In planning hockey practice last night, I took the advice of my long-time mentor Glen Williamson who for the last five years has been in charge of all the U18, 16, 14 Hungarian national teams, and before that spent 35 years scouting, coaching in the NHL and Europe. With my Richmond Oval High Performance Skills Group huddled behind me, we watched three amazing NHL goal highlights on my iPad. We used this simple little tool to inspire kids and help me plan a fun and engaging practice. I had already prepped the sequence to plan the practice, we then simulated the scoring chances we saw successful in the NHL in 3 drills we designed. The kids were obviously excited to try to emulate their heroes and we had an awesome practice. Players and goalies both benefit greatly. It Took 90 seconds on the iPad before practice to show them and as you can imagine it will give me infinite new ideas to create offensive scoring drills.
To my slight surprise the kids had already seen the highlights at some point on their own. We all learn in many ways and this drove the point home for me.
6 Reasons they bought what I was selling:
- Many had already seen it at home.
- They described the goal we were about to see with excitement.
- They saw it again as I showed it to them, now as a student of the game, not a fan.
- They listened to my key teaching points as I explained it.
- Through repetition in the drill they started to master the scoring chance.
- What perhaps would’ve seemed to them like just another drill turned out to be a chance to emulate the stars of the game.
Make players aware of different types of shots required in these chances:
- Slapshots
- Snapshots
- Wrist shots
- In tight shots
- One timers
- Backhands
- Dekes
- Fake pass and shots
- Fake shots and pass
- Rebounds
- Broken plays
- Batting out of the air
- Deflections
- To name a few.
How many traditional drills focus on all of these skills they need in a game situation? Besides small area games? Probably not very many. Not only did this exercise solidify the player buy in, it also helps prepare them for situations that will arise in the game.
Please steal this idea just like I stole it from Glen. Coaching is about sharing knowledge with one another then sharing it with our kids.
[info_box]If you’re in the Vancouver area and want to be a part of our program please contact me. We currently have 1 or 2x week pure skill and fitness development programs at the Richmond Olympic Oval as an alternative to the crazy world of burnout and spring hockey and early specialization easily balanced within a multisport paradigm.[/info_box]
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