Half Ice Hockey Drills to Add to Your Drill Library
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!!
| 1. Quad Passing: 1. Players 1 and 2 execute five passes between themselves (soft hands!) 2. After the fifth pass, player 1 does a touch-pass give and go with player 3, then another touch pass to player 4. 3. All players rotate as shown. |
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| 2. Cycle Give and Go: 1. Player from line 1 leaves with the puck and walks up the boards, then cycles back to player from line 2. 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. |
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| 3. 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. 3. First forward passes to the defenseman without a puck then skates around the top of the circle and drives the net. 4. Far defenseman times it and fires a low, hard shot that arrives just as the forward gets to the net. 5. Forward deflects the puck then continues down around the other circle. 6. Forward continues up around the top of the circle then drives the net again. 7. Defenseman who received the initial pass times it and fires a low, hard shot that arrives just as the forward gets to the net. 8. Forward deflects the puck then stops in front of the net to screen the goalie and get ready for the third shot. 9. Middle defenseman fires a low, hard shot. Forward deflects it then drives in any rebound. |
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| 4. Perpetual Cycle: 1. Coach dumps a puck in – first player goes into corner and picks up the puck, and cycles it back. 2. A second player follows him in to pick up the cycle. 3. 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. 4. After the pass is made, the first player from the other line dumps it in his corner. 5. 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, and start the cycle from the other corner. 6. Drill continues perpetually. |
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| 5. Stop & Start Shooting: Great drill for younger players. Simple, but effective! 1. Players execute starts and stops with a puck, as shown. 2. After the stops and starts, players execute a power turn, then take a shot. 3. Make sure players face the same way with each stop. |
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| 6. Give & 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 |
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| 7. Center Line Boundary 2 on 1: 1. Set up a 2 on 1 in each side. 2. Nobody can cross the center line. 3. When the defender gets the puck back, he/she must pass across the line to the forwards on the other side. 4. Start with 2 on 1, work up to 3 on 2. |
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| 8. 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 netVariations: (a) take out the cone at hashmarks (b) allow forward to cut inside earlier |
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| 9. Larsen Give and Go: 1. First player leaves hash mark, turns the corner and receives a pass from the next player in line. 2. He then carries the puck around the next cone, and does a give and go with the passer (P) at the red line. 3. 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! |
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There you have it! Hopefully these come in handy for you.
Enjoy!
USE THESE DRILLS IN YOUR OWN PRACTICE PLAN:
These are great drills for my 12 u team.
Hey Jeremy I’ve been a reader of your site for a couple of years now, and somehow missed your most popular post! I found it thanks to your “Top 5” post yesterday. I’m glad I found it finally, we are working on cycling with our Peewees right now, and a couple of these drills will be perfect. I also bought both of your books this year. Keep up the excellent work!
Thanks for being with us! I didn’t realize this was the most popular post either… until just this week! I hate half-ice practices, but I guess it’s something a lot of us have to deal with. I’ll try to post more half-ice drills for you!
I’m actually lucky enough to always have full ice practices, but things like cycling are easier to do half ice.
Thanks for the drills. There some good one on here. Thanks again.
hello jeremy magnus heresweden ihope everything is fine with you iwant to have asmall intervieu with you againsttalking about playing in attackzon 2-2-1 ihope you want to tell me god things about practice to the guys to taking the practice out to the game best regards magnus
magnus – i’d love to talk more about this! can you email me at [email protected]
thanks!
jeremy
Thanks for the comments guys! I had a lot of “requests” for more half-ice drills, which is what inspired this post. let me know what other stuff would be helpful to you.
Hey Jeremy,
I just joined to see what this was all about to get new drills for my hockey schools. In a couple of weeks I have picked up a few great drills and it is greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Jeremy, thanks a bunch for this! As an Atom level coach you’re drills and advice have helped me tremendously this year; and it’s the kids that are really benefiting, so thanks again.
Jeremy!! You’re just giving it away!!
And I, for one, appreciate it. You’re doing the minor hockey world a real service. Thank you.
Tom Holder