Tag Archive: ohp
March 29, 2022 3:43 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
When it comes to skating development, we get one recurring themed question above the rest. “Can you help my child get faster?” That answer is always YES! Here’s an awesome at home off-season training exercises to build that speed!
Making your speed and lower body strength training a priority is a must this off-season! Even something as simple as a quick 5-10 minute series of quick feet and jumping exercises will make a world of difference!
February 14, 2022 7:06 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
We’re down to the wire! Whether your team is in position to take home a championship or you’re seeing the season end in sight – There’s no better time than this moment to finish the season off the right way!
Prioritize what matters most right now:
- Your contributions to your team
- Focus on your controllables and give nothing short of your best every time you have an opportunity to contribute.
- Your mindset
- Shift at a time mentality. Every rep, every shift, every practice, every game – you’re ascending to the best version of yourself!
- Your perspective
- Take a step back [metaphorically] and don’t lose sight how much fun you’re having. The laughs with teammates, pressure situations in games, depleted feeling you get when you know you gave it your 100% – These experiences are a gift, cherish them!
Block out the noise:
- Upcoming Tryouts
- They don’t matter right now. Fun fact; the better you perform today will provide more for you tomorrow!
- Spring Sports
- They’re not going anywhere.
- Lingering frustrations
- Lows and challenges are what make the successes that much sweeter. Some of the most successful athletes will tell you – “you’ve got to have short memory.” It takes a lot more energy out of your battery to hold on to something versus letting it go and moving forward!
Leave everything you have on the ice – skate with no regrets down these final few weeks!!!
January 13, 2022 3:57 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
As the second half of the season heats up. The uptick in the stress and anxiety is likely to follow. Here’s some helpful tips to help combat these challenges and create a different mental approach to tackling them head on!
Awareness
Become aware of the thoughts that are present in your mind. Identify the good-bad, positive-negative, happy-sad.
Intentional Breathing
2 Minute Drill // Hyper focused on your breathing. Mouth closed and following the breath in through your nose, deep into the belly and out through the nose. Repeat this steadily for 2 straight minutes. Extra credit, mix in some visualization of your goals you’re working to accomplish.
Dictate your positive mindset
Begin choosing positive thoughts that will soon change the way you feel about yourself and the upcoming game and adversities ahead.
Commit to these simple steps and you will go from feeling bogged down with stress and anxiety, to feeling more relaxed and clearer minded as you work to become the best version of yourself!
For more information on this and many other powerful mental tools to help give you the mental edge, please connect with coach Jacob via email, jacob@ohiohockeyproject.com or cell phone, 951-491-4666
April 6, 2020 6:38 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
Things work out best, for those who make the best out of the way things turn out.
This was the first quote you would read when you walk into the Portland Pirates [AHL] locker room. Now, years removed from that time in my life, that quote has a greater meaning than I would’ve ever thought! Translation: Positivity needs to be your best friend when you deal with adversity.
This is a time of unprecedented adversity we’re all managing through. While working through this COVID challenge why not frame it with a positive lens… The time off can be more beneficial than you know – IF you use it wisely! Look at this time off as an opportunity! An opportunity to buckle down on school work, spend quality time with family, lock in on your nutrition, make at-home fitness a daily priority.
Now more than ever a routine is critical! We hope everyone is staying healthy during the time off!
March 19, 2020 3:10 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
Within the current state of slowing down and staying in, we’re finding ourselves with a lot of idle time. Stay accountable and use the off time to your advantage! Lock in on your nutrition and physical activity! Here’s some simple aspects to work into your home training regimen!
- Speed
- Agility foot speed ladder
- Sprinting – focus on short bursts
- Agility cone drills – focused on aggressive, cutting patterns.
- Jump rope
- Power
- Body weight pushups, squats
- Any type of jumping exercises
- Squat jumps, tuck jumps, single leg jumps, lateral jumping
- Single leg balance exercises
- Hill or Stair running
- Band resistance exercises.
- Conditioning
- Jogging for distance +/or time
- Rollerblading/Bicycling
- Burpees + Jump Rope
- Core Strength
- Countless number of ab and core exercises.
Outside of the physical activity, be sure you’re matching your efforts in the kitchen – focusing on your nutrition too! Keep up to date on all our Instagram and Facebook Stories! We’re having fun with the #CoachRussChallenge! Our goal is to keep our OHP Families mentally and physically healthy during this time
March 12, 2020 1:36 am
Published by Russ Sinkewich
Having a plan in place is paramount to maximizing your off-season. Just as every player is unique, so should each player’s plan for development! Here’s a few key factors to work into your game plan as you’re mapping it out!
- Targeted Areas of Improvement
- Be critical and assess your deficiencies.
- Action Plan
- Once you’ve identified areas in your game you need to improve – now what’s your plan? From home workouts, to shooting/stick handling in the basement, to getting on the ice. Have a plan, and stick to it!
- Set Goals
- Once your plan is in place, SET GOALS. Time your mile run, shoot “X” number of pucks per week, workout “X” times per week, the list is endless. Make the effort of recording tangible results. This will go further than you can imagine – the numbers don’t lie!
- Strategic Breaks
- This is the X-factor that separates good off-seasons from great off-seasons! Take breaks, enjoy time away from the sport. Your body and your mind NEED these breaks! Be strategic in planning; perhaps right after tryouts for a few weeks, or maybe at the end of the summer before the school and hockey year starts back up again.
We can’t wait to have an awesome spring and off-season with everyone!
February 20, 2020 7:08 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
It’s easy to overlook the value and impact that a player’s confidence has on their performance. Unlike other tangible skills – you can’t see it, touch it, measure it… The positive (or negative) affects your confidence can have on your game is undeniable! Confidence ultimately comes from within, although there’s are a few guidelines that can help boost that confidence and help take your game to the next level!
Put in the work!!!
If you’ve put in the work, then know you’re prepared! Hard work + preparation are key in your foundation for success!
“One shift at a time” Mentality
Nothing is ever done overnight. Your growth is all a part of your process. Take one shift at a time, one period, one game, one weekend. Never too high, never too low.
Be Resilient
Criticism can be positive if you choose to accept it from that perspective. Never the less, you’ve got to be tough! Filter the negative and stay in YOUR lane!
Have a great finish to the season, and best of luck heading into the spring! We can’t wait to see everyone soon!
January 30, 2020 3:52 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
Good question! Over the years you would be amazed with some of the stuff we’ve seen smuggled in our athlete’s hockey bags! What should be in my hockey bag? Besides your equipment – the necessities! Here’s my go-to traveling set up:
- Equipment Bag [A MUST]
- This is the home of your tape, wax, mouth guard, scissors, extra laces, healthy snack. A few nice additional items could be extra helmet pieces, band aids, and a few quarters for bubble hockey.
- Athletic Apparel
- You warm up before you take the ice… RIGHT???
- Shoes, shorts, and of course a locker lid to keep the flow out of your face.
- Jersey-Socks
- 1 set for practice
- 1 set for games
- When pre-packing your gear, plan accordingly for your next on ice event.
Best of luck in the final month of the season! We can’t wait to hear about all the amazing achievements!
January 21, 2020 12:56 am
Published by Russ Sinkewich
Just because you’re in the heart of your season doesn’t mean your stretching and mobility should be put on the bench. Hopefully, you’re lucky enough to have a team or coach that prioritizes time for pre-practice/game warmups. Regardless if you’re doing a quick warmup with your teammates or on your own, here’s a few simple movements to key in on your hip mobility (aka, stretches that will help your skating)!
- Sprinter Squat Sequence
- Take a “hockey knee”, roll hips forward and backwards stretching your hip flexors. Then take front leg and extend forward, while trying to bring your head down facing that knee. Great for all our skating muscles, hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes.
- Scorpions
- Laying on your chest, bend one leg up, and reach it up and over across your body. Perform slowly and under control. You’ll feel a great stretch in your lower back and hip flexors.
- Squat Reaches
- Shoulder width stance, deep squat and hold :10seconds. Grab feet, straighten legs first, stretching hamstrings, then raise hips. Perform 8-12 consecutive movements.
Keep it going during the heart of the season! Can’t wait to hear from everyone soon!
December 12, 2019 6:11 pm
Published by Russ Sinkewich
So often we let our tunneled focus on goals, achievements, and expectations cloud our perspective of what truly matters. Without a doubt, having goals and an action plan to achieve those goals is critical to long term success. However, never at the cost of losing your perspective.
I vividly remember having chapters in my career where I would be so obsessed on the goals and expectations I set for myself that I would forget why I even played the game. I would take my health (mentally and physically) for granted, I would underestimate accomplishments, I would look at “issues” in my hockey world and over dramatize them, and worst of all I lost sight of my reasons why I loved the game so much. Remember, your hockey issues are not the end of the world – your lows are never as low as you think they are!
The first step out of every low point I ever experienced was digging deep and finding my gratitude for so many wonderful things in my life and career. I would mindfully re align my focus to all of the aspects of the game that I cherished so much. Like clockwork, the anxiety and stressors that ate at me would disappear and I would be back on my way chasing my dream.
Keep your goals in sight, but never lose your perspective, gratitude, and passion for the game!