The High Performance Hockey Podcast

In This Episode, You Will Learn: What led Coach Dan Pfaff to become a High Performance Coach. Tips from Coach Pfaff’s vast experience over multiple sports. How to communicate with a large team supporting your athlete(s). How Coach Pfaff would approach creating a program for Hockey Players.   Resources + Links:   Follow Anthony on Instagram | @anthonydonskov Follow Anthony on Twitter | Anthony Donskov, PhD Subscribe to our YouTube Channel | The HPH Podcast with Anthony Donskov Follow HPH Podcast on Instagram | @hph_podcast Follow HPH Podcast on Twitter | @TheHPH_Podcast Learn more on our Website | https://www.donskovsc.com/   Check out Anthony’s Books Physical Preparations for Ice Hockey: Biological Principles and Practical Solutions The Gain, Go, and Grow Manual: Programming for High Performance Hockey Players   Show Notes: I have the privilege of taking a peek behind the curtain of how a High Performance Legend was made! In this episode, I’m joined by two friends and mentors, Coach Dan Pfaff and Dr. Fergus Connolly. Head coach at ALTIS, Coach Dan Pfaff has a long list of accolades to go with his experience having tutored 49 Olympians, 9 medalists, 51 World Championship competitors, 5 world record holders, and directed athletes to 57 national records across a multitude of events. Dr. Fergus Connolly is back for another episode with us here at HPH, and is bringing his perspective with decades in High Performance as a Performance Director, Author, Business Owner and consultant. Tune in to hear us dive into all things High Performance, and advice Coach Pfaff has for young coaches entering the industry today!   02:00 Did you always know growing up that you wanted to be a coach? 04:30 Learning to coach through the desire to improve in Baseball as a kid. 07:20 What were the advantages of not having technology at your fingertips as you began as a coach? 10:00 Benefits of perspective when some get stuck in being solely process focused or solely outcome focused. 12:15 Would you be as good of a coach if you were starting as a new coach today? 13:40 How would you filter the noise as a young coach today? 15:00 Lessons learned from coaching in different cultures around the world. 19:15 What are some of the biggest challenges working with medical personnel?  26:00 What are the qualities you look for when hiring Physical Therapists and ATC’s? 27:50 Advice for balancing life and coaching. 31:20 Do you think your diversity of experiences in different sports has been a big part of your success?  35:40 When were you first introduced to a High Performance model? 39:50 Where does measuring and monitoring fuse with the art?  47:30 How do you communicate to all the members at (Altis)? 49:40 Reviewing film and miss-communication with a paralympic athlete. 56:15 Mistakes hockey players make with skates, and playing with equipment to affect biomechanics. 01:00:50 How would you make a program for a hockey player? 01:04:00 Where do you see the profession of High Performance going in the future?  

In This Episode, You Will Learn: What science is, and what it isn’t. (Thoughts and emotions aside.) How we can lead as critical thinkers, and whether that is a skill that can be taught. Whether biases have a benefit. Our esteemed guests approach sports science and decision making.   Resources + Links:   Check out this podcast episode, that inspired today’s conversation: Resilient Performance Podcast - Trust the Science episode   Follow Anthony on Instagram | @anthonydonskov Follow Anthony on Twitter | Anthony Donskov, PhD   Subscribe to our YouTube Channel | The HPH Podcast with Anthony Donskov   Follow HPH Podcast on Instagram | @hph_podcast Follow HPH Podcast on Twitter | @TheHPH_Podcast   Learn more on our Website | https://www.donskovsc.com/   Check out Anthony’s Books Physical Preparations for Ice Hockey: Biological Principles and Practical Solutions The Gain, Go, and Grow Manual: Programming for High Performance Hockey Players   Show Notes: What is science? Maybe a better question to ask is “What ISN’T science?” In some conversations the term science seems to have changed or lost its meaning altogether. In this episode, I’m honored to be joined by two incredible guests, Doug Kechijian and Fergus Connolly.  Performance Coach and Business Advisor, Fergus Connollly and Physical Therapist, Strength Coach, and business owner at Resilient Performance Training Systems, Doug Kechijian. In this premier episode of The High Performance Hockey Podcast, we dive into sports science, critical thinking, and the blend of research, art, and science in the world of coaching. It’s not just hockey, and it’s not simply philosophy either. We’re having a true discussion about thought, biases, and science. In life, business, and sports. We are so glad you’re joining us for this first episode of the show. Please subscribe and follow us on social media to continue the conversation! 02:00 What is science meant to be? 07:15 Minimizing biases with a scientific approach. 11:40 What are limitations to science? 17:00 What is sports science in your own words? 20:50 Measuring what is meaningful vs measuring simply because we have technology. 24:15 Do you believe critical thinking can be taught in Universities? 33:30 Benefits of listening to different arguments and coming to your own conclusions. 38:20 The balance of art, experience, and science in coaching. 43:00 Do biases have a survival benefit? 48:30 Should you ever do anything that there isn’t research for? 50:40 From a performance perspective, what is your hierarchical approach to making decisions?

Welcome to The High Performance Hockey Podcast! Hosted by former player, performance coach, author and speaker Anthony Donskov, the HPH podcast is a bi-weekly show that explores the science, practice and pedagogy of high performers in the sport of ice hockey.    Follow us on Instagram | @anthonydonskov Learn more on our website https://www.donskovsc.com/