Camps and Lessons

[2nhockey 21]

My kids are new to hockey but really enjoying the game and don't want the season to end. In fact, both have asked to play summer hockey. I enjoy watching them develop in this sport and am happy to see their passion for the game. Unfortunately for them I am not on board with year-round anything, so I crushed their summer hockey hopes. I am a dream killer, I guess. 

 

I am not against camps and things of that nature though, as long as their summer sports aren't impacted (soccer, swimming, and competitive shooting) assuming the camps are worth the cost.

 

So looking for opinions on value of weeklong day camps and/or 2 on 1 private instruction. One camp I am considering is a power skating camp. Is this a good type of camp to invest money and time in or are the kids better off in a 'general hockey skills' camp for same money and time?

[EJB 488]

How old are they?

 

Though expensive, I think individual instruction is awesome for development.  The instructor is a huge factor, as I think it's tough mentally on the kid as well. 

[SirJW 207]

Power Skating a worthy investment, if they are old enough to pay attention and work hard.

 

Both of these are top notch.

 

http://robbyglantz.com/

 

https://www.laurastamm.com/

 

 

 

 

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

I agree, do a power skating if they are old enough to Handle it.  Camps a FULL of kids who could skate before they could walk.  That will do one of two things, make them work harder, or discourage them all together. Getting skating skills is always a good thing to do in the off season.   Summer hockey usual goes full or half day, but from what I've seen, is always full bore, and they will be somewhat spent by the end of it.    That said, damn!!! I wish my parents wanted to do this for me when I was a  kid. I played fall/winter (sometimes spring) house leagues and the sports of the season, b/c it's what everyone else was doing. :/ 

 

 

oh, and all the good camps by me are full already. And have been for a month or so already. So good luck getting in. 

[2nhockey 21]

Thanks for the feedback. The Laura Stamm camp was actually one I was specifically wondering about. 

 

The individual instruction is 2 students on one instructor and is indeed expensive. Probably more than I'm willing to spend now that I have looked deeper into it. 

 

I don't think the camps around here are full, yet. Hockey isn't as big here like it is in other places. That's good for a lot of reasons  ('late' sign ups), but bad as well (no house leagues - it's all travel). When our teams have to play Minnesota teams for example we usually aren't competitive. Part of that is things like developing talent is hard because any extra instruction like summer hockey or camps means a lot of travel and not all kids/parents are willing to do it. 

 

Anyway thanks for the help. Going to look a little harder at power skating camp.

[badger_14 601]

I liked the Laura Stamm camp I went to (as a skater), but that was outside of Boston.  It depends a bit on who signs up, but it's usually broken down pretty well into age/skill levels.  If I recall there was a 1:5 instructor to student ratio - one head instructor and 3 other college-age kids demonstrating and doing kid-wrangling.  Decent ratio for the age breakdown of kids - mostly 5 to 12 year olds. 

 

Skating is the basis for everything else in hockey, and a little bit of specific instruction will go a long way.

[evor1 6]

the training camps that are just a few days and local are okay since they are cheap and no travel costs.  ive done the sleep over week long ones and they aren't worth it at all.

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

39 minutes ago, evor1 said:

the training camps that are just a few days and local are okay since they are cheap and no travel costs.  ive done the sleep over week long ones and they aren't worth it at all.

 

I don't know, i'm doing a sleep-away hockey thing in July that seems worth it to me... oh wait, thats Summer Jam!!!

 

 

 

[chk hrd 164]

We did the hockey camps and private lessons. Camps are fun, but for what it's worth, I say spend the money on private lessons. For the same price camps charge you can get better one on one private instruction. Camps always have an instructor to student ratio and sometimes they try to cram to much into a short period and expect you to work on it after camp is over. If you can't do a drill correctly after a few times with an instructor how do you think you will do without one, and do you have enough motivation to bust out the drills has hard as you can? It's real easy to fall back into bad habits on your own. With a personal instructor you have someone constantly evaluating what you are doing and making sure you do it right. They can push you to skate as hard as possible and have you rest when you get tired. There is no use doing drills if you can't do them right or are to tired to do them correctly. My son had practices that were scheduled for an hour that were shortened a little because he was skated hard and had to do everything right. When the instructor saw he was declining he would work on stick handling, passing, shooting or just playing around. My son learned more and became a player in private lessons than any camp he went to. 

 

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