4-Pass Hockey Warm-up Drill: Recorded, Edited, and Posted from my iPhone!

Hey folks!! I’m pretty excited about this post. Not because the drill is all that earth-shattering (although it is a great little drill!), but because I produced the ENTIRE thing from my iPhone!! I love my iPhone, and happened to find a really nice little drill diagraming app called Play Board XT.

After messing around with it a bit, I thought… “hey, it would be really cool if I could record myself showing a drill on here!” So, I did a little digging, and a little “finagling,” and figured out a way to make it all happen… pretty cool technology I’d say!!

IMPORTANT: So, if you’re interested in purchasing Play Board XT, make sure you get the ICE HOCKEY version (they offer it in multiple sports). If you want to eliminate any confusion CLICK HERE, and it’ll take you straight to the right one.

Enjoy!!!

Jeremy

With the cost of ice time going up, many teams are sharing practice sessions, especially at the younger age groups. The need for half ice hockey drills continues to grow, and has been a highly requested topic from our readers. So, instead of just doing a video or two, I put together 9 of my favorite half ice hockey drills spanning across all levels of play… beginner to advanced. I’ve also included a printable PDF version as well as the Importable DrillDraw files, if you want to bring all this stuff to the rink with you. You’ll find the links at the bottom of this page.

Here we go!!

Quad Passing:

Players 1 and 2 execute five passes between themselves, after the fifth pass, player 1 does a give and go with player 3, combined with a one-touch pass to player 4. All players rotate as shown.

Cycle Give and Go:

Player from line 1 leaves with the puck and walks up the boards, then cycles back to player from line 2. Player from line 1 drives through the seam for a give and go pass, receives the pass from player 2, then one-touches to player 3 or 2 for a one-timer.

Figure 8 Shooting & Deflection

1. Forwards line up in corner with pucks.
2. Three defensemen across the blue line. Two have pucks, one doesn’t.

Perpetual Cycle

Coach dumps a puck in – first player goes into corner and picks up the puck, and cycles it back. A second player follows him in to pick up the cycle. After cycling it back the first player cuts across the top of the circle and drives the net – second player passes out for a one-time shot.

After the pass is made, the first player from the other line dumos it in his corner. The player who just made the pass continues up around the top of the circle, then drives into the corner to pick up the dump. He cycles back, and the player who dumped it in supports to pick up the cycle. Same thing happens again. Drill continues perpetually.

Stop & Start Shooting

Great drill for younger players. Starts and stops with a puck, plus a power turn and a shot. Make sure players face the same way with each stop. Simple, but effective!

Give and Go Shooting

1. first player passes out to point man – then attacks

2. point man bank passes back to next player in line

3. receiver executes a give and go with point man

4. point man shoots

5. player who attacked becomes new point man

Center Line Boundary 2 on 1

Set up a 2 on 1 in each side. Nobody can cross the center line. When the defender gets the puck back, he/she must pass across the line to the forwards on the other side.

Start with 2 on 1, work up to 3 on 2.

Figure 8 Angling

1. Players start facing each other on dot

2. ‘F’ picks up a puck and drives wide

3. ‘D’ skates around cones as shown, then angles

4. ‘F’  has to drive around lower cone before cutting to the net

Variations: (a) take out the cone at hashmarks (b) allow forward to cut inside earlier

Larsen Give and Go

First player leaves hash mark, turns the corner and receives a pass from the next player in line. He then carries the puck around the next cone, and does a give and go with the passer (P) at the red line. After receiving the pass back from ‘P’, he does another give and go with the ‘P’ in the corner, then fires a one-timer on net.

TIP: have your players use the inside mohawk to round the turns!

There you have it!! Hopefully these come in handy for you. As always, here’s a PDF of each of these Half Ice Hockey Drills for you, and I’ve also included the DrillDraw files here as well: 9halficehockeydrills.zip

ENJOY!!

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

One of my favorite hockey cycling drills

Click here for the printout.

A simple Attack Triangle Sequence that introduces many important concepts to young hockey players.

As always – click here for the drill printout

Enjoy!

Hockey Passing Drills like this one can be great tools to run high-tempo practices

I call this the Hymas Square Drill (or the Wag the Dog Drill – since Hymas is one of those players who loves to give input). Either way, this is a great, quick-paced, heads up passing drill. As always, click here for the printout.

Click Here for a Printout of the 3 Pass and Shot Drill

The “3 Pass and Shot Drill” is a great Hockey Drill that can be utilized in many different practice scenarios. I like to use it as a warm-up drill, but it can also be used to develop passing and timing concepts, or to work on one-touch passes or shooting.

Enjoy!

Click Here for a printout of the Wiseman Drill you can take to the rink with you.

The “Wiseman Drill,” named after one of my old coaches, is a great passing and timing drill (one of my favorites!). This drill incorporates many game simulation concepts such as one-touch passes, timing, support, offensive attack, and odd-man rushes. Furthermore, there are numerous variations and options you can work through with your team. So be creative, and have some fun with this one!

Click Here for a printout of the Synchronized Passing Drill that you can bring to the rink with you.

Synchronized Passing is a simple, yet highly effective, hockey passing drill that will help players to develop their ability to maintain proper hockey passing technique while in motion. Players should be taught to incorporate their weight transfer into their stride while giving and receiving passes. This will help them to “cushion and sweep” their passes properly.

Start with your players very close to each other. As their skill level improves, increase the distance between each partnership, and the speed at which they skate down the ice. Players should eventually be able to execute this drill at top speed, making stick-to-stick passes all the way down the ice!

(12/30/08) PS – CHECK OUT THIS COOL TRAINING AID I FOUND TO HELP YOU WORK ON YOUR PASSING OFF THE ICE. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE “TAPE 2 TAPE PASSER” (MAKE SURE TO WATCH THE DEMO VIDEO TOO) 

Click Here for a printout of the Center Lag Timing Drill that you can bring to the rink with you.

Timing in hockey is a skill that requires not only physical ability, but mental ability as well. It is not uncommon to see young players buzzing around in practices or games – they appear to only have one speed: FULL SPEED. Since they’re working hard, they think they’re doing a good job… In reality, it is the player who arrives in the right spot, at the right time, with speed that will be the most effective.

Teach your players to pass to designated receiving areas, not necessarily to players. The responsibility lies with the receiver to make the play work. The receiver must select the proper route to the receiving zone so that he arrives on time, with speed. He must be ready to receive the puck when the passer is ready to give it to him, that’s timing!

Note: Passing & Timing go hand-in-hand. Make sure you take a look at our video on passing technique as well!