Breakfast Club Summer: Week 4
" ... and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."
Robert Frost was writing of winter, of course, which (seeing as this is the middle of summer) seems a bit of a stretch for me to start quoting right now, doesn't it? But "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" is all about finding a moment to consider alternatives, and then giving in to your responsibilities for at least one more evening. Or, in this case, for at least one more morning after regretfully leaving the rink. How nice it would be if all I had to do was wake up, go play hockey, and that's about it. Or at least I fancy the nicety of that. I'm sure it's far less glamorous than my fantasy.
If I were going to leave it all behind and embark upon my glamorous albeit fictitious life of being a rink rat, I'd need to get a few things in order first. Like shooting. Joe Jones worked with us all on shooting. Catching that pass, and quickly getting that shot off. If you take too long, the goalie can read you like yesterday's newspaper. Make sure that you stop that puck where you're going to need it to be when you take your snap shot, because if you have to fiddle and readjust and so on and so forth, then you might as well forget your scoring opportunity.
Another thing I'd need to make sure I had was a good pass and the ability to time my skating so that I create the opportunity for being available for the pass. Lyle Phair was working with us on that nuance. The four-corners passing drill is kind of like juggling. Each player needs to be where they're supposed to be, or the thing starts falling apart. Just like in a game. The team that makes the fewest number of mistakes generally wins. So the goal is often as simple as minimizing the number of mistakes that your own team can't recover from.
A third thing to make sure I'd have is good core balance and speed, so that I can be "in" the play instead of merely watching. So Scott Wolter was working with us on our starts and stops. If you go in to the stop with poor body positioning, chances are good that you'll end up not being where you want to be by the time it's all said and done.
"What, dear lady, has caused thee to be so somber and introspective this fine summer day?" you might ask. Several things, one of which I can share publicly here, which is a separate albeit related discussion I just had about life and happiness in general. I know it probably sounds over the top, but I truly wonder where I would be today if I hadn't found ice hockey seven years ago. I feel safe to say that I would undoubtedly be fatter, lonelier, and generally in far worse shape than I am now. If any of you may have missed it, click on over to the Detroit Free Press 'video' site to see the interview of some beginner women players in the "Chicks with Sticks" league in Hazel Park. If I didn't have the Breakfast Club, I know I'd still be skating like that, instead of skating like the legend on the ice that I am today.
I still have many many miles to go before I sleep, of course, but it feels great to know that each week I get that much better, even if it's only incremental and even if it seems imperceptible at times. I have a lot of other things in my life that need much more improvement than my hockey game; maybe one day I'll address those.
But in the meantime, I'll see you on the ice.
Robert Frost was writing of winter, of course, which (seeing as this is the middle of summer) seems a bit of a stretch for me to start quoting right now, doesn't it? But "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" is all about finding a moment to consider alternatives, and then giving in to your responsibilities for at least one more evening. Or, in this case, for at least one more morning after regretfully leaving the rink. How nice it would be if all I had to do was wake up, go play hockey, and that's about it. Or at least I fancy the nicety of that. I'm sure it's far less glamorous than my fantasy.
If I were going to leave it all behind and embark upon my glamorous albeit fictitious life of being a rink rat, I'd need to get a few things in order first. Like shooting. Joe Jones worked with us all on shooting. Catching that pass, and quickly getting that shot off. If you take too long, the goalie can read you like yesterday's newspaper. Make sure that you stop that puck where you're going to need it to be when you take your snap shot, because if you have to fiddle and readjust and so on and so forth, then you might as well forget your scoring opportunity.
Another thing I'd need to make sure I had was a good pass and the ability to time my skating so that I create the opportunity for being available for the pass. Lyle Phair was working with us on that nuance. The four-corners passing drill is kind of like juggling. Each player needs to be where they're supposed to be, or the thing starts falling apart. Just like in a game. The team that makes the fewest number of mistakes generally wins. So the goal is often as simple as minimizing the number of mistakes that your own team can't recover from.
A third thing to make sure I'd have is good core balance and speed, so that I can be "in" the play instead of merely watching. So Scott Wolter was working with us on our starts and stops. If you go in to the stop with poor body positioning, chances are good that you'll end up not being where you want to be by the time it's all said and done.
"What, dear lady, has caused thee to be so somber and introspective this fine summer day?" you might ask. Several things, one of which I can share publicly here, which is a separate albeit related discussion I just had about life and happiness in general. I know it probably sounds over the top, but I truly wonder where I would be today if I hadn't found ice hockey seven years ago. I feel safe to say that I would undoubtedly be fatter, lonelier, and generally in far worse shape than I am now. If any of you may have missed it, click on over to the Detroit Free Press 'video' site to see the interview of some beginner women players in the "Chicks with Sticks" league in Hazel Park. If I didn't have the Breakfast Club, I know I'd still be skating like that, instead of skating like the legend on the ice that I am today.
I still have many many miles to go before I sleep, of course, but it feels great to know that each week I get that much better, even if it's only incremental and even if it seems imperceptible at times. I have a lot of other things in my life that need much more improvement than my hockey game; maybe one day I'll address those.
But in the meantime, I'll see you on the ice.
posted by Suburban Hockey @ 3:39 PM
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