I've been talking about this for YEARS

Hey Hockey Hacks Community

Occasionally I look back at where I’ve come from, whether that’s old videos of how I used to skate, stickhandle, shoot, the first time I tried ATG exercises, and/or any other notes that came up.

Here’s some notes I found from January 23, 2020 (wow, right before the world changed!) in the middle of getting my contract terminated with my Junior hockey team:

“Why your prior coaching experience does not matter”
Bold claim, experience matters a little in this case, but here’s why I’m saying it. There’s always new stuff coming out, and if there’s enough support to show that it’s not a scam, then it’s probably not a scam.
If you as a coach only give your attention to your players for an hour because ‘I only have that much time to help these guys out”, then you’re behind what’s new.
Video feedback is a great alternative to not being with the players in person - this puts control of player development back into the player’s control. It also gives you the chance to compare their movement with a superstar NhLers.
If you don’t know how the human body moves, you may use cues that lead players in the wrong direction. It’s not just about working hard, but what the work is. An example in hockey is if you don’t know the biomechanics of the human body, you may use less specific cues like push, go hard, quick feet, and lets work hard; instead of more specific cues like internally rotate your hips and dont push, rotate your hips to shoot like a golf swing, So if you’re not willing to use the technology we have with video feedback, and if you’re not willing to learn how your players move versus a superstar NHLers’ movement, your prior coaching experience does not matter.”

Let’s go through that Line by Line to draw on the Context.

“There’s always new stuff coming out, and if there’s enough support to show that it’s not a scam, then it’s probably not a scam.”
I remember arguing with my coaches at the time that the system I work on is NOT a scam, that it was literally changing the way I moved and performed basic abilities like skating, shooting, and stickhandling.
They were saying I got caught up in a scam. Clearly, I wasn’t having that.

If you as a coach only give your attention to your players for an hour because ‘I only have that much time to help these guys out”, then you’re behind what’s new.
I still agree with this today. I thought it was disgraceful for coaches to claim they make transformations with and give “family-like” support to their players, yet they only give 1 hour per day of their attention to their development. That means they’re only with you for 1 practice. Not good enough.
If you’re my client (or if you want to be my client), you know for a FACT that you have unlimited direct messaging/text access to me at all times. And if you’ve invested even more, you know you can call me at anytime.

Video feedback is a great alternative to not being with the players in person - this puts control of player development back into the player’s control. It also gives you the chance to compare their movement with a superstar NhLers.
I still use video analysis for comparing movement to this day. It’s my go-to tool for true mechanics and skill development. It amazed me at the time, and still does to this day!

If you don’t know how the human body moves, you may use cues that lead players in the wrong direction. It’s not just about working hard, but what the work is. An example in hockey is if you don’t know the biomechanics of the human body, you may use less specific cues like push, go hard, quick feet, and lets work hard; instead of more specific cues like internally rotate your hips and dont push, rotate your hips to shoot like a golf swing, So if you’re not willing to use the technology we have with video feedback, and if you’re not willing to learn how your players move versus a superstar NHLers’ movement, your prior coaching experience does not matter.
This is definitely the paragraph that solidified my stance on bad coaching. Any coach of any type in hockey should know some degree of how the human body moves, at the very least. AND they should also know how it’s different moving on ice and blades versus moving on land. I still don’t care if the coach is someone like Scotty Bowman or Jon Cooper or Daryl Belfry (who’s good); if people don’t understand basic kinesthetics when talking hockey, I will ALWAYS take what they say with a grain of salt.

As I’m writing this, I’m finding more notes. Some are passion post from my dying days in Juniors. Others are first drafts of comprehending the system we’ve created here with Hockey Hacks.

Are you interested in seeing those?
Reply to this email for that!

Yours in Hockey Hacks,
Mason