Adult Ice Hockey Camps

[milezone 0]

Curious if anyone knows any quality camps in the States/Canada/Europe and where I can contact people that run them.

Been googleing but haven't got much and would prefer to speak directly.

[x-axis 44]

The three American ones I know of are Heartland Hockey Camp, CanAm, and Weekend Warriors. Have personally been to the Weekend Warrior camp last year. Good people. Heartland seems like the most intensive hockey "vacation."

[MatthewRoach7 130]

A buddy of mine goes to the Weekend Warriors camps and always tells everyone how great they are. I have seen a lot about the CanAm ones around. They looked good.

[Yetiii98 0]

Hearltand is an amazing place, i was lucky enough to coach there for several summers.

The adult camp is a perfect belnd of leisure and recreational time as well as very intensive hockey, on ice and off ice work. Cant rate it highly enough.

[technophile 0]

Hearltand is an amazing place, i was lucky enough to coach there for several summers.

The adult camp is a perfect belnd of leisure and recreational time as well as very intensive hockey, on ice and off ice work. Cant rate it highly enough.

I have a buddy who swears by HH. I'm going with him this summer, really looking forward to it.

...even if I'm not sure I'll be able to stand up after a few days of 6+hours of ice time.

[n2hcky 0]

3 time alumni of the Weekend Warrior camp here. Rick that runs it is a great guy and they make sure you have great coachs.

[badger_14 601]

I went to the Weekend Warriors last year, and it was a great time. Great instructors. (and really nice to be in a camp with other adults - much as I value the powerskating camps, being outskated by 8 year olds sort of puts a damper on one's ego...)

[coffeebreak 0]

Weekend Warrior Alum as well. First time ever for any formal training. It was awesome. Looking forward to trying one again. As n2hcky said, Rick is great. The coaches are great. Best for the beer leaguer. Fair number of dads there who started hockey because their kids play

[Stoop 1]

Fair number of dads there who started hockey because their kids play

Speaking of which, I'd like to do a parent-child one with my kid someday.

[BarDownGinos 3]

Speaking of which, I'd like to do a parent-child one with my kid someday.

Minnesota Hockey camps does a parent/child camp. I used to go there as a HS player. It's a pretty sweet set-up they have. And if you're there at the right time guys like Blake Wheeler, Scott Hartnell, TJ Oshie, etc are up there training.

http://www.mnhockeycamps.com/camps/parent-child-camp.htm

[guffaw 0]

Thanks for posting this. I'm 39, been playing forward for ~3-4 yrs on and off over the last 20 years. Formerly trained goalie, but never as a forward. It's usually me and one or two other old guys with a bunch of high school kids at the local clinics so this is just what i'm looking for.

[trtaylor 3]

Thanks for posting this. I'm 39, been playing forward for ~3-4 yrs on and off over the last 20 years. Formerly trained goalie, but never as a forward. It's usually me and one or two other old guys with a bunch of high school kids at the local clinics so this is just what i'm looking for.

You're in the Philly area, aren't you? Weekend Warriors did a camp at the Northeast SkateZone back in April. Did not hear any feedback, though.

[guffaw 0]

You're in the Philly area, aren't you? Weekend Warriors did a camp at the Northeast SkateZone back in April. Did not hear any feedback, though.

Yes I saw that. Unfortunately i missed it. I assume they wont be around for another year?

Does WW seem expensive to anyone? Almost the price of canam, but they include room and some meals. Slightly less than Heartland, but heartlands an entire week, board, 7 hrs of ice etc.

[Zylos45 118]

Saw they had a "Boston" WW Academy (in Marlboro) in August '12

If I can get a buddy to sign up I may do it. Looks like fun!

[meteor 0]

You need to make an honest assessment of what you're looking for and how you best acquire skills. I'm a WW alum and while it was a very fun, well-run, and satisfying experience, I didn't find it to be the most cost-effective method for me. We have a very competent power skating/hockey coach in my area and I'm convinced I got more in a single 30 minute private lesson than 3 days at the WW camp. And that was at a fraction of the camp price.

A private lesson, however, is there for one reason only: identifying and fixing your specific problems. If you're more into the idea of a hockey-themed vacation with pizza, beer, and partying thrown in, the camp could be just the ticket. Don't misunderstand: you will learn things at the camp and get lots of quality ice time. But there will be limits to the effectiveness of what is primarily group instruction.

Whatever you choose to do, one point should be emphasized: If you want to get better, there are no shortcuts or magic bullets. Hours and hours of practice are required to acquire hockey skills. It's a difficult game that only a scant few can play exceptionally well and you can bet they invested a TON of time over the years to get there.

[hunterphfr 12]

_{CanAm runs adult camps in both Canada and the US.}

[greyskull 21]

There's this in the UK

http://bob2.39media.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=54

[Okita 0]

There's Laura Stamm's International Power Skating Camp. They don't have any where I live, but I'll be practicing her methods from her DVD in my own time :D

[technophile 0]

You need to make an honest assessment of what you're looking for and how you best acquire skills. I'm a WW alum and while it was a very fun, well-run, and satisfying experience, I didn't find it to be the most cost-effective method for me. We have a very competent power skating/hockey coach in my area and I'm convinced I got more in a single 30 minute private lesson than 3 days at the WW camp. And that was at a fraction of the camp price.

A private lesson, however, is there for one reason only: identifying and fixing your specific problems. If you're more into the idea of a hockey-themed vacation with pizza, beer, and partying thrown in, the camp could be just the ticket. Don't misunderstand: you will learn things at the camp and get lots of quality ice time. But there will be limits to the effectiveness of what is primarily group instruction.

I think this is very much correct. I'm headed to Heartland in a few weeks to hang out with some friends I haven't seen in a while, play hockey with them, get a ton of ice time I could never manage at home because there's too much going on, etc. Yeah, I think I'll benefit from the intense hockey time, but I'm not going to come back after a week and dangle everyone in my league (who've been playing since mites, vs. my starting when I was ~26).

Also, I'll note that there are some things that can't be taught effectively in private lessons -- anything requiring more than 2 players, basically. Breakouts, general positioning, power play, penalty kill, odd man rushes, etc are all going to benefit from group practices/lessons, at least as best I can imagine.

I would love to pick up some private lessons locally for specific things (skating and shooting especially), because you can benefit massively from one on one time like that, but nothing substitutes for just shooting pucks for an hour a day, or spending an hour skating every single day, or whatever. Those are really hard to do as an adult, though. ;)

[Blizzard 0]

I just registered for the Heartland Hockey camp this August and was wondering if anyone knows if real beginners ever go to this camp.

I don’t skate too well (can’t go backwards or do crossovers well) and only started playing Hockey about a month ago, but I’m practicing every week. I’m joining this rookie league in September and the people are encouraging, so I figured I should go to this camp so I can getter better before the league starts.

I called the camp and asked them if any true beginners attend the camp and they guy was like “of course. don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” However after reading some of the comments about the camp, I get the impression that most of the folks that attend the “Level 1” have played hockey for quite some time and are attending to “sharpen their skills.”

Anyone know from experience what type of folks join the Level 1 camp?

Thanks.

[rfm1237 0]

Speaking of which, I'd like to do a parent-child one with my kid someday.

I just got back from the canam family camp in Lake Placid with my 8 year old. Really amazing experience. Find a camp and make it happen. You won't regret it.

[deej 19]

There's this in the UK

http://bob2.39media....id=92&Itemid=54

Some friends of mine are currently at Best of British in Sheffield (Kids and Adult camps run concurrently so all can go at the same time, just on different sheets) and are loving it.

[technophile 0]

Just got back from Heartland on Saturday and thought I'd post my experience for posterity. :)

True beginners absolutely can and do go, I know the C (beginners) group this year had at least two people who had just started -- one of them told me the first night of camp it was her third time on skates. Say what you will about whether that's a good use of time or not (at least she won't have any bad habits to break ) but that definitely qualifies as "true beginner".

Skating levels in general ranged pretty widely. I skated in the Advanced group, and while I wasn't the best by a long shot I wasn't the worst either. A ranged from one woman who is trying to advance to either Div 1 college or a similar semi-pro women's league, and a couple of guys who skate A in their local rec leagues, down to people like me who had played for several years but had never really had official coaching/teaching. C, like I said, had a number of real newbies, and B was somewhere in between -- people who basically knew how to skate, but weren't great at skating plus stickhandling plus keeping their head up yet.

We had a number of ex-NHLers show up; Shawn Chambers put in a one-day appearance, although he was very withdrawn/quiet compared to the other coaches. Tom Younghans and Joe Baker were there most of the week, and Tom in particular was friendly, talkative (he was happy to hang out in the bar after hours and tell stories or answer questions), and a great coach. We also had a number of coaches with ECHL, IIHF, etc experience, all of whom were great. Having them behind the bench during our scrimmages in particular was really helpful.

Jensen coached the Beginner group all week, so I didn't see him on the ice, but I talked with him several times over the course of the week and he and his wife Sandy are really nice.

My skating improved quite a bit over the course of the week; backwards transitions in particular are something I'm much better at, and I feel like I'm thinking the game a bit better as well. The video review sessions (where the coaches would break down video of our scrimmage from the night before) were one of my favorite parts of the week. I even dropped 4 pounds over the course of the week despite eating as much protein and carbs as I could get my hands on. ;)

If anyone has any questions about the camp, post them here and I'll be happy to answer. I'll definitely be going back next year, and I'm not the only one; most of the people I talked to had been there anywhere from 3 to 11 times, which is a good sign.

[IPv6Freely 2093]

Are any of these camps good for beginners at all?

EDIT: Nevermind, posted before reading the latest post. oops.

[salibandy 21]

Sounds like a bunch of fun! I am thinking of going next year too.