Conditioning Clinics

Sticks, but no pucks! Sunday's conditioning clinic for youth hockey players at the Greater Baldwinsville Ice Arena
The Lowdown on the Clinics
by Tammie Vivlamore
Through the months of July and August, youth hockey players have been hitting the rink for goalie and skating clinics to stay in shape and have some fun. The children are taught how to strengthen their stride, muscles and speed while working on their form, transitions and edge control.

The goalie program, run by Craig White, teaches young goalies proper form, positioning and skating. Drills are geared toward helping them boost their speed, confidence and reaction time. Craig uses different items to simulate game conditions, such as rink dividers. You'll see shooters on the ice too, to give goalies a chance to practice their puck saves with different pieces of equipment. The goalie clinic runs every Sunday morning at 9a.m. through the end of August. The cost is $10 per session and you can pay as you g0.
Giving Kids an Edge
I hope you enjoyed watching the video of the skating clinic that's being run by my husband, Jerry Vivlamore. It may look like fun and games, but there's a serious conditioning strategy at work to give kids an edge during the season. The drills are teaching proper stride, edge control, stopping, starting and transitioning (changing direction with the play). What's with the props, like the rink dividers? It's all about developing core strength, balance and control. By successfully (and you'll notice they did get better as they got going) jumping over the dividers, it will help the kids during challenging game situations where an obstacle, such as a player or even a stick needs to be avoided.
I Just Wanna Fly
Parachutes strapped on the kids? Pretty cool, right? Once the parachutes are tied to the skater, the skater is instructed to skate as hard and fast as possible around the rink or a predesigned obstacle course. The resistance forces the skater to turn the skate and push harder with their legs to strengthen their lower body; the better the form, the greater the resistance. The parachute also helps develop conditioning, so that a player's mind and body develop the ability to play longer before becoming tired.
These clinics are broken into two clinics. The first is mite/squirt. This clinic starts at 10:00am. The second is Peewee/Bantam and first year Midgets may attend as well. This clinic starts at 11:00am and the cost is $10 per session. The skating clinics run through the end of August.
Discounts are offered. If a child is doing goaling and a skating clinic, it will be $15 for both. If two family members are skating it is $15 ($7.50 each). You can attend one or all without guilt of losing money because it's pay as you go. Hope you're summer is going well and we hope to see you at the rink!