Signs Your Youth Hockey Player is Being Pushed to the Brink

Training is an important part of any young hockey player’s life. In fact, it’s considered normal these days for a youth hockey player to spend several hours a week at formal practices and maybe even a few more hours training and practicing privately.

With that said, however, many young players are being overworked and over-trained, which can be dangerous not only to their physical health and well-being but also to their mentality. 

Players who are overworked from a young age often burn-out quickly and grow to hate the sport they once loved. Plus, their relationships and school work can both suffer as a result. For these reasons, it’s extremely important to know the signs that your young hockey player is working a little TOO hard and needs to take a step back.

Reaction Time Suffers

One of the early warning signs that a youth hockey player is training too hard is slowed or delayed reaction times. When players who were once quick to respond to a puck let it sail by and only seem to become alert after a few minutes, this is a common sign that they are over-training.

Their head isn’t in the game and they are unfocused because they’re so exhausted, both mentally and physically, and “zonked out” from all the training they’re doing. Sadly, many people respond to reduced reaction times with MORE training and practice, which are the very last things that an overworked young athlete needs.

A Lack of Enthusiasm

Another major sign of an overworked young athlete is one who dreads training, practices, and games. If the hockey player in your life used to be excited about playing the sport or even just going to practice but now faces these events with dread and anxiety, that’s a bad sign.

Kids who get overworked are kids who grow to hate what they’re doing. Keep up the over-training, and they’ll likely drop out of hockey for good and lose all interest in a sport they were once passionate about.

Constant Fatigue

Kids should be little bundles of energy. When they start acting tired all the time, then, that’s definitely not a good sign. A child athlete who is overworked is going to be sleepy constantly. If your little one appears tired more than usual or is especially exhausted after games or practices, don’t just write it off as growing pains. This could be an indication that your child is being worked too hard.

The best way to know how your child is feeling is to talk to him or her. Do so in an open, honest, non-confrontational kind of way to get a real response from your little one. If your child expresses that he or she feels overwhelmed by the sport, it’s time to reel things back in, reduce practice time, or maybe even take a bit of a break from hockey until you can all gain some perspective and get training (and life!) back to a healthy point for your young athlete.

Should Hockey Training Be Based on Gender?

Hockey is a physically demanding sport, even and perhaps especially for young players And, while hockey was once thought of as a “boy sport,” it is now becoming popular among girls and young women as well. This recent surge in feminine popularity has left many coaches and trainers wondering whether or not they should vary the training and exercise routines they require based on gender. The answer is a big no! The goal should always be to find a suitable workout, training, and diet program that works for the individual players regardless of sex.

With that said, however, there do tend to be some key differences between male and female athletes. Female athletes, for example, are typically more flexible and have better mobility, so they don’t

usually need as much training and work in these areas.

On the flip side, females are typically more prone to ACL injuries so extra care should be taken to avoid these painful injuries. Gentler leg exercises are usually recommended for women.

As you can see, with only a couple of exceptions, training really shouldn’t vary that much based on the player’s gender. The important thing is for coaches to teach proper form and safety when stretching and exercising. Many injuries occur because of improper form. Plus, not exercising correctly can lead to not getting the maximum benefit possible, or any benefit, from the workout.

Coaches should also evaluate the current fitness and ability levels of their players on a one-on-one basis and develop an exercise plan specifically for each player and what he or she needs to work on. That’s asking a lot, but a good coach knows the value of not having just a “one size fits all” exercise program. Every player absolutely needs to be doing exercises to help remedy weaknesses and improve strengths, and the best person to evaluate strengths and weaknesses is the coach.

However, some coaches are busy and overworked, and many are volunteers who just don’t have the time to develop exercise programs for their players. If that’s the case, and a hockey player is serious about getting the right exercise and training, hiring a personal trainer, one who is familiar with the sport, to evaluate and work with the athlete is a good idea. Regardless of gender, all hockey players need to be doing the right training if they want good results.