexes and skating skills….and don’t have the experience they need to make smart on-the-fly judgments.”

It seems logical that a “heads up” program would have inspired significant cultural changes on many levels to achieve smarter and safer hockey. However, deeper understanding is needed to reach desired outcomes including a shift in education, behaviour changes and  stronger focus on injury prevention.  Meanwhile serious injuries in hockey at all levels have gone up while the interest in minor hockey has gone down.

BACK  to BASICS

A recent research study funded by the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment and the USA Hockey Foundation, concluded “that anticipated collisions tended to result in less severe head impacts than unanticipated collisions, especially for medium-intensity impacts”.

As reported by the CBC in their article, ‘Keep head up’ hockey advice gains proof on May 16, 2010:

“Jason Mihalik of the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his colleagues reported the severity of head impacts can be reduced in young hockey players who anticipate a collision, particularly for moderate-intensity impacts. Moderate impacts are serious enough to cause potential injury but don’t stand out as dangerous to a coach, parent or players, Mihalik said.

“I think parents need to appreciate that concussions can occur over a wide range of impact — it’s not necessarily the more severe impacts that will cause injury. We’ve seen collisions that we’ve often dismissed as very trivial as causing concussion in young hockey players,” Mihalik said in an interview.

“You want to be heads-up, you want to see what you’re hitting, you want to see that you’re about to get hit. But you also want to be in a ready athletic position to absorb the forces of that collision,” Mihalik said.

For full article, visit http://bit.ly/Ao6s78

Hockey parents can take comfort in the alignment of interests in safer hockey between hockey organizations, their advisors and the medical community. Until recently, both share the collective goal of advocating “heads-up hockey” with for skill and safety. The break down as I see it is in teaching and training players how to practice and play with their head-up as a mandatory and proven skill. The bottom line is players must practice this essential skill everyday if we want to prevent injuries. and parents have a responsibility to ensure this habit is carefully formed.

Paul Behner  is the President of Skillz Systems Inc.; their program QuickStickz teaches hockey players how to stickhandle safely. www.quickstickz.com

Connecting the Dots on Safety in Canadian Minor Hockey

Minor hockey associations across Canada have worked extensively with Hockey Canada to create development guidelines for the benefit of all players. Of course the passion and interest levels among parents and players vary greatly depending on many other factors. For certain, all parents, coaches and associations agree on one thing in hockey- SAFETY.

Many hockey parents choose to support their sons and daughters with quality equipment, training, encouragement and financial contributions to the best of their ability. Often, this means parents end up sacrificing, but do it naturally because their precious memories and investment during the early years is priceless.  Starting from Tim Bits, players either participate recreationally or competitively which can be equally rewarding. Regardless, development of core skills is essential while injury prevention is an integral part of managing safe hockey. Upon reflection, how do we know our children are properly prepared to be on the ice in game situations?

As noted by Ontario Minor Hockey Association’s skill development guidelines:

“……where do youngsters develop the skills of the game? Evidence would suggest that the games model in Canada slows the development of players.  In a study done by current NHL Coach George Kingston in 1976 he found that the average player in the Canadian system spent 17.6 minutes on the ice during a typical game and was in possession of the puck for an astonishingly low 41 seconds.  Kingston concluded that in order to get one hour of quality work in the practicing of the basic skills of puck control, (that is, stick handling, passing, pass receiving and shooting) approximately 180 games would have to be played.”

As a matter of fact, the ratio of games to practices in minor hockey is limited to ice availability and time frame constraints so the standards as noted in 1976 have not improved much. The obvious issue is that our players do not have adequate support to develop the necessary skills to keep them safer on the ice. In the same way players are required to participate in checking clinics, they should also be pre-qualified for proper puck handling skills.

In summary, lack of ice time = insufficient skill development/practice time = inadequate stick handling skills = lower on-ice awareness = higher exposure rates to injuries.

Players still do not dedicate enough time practicing this important skill in the proper heads up position before progressing on to further development. Indeed this is a serious problem but it’s already half solved because as parents we now know better. The solution is a commitment to adopt best practices which prioritize proper stick handling training programs. Our player’s safety depends on it.

Paul Behner  is the President of Skillz Systems Inc.; their program QuickStickz teaches hockey players how to stickhandle safely. www.quickstickz.com

Safety Concerns in Minor Hockey on the Rise

In a Toronto Sun article (March 2011), the President of Hockey Canada, Bob Nicholson, acknowledges parents concerns about their kids’ safety on the ice. Mr. Nicholson has seen enrolments decline two  years in a row and recognized that increased injuries (1 in 7 NHLers suffered concussions in the 2011 season) could lead to even sharper declines.  Read the full article here: http://www.torontosun.com/sports/columnists/2011/03/28/17786516.html

This past week, Hockey Mom in Canada posted a question on her Facebook page about the reasons behind declining hockey enrolment in Canada. Many took the time to respond. See the thread here – www.facebook.com/HockeyMomInCanada (great site – take a second to ‘like’ and join the discussion). As anticipated, one of the most frequently mentioned reasons was “injury” or “bodychecking”. The question posted on her site now is whether hockey is more dangerous, or less, for our kids now? I commented on the post and will summarize here.

This is a great question for all levels of minor hockey across Canada and parents should be concerned while being an advocate for proactive changes. Some of the comments on the blog suggested that hockey is faster and more physical than ever, that body checking should be ruled out while others suggested clinics be mandatory for both players and coaches.

Though I agree that more can be done to make the game safer and more enjoyable and there is a good debate to be had about ruling out body-checking in minor hockey, I am of the mind that we should focus on the core problem first. It is very well documented that proper development of puck handling skills (with head up) is lacking compared to other skills and product evolution (George Kingston 1976 and 2002.) To back this up, the NCAA reports Women’s ice hockey which prohibits body checking has injury rates which are two times that of Men’s ice hockey. This data proves that we need to make on-ice awareness a priority for all players. Injury prevention is an outcome we all want to see and this can be achieved with much more dedication to proper puck handling training. Additionally, players must learn how to give and take checks properly with their heads up. The object of the game is to control the puck; we can prevent injuries if we teach players how to do this with their heads up.

As always I invite further comment.

Paul Behner  is the President of Skillz Systems Inc.; their program QuickStickz teaches hockey players how to stickhandle safely. www.quickstickz.com