Share What would Sidney do?
2010-05-21
Brad Crossley,a highly respected coach in the Nova Scotia Major Midget system was Sidney Crosby's Major Midget coach in Dartmouth, we asked Brad what Sidney Crosby did for strength and conditioning in the off season.Well Graham, I am certainly fortunate to have that distinction and I also train him on ice in the summers for 10-12 sessions as well and another fellow, Andy OBrien, does his off ice. Here are a couple things of interest.
He looks to stay off the ice until the second week of August and concentrates on his off ice conditioning for the months of June July and August and also tries to use the time to recover and re-energize the body and mind by doing other activities like tennis, golf, etc.
In nine years with his personal trainer since he was 13 years old, Sidney has never missed an off ice session that was scheduled with Andy.
He approaches his training as he does his games - with focus, intensity, and striving for excellence in everything he does.
He also understands and learns all he can about his weaknesses so that he can improve on them so that they become strengths.
He avoids distractions as much as possible and does not let anything interfere with his training schedule.
He also pays close attention to his nutrition and hydration and eats to prepare and perform at the highest levels.
These are things he did as a kid and still does today. I spoke with him on Sunday and he is ready to start preparing for next season and asked me to schedule his ice for August and his Strength Coach to get the off ice training going immediately - he has already started to re-focus on getting better for next season. Hope some of these things help.
Brad