No plan between sessions
Team practice is 60 minutes of standing in lines. A private lesson is an hour twice a month. That leaves 167 hours a week with no structure and no idea what to work on next.
Hockey training · Waldorf, Maryland
Your kid isn'tshort on effort.He's short on a plan.
I founded Mindset Hockey after going from a 16U A player with two broken ribs to an alternate captain, then AAA, then a signed Junior A contract. I own and run the program out of The Capital Clubhouse in Waldorf, MD — and I coach alongside Coach Jack. We're both coaches and both Junior A players; the difference is I own the business and set the system we both coach.
We respond to all inquiries within 24 hours.
16U AAAAJUNIOR A
Two coaches. Both Junior A players. I own and run the program.
JUNIOR A
Signed player, coaching now
7-POINT
Shot mechanics rubric
<24 HRS
Response to every inquiry
WALDORF
The Capital Clubhouse, MD
The real problem
It's not effort.
It's not talent.
Tier 2 families average around $2,400 a season. AAA families average closer to $7,000, and elite travel programs regularly pass $10,000. The money isn't the problem. Almost none of it goes toward the three things that actually move a player.
No real feedback
"Compete harder." "Want it more." Nobody can act on that. Your player has never had his shot broken down frame by frame and been told which mechanic is costing him velocity.
Nobody coaches the mind
He trains hard and still disappears after a bad shift. Confidence, bounce-back and composure are trainable skills — and in youth hockey almost nobody is teaching them.
Not sure which program fits?
Tell us your player's age and level. We'll tell you honestly what we'd work on first — even if the answer is "not yet."
The framework
The Six Pillars
The system I used, in the order I used it. Every session, drill and weekly plan maps to exactly one pillar — so your player always knows what he's working on and why.
Mindset
Confidence after a bad shift. Bounce-back protocols. Pre-game routine. Coming back from injury without losing yourself.
Mechanics
The 7-point shot framework: weight transfer, stick flex, release timing, hands, follow through, balance and posture.
Skill
Hands, edges, puck protection, deception and winning 1-on-1s. On-ice and off-ice progressions you can run at home.
Systems
Weekly plans built around age, level and position. In-season versus off-season. When to push and when to recover.
Habits
The daily standard. Practice structure. Game habits. The unglamorous consistency that separates improving from plateauing.
Leadership
Coachability, communication, and becoming the player a coach uses in the moments that matter. How I earned an "A".
The flagship service
Shot mechanics,
broken down 7 ways
"Shoot harder" isn't coaching. Every shot is seven mechanics stacked on each other, and a slow shot is almost always one or two of them failing. Here's the exact framework every video review is scored against.
POINT 01
Weight Transfer
Loading the back leg and driving through to the front. Hips lead the hands.
POINT 02
Stick Flex
Puck ahead of the blade, loading the shaft into the ice instead of slapping at it.
POINT 03
Release Timing
When the blade closes, and what he does before it. Goalies read telegraphed shots.
POINT 04
Hand Positioning
Bottom hand drives, top hand pulls. Separation changes with the shot type.
POINT 05
Follow Through
Where the blade finishes decides where the puck goes.
POINT 06
Balance
A stable base through the release. Falling away leaks the power he just loaded.
POINT 07
Shooting Posture
Athletic knee bend, chest up, shoulders square to intent.
THE OUTPUT
A score out of 70
Every submission returns a score per point, the two to fix first, and three drills that fix them.
Real work, not a mock-up
This is an actual scored release frame
Filmed on a phone, rotated, stepped frame by frame, and graded against all seven points. Five of seven were gradeable from this footage — the other two were marked n/a rather than guessed at.
- Timestamped notes on the exact frame the mechanic breaks
- Coach voiceover walking through every fix
- Three prescribed drills added to the weekly plan
- Re-film in 30 days and see both clips side by side
AI Shot Analysis is included with both Standard and Premium. Upload a clip from your phone and get it graded against ten mechanics categories, with a confidence level on every one.
9Stick flex
8Weight transfer
5Release timing
8Follow through
On the ice & off it
Real film. Both coaches.
Every frame you see actually happened — no interpolation, no invented frames. Two coaches, both currently playing Junior A, and the same film standard we hold your player's video to.
Coach Brayden · slowed at the shot
Coach Brayden — full speed in, 0.25× through the release
0.25× · game film
Driving the zone — winning the inside lane
Coach Jack · game film
Coach Jack — reading the play and attacking the middle
Coach Jack · game film
Coach Jack — zone entry into a net-front finish
Straight with you: rink-cam game film like this is great for showing who we are, but it can't support a mechanics breakdown — at that distance a player is about forty pixels tall. That's why every analysis starts with a filming checklist, and why we'll tell you to refilm rather than guess at your son's shot. Anyone grading mechanics off LiveBarn is guessing.
The coaching staff
Learn from coaches who
are still living the game
Two coaches, both currently playing Junior A. Our staff combines leadership, experience and a passion for player development — helping athletes improve their skills, confidence and understanding of the game, on and off the ice.
Coach & Owner
Coach Brayden
Owner & Lead Coach · Junior A Player
- Junior A Player
- Program Founder
- Business Owner
- Lead Coach
I own and run Mindset Hockey. The seven-point rubric, the six-pillar framework and the standard every coach here is held to are all mine — built out of my own climb from 16U A to a signed Junior A contract, through two broken ribs.
I oversee every part of the program: operations, player development systems and the direction of the business. I'm also still on the ice and in the film room with players, and I'm the person who answers your first message personally.
Development Coach
Coach Jack
Development Coach · Junior A Player
- Junior A Player
- NCAA Prospect
- Skill Specialist
- Player Mentor
At 16, playing Single-A, Jack broke his collarbone and his wrist. Instead of letting the setbacks define him he used them — rebuilding his shot from the ground up and going from Single-A at 16 to competing at Junior A by 20. He's currently exploring NCAA opportunities.
Because he's lived both the setbacks and the success, he coaches the whole player: the skills on the ice, and the confidence, discipline and work ethic that decide how far those skills go.
Included with Premium
Mindset development
training
Physical skills are only part of the equation. Our Premium athletes receive guidance on confidence, discipline, accountability and mental performance so they can perform at their best both on and off the ice.
01
Confidence building
Confidence follows evidence. We build the evidence on purpose — tracked reps and scores that visibly move.
02
Mental toughness
Finishing the shift, the session and the season when it stops being fun. Trained through standards, not slogans.
03
Handling mistakes
The 20-second reset, so one turnover doesn't become four and a bad shift doesn't become a bad game.
04
Under pressure
Tryouts, showcases and playoff overtime. Breathing, focus cues and narrowing attention to the next play.
05
Goal setting
Process goals he controls instead of outcome goals he doesn't — reviewed monthly against real tracking.
06
Accountability
Owning the tape, the missed session and the bad shift without spiraling. The biggest separator we see.
07
Winning habits
The daily standard: sleep, fuel, stick work, film. What he does on the days nobody is watching.
08
Discipline
Showing up at the same level on low-motivation days, with systems that make the choice smaller.
09
Game preparation
A repeatable pre-game routine so he arrives ready instead of hoping he feels it that morning.
10
Leadership
Communicating with coaches and becoming the player used in the moments that actually matter.
Why this is coached and not assumed: Coach Brayden lost most of two seasons to broken ribs, and Coach Jack broke his collarbone and wrist at 16. Both came back further along than they left. Neither of those comebacks was a physical story — which is exactly why hockey success here means developing the athlete and the person.
Player development
Success stories
The first case study is Coach Brayden's own — documented frame by frame, because it's the one we can prove today. Player case studies get added here as members hit their 30-day re-films.
Case study 01 · Coach Brayden
16U A to a signed Junior A contract
Two broken ribs cost most of two seasons. The comeback wasn't more talent — it was rebuilding shot mechanics frame by frame and training the mental side nobody was coaching. Result: trusted in key moments, named alternate captain, moved to AAA, signed Junior A.
2Seasons lost to injury
A→AAALevel jump
"A"Alternate captain
Case study 02 · Shot rebuild
Elite flex, slow release — the real diagnosis
A full 7-point breakdown found stick flex at 9/10 and weight transfer at 8/10 — but release timing at 5/10, with a 0.8-second puck drag before release. The fix wasn't a harder shot. It was a shorter runway. That's the kind of finding that changes what a player trains for the next 30 days.
9/10Stick flex
5/10Release timing
0.8sDrag before release
Programs
Three ways to work together
Setup fee covers the intake assessment, baseline video breakdown and your first custom plan. Monthly keeps the coaching going. Premium is the complete system — skill development, strength and conditioning, nutrition, video analysis and mindset coaching in one program.
Standard
Build the foundation for long-term hockey development.
$249one-time setup
$100/ month
Cancel the monthly any time.
- AI Shot Analysis
- Personalized development roadmap
- Hockey-specific workout plan
- Monthly progress review
- Goal setting and accountability
- Member dashboard access
Premium
Everything serious athletes need to reach the next level.
$389one-time setup
$149/ month
Everything in Standard, including AI Shot Analysis, plus:
- Customized training program that evolves as the athlete progresses
- Performance nutrition guidance tailored to the athlete's goals
- Video analysis and breakdowns
- Advanced performance tracking
- Mindset development training
- Monthly coaching review sessions
- Priority support
Custom
Built around a specific goal, timeline or tryout.
Quotetailored to you
Priced after a short call
Need something tailored specifically to your goals?
- Pick the services you want from Premium — and more
- Built around your player's schedule and season
- Team and association packages available
On-ice sessions
$149per sessionPrivate On-Ice Session
No set time limit. A session runs as long as it needs to — we're not watching a clock and cutting your player off mid-rep.
- Shooting development, stickhandling and skating work
- Hockey IQ and position-specific coaching
- Immediate feedback, on the ice, in the moment
- Both coaches on the ice when we're both available
- Small groups on purpose — every player gets real attention and real reps
- Book on its own, or add it to any program
Founding Member
Lock in this rate for life
The first athletes who join Mindset Hockey lock in their monthly membership rate for life. As the program grows, future pricing may increase — founding members keep their original monthly rate for as long as they stay.
Straight answers
Hockey training FAQ
What age players do you train?
Ages 10 to 18. Below about 12, a parent should work through the plan alongside the player — the drills are simple but the mindset lessons land better with a conversation attached. From 13 up, most players run it themselves, and honestly that's part of the point.
What is AI Shot Analysis, and which plan includes it?
It is included with both Standard and Premium — every member gets it. You film a few shots on your phone, upload the clip, and it grades your mechanics across ten categories with notes on what it actually saw. Being straight with you about the limits: it reads still frames from your video, the same way a coach does stepping through film. It is not a biomechanics lab, it cannot measure joint angles or puck velocity, and anything your footage does not clearly show comes back marked "insufficient footage" instead of guessed at. Every score carries a confidence level, and a low-confidence read is a starting point for a conversation with a coach — not a verdict.
How much is an on-ice session?
$149 per session, on the ice at The Capital Clubhouse in Waldorf. There's no set time limit — a session runs as long as it needs to instead of ending on a clock. When we're both available you get both coaches on the ice, and we keep session sizes small on purpose so every player gets real attention and real reps. Details here.
Where in Waldorf, Maryland do you train?
All in-person sessions run at The Capital Clubhouse, 3033 Waldorf Market Place, Waldorf, MD 20603 — our only training location. It's just off Route 301, with free on-site parking, and it serves families across Waldorf, White Plains, La Plata, Brandywine, Charles County and the wider Southern Maryland area. Directions and details here.
Do we have to travel to you?
Only if you want in-person ice time. The core of the program — video analysis, the weekly plan and mindset work — is built to run remotely, so families outside Southern Maryland get the same system without the drive.
Who will actually be coaching my player?
One of two named coaches, never an anonymous reviewer. We're both coaches and both currently playing Junior A — the difference is that one of us owns the business and sets the system we both coach. Coach Brayden works with players directly, alongside Coach Jack, our development coach, skill specialist and NCAA prospect. Meet them both here.
What is mindset development training?
It's the mental side of the game, coached deliberately rather than left to chance — confidence building, mental toughness, handling mistakes mid-game, performing under pressure, goal setting, accountability, winning habits, discipline, game preparation routines and leadership. It's included with the Premium program.
Will this get my son to Junior or college hockey?
No one can promise that, and anyone who does isn't being straight with you. Fewer than 0.11% of youth players reach the NHL, and Junior and college spots are genuinely scarce. What we do promise: better shot mechanics, a real weekly plan, trained habits, and a player who handles a bad game better. Those are the things inside your control.
He already has a skills coach. Is this redundant?
The opposite. Your skills coach gets him for an hour, twice a month. This is what he does the other twenty-nine days — and it means he shows up to that lesson already knowing which two mechanics he's working on. It makes money you already spend go further.
What do we need to film a video analysis?
A phone. Two angles — one from the side at about hip height, one from the front, roughly ten feet away, with his whole body in frame. Five shots minimum of the same type. There's a walkthrough in your onboarding, and if the footage isn't usable we'll tell you exactly what to change at no charge.
How quickly do you respond?
We respond to all inquiries within 24 hours. Premium members get priority support and video breakdowns returned inside 72 hours — most come back in under 48.
Does this work for defencemen and goalies?
Mindset, Systems, Habits and Leadership apply to every position — four of the Six Pillars. Shot mechanics content covers forwards and defencemen, including a separate point-shot module. Goalie-specific technical coaching isn't offered yet, so if he's a goalie, know what you're getting.
Can our team or association work with you?
Yes. Team and association packages are quoted per roster and include a live mindset session with the team. Request a custom quote with your roster size and level.
Our home rink
Hockey training in
Waldorf, Maryland
Every in-person session runs out of one rink — The Capital Clubhouse in Waldorf. One home base means a consistent schedule, familiar ice, and no chasing coaches around the state.
The Capital Clubhouse
3033 Waldorf Market PlaceWaldorf, MD 20603
The whole idea
Talent helps. Mindset changes careers.
Tell us your player's age, level and what's frustrating you. We'll come back within 24 hours with an honest read on what to work on first.
⏱ We respond to all inquiries within 24 hours