26Aug 2011 by Jeremy Weiss 7 Comments

Timing and Support Tactics

Coaches' Corner, Neutral Zone, Philosophy, Team Systems, Useful Products
Timing and Support: Two concepts that can greatly enhance a player's ability to read and react! Timing and Support are extremely important concepts for a hockey player to understand. Having a sound understanding of these key concepts will allow him to adjust to different coaching styles and systems, no matter what the positional set-up may be. In this video, I show an example of timing, support, and multiple receiving zones, using a simple "swing" regroup. ENJOY!
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26Aug 2011 by Jeremy Weiss 6 Comments

Philosophy: When to Start Teaching Hockey Systems?

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy, Team Systems
How early can youngsters be taught to play "systems hockey"? Many people have varying opinions on the correct answer to this question... and, as is often the case with philosophical hockey questions, there is more than one correct answer. The answer depends on the physical skills of your players, the mental maturity of your players, and the manner in which the systems are taught and implemented. In this video, I discuss my own personal opinions on the matter, and why I believe what I believe. When I was 8 years old, my dad had this idea of taking the top-caliber kids from around the city, and keeping essentially the same kids together for 5 years. The end goal of his vision was to win an Ontario Championship at the "AAA"…
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26Aug 2011 by Jeremy Weiss 13 Comments

Philosophy: Utilizing the Hockey Development Pyramid

Coaches' Corner, Individual Skills, Philosophy, Team Skills, Team Strategy, Team Systems
The Hockey Development Pyramid is a great tool to help design your season's "Road Map" Before the season begins, it's a good idea to take inventory of your team's strengths and weaknesses. I use the Hockey Development Pyramid as a tool to help gather my thoughts, and determine what areas of play should be focused on over the course of the season. Skills within various tiers of the pyramid can be developed simultaneously (i.e. puckhandling and passing can be developed during a breakout drill). However, it is EXTREMELY important to build from the bottom up, not from the top down. Players who have not developed a solid foundation of Individual and Team Skills will never be as effective at performing the higher-level skills such as Team Systems and Strategy. ENJOY!
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26Aug 2011 by Jeremy Weiss 7 Comments

Hockey Coaches Training Course Introduction

Coaches' Corner, Philosophy, Team Systems
Welcome to our Hockey Coaches Training Course! This course is designed as a pre-season "tune-up" to help coaches think through the Team Systems they plan on using throughout the upcoming season. So, our main focus will be on hockey systems, and what options might work well for your team. CLICK HERE to see our course syllabus, which outlines everything we'll be covering in this course. As we progress through the week, the individual topics will become live as more content is added. DISCLAIMER: Every team is different, and has different strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, what works well for one team might not work for another. There are many "correct" ways of implementing systems with your team. The things I'm showing you are based on personal experience as a player and…
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16Aug 2011 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments

Skating: PowerSlide Hockey Slide Board

Coaches' Corner, Hockey Drills, Hockey Equipment, Individual Skill Drills, Off-ice Training, Skating & Agility, Skills, Stickhandling, Useful Products
The PowerSlide Hockey Slide Board Allows you to Imitate a Skating Motion while Developing Other Skills A while back I was talking to one of my coaching buddies about some of the cool off-ice training equipment that is available these days. I mentioned something about combining a hockey slide board with a stickhandling skill pad, and how it would be cool to be sliding back and forth while stickhandling, passing, shooting, or anything else. At the time I thought my idea was completely original... but, it turns out that innovative hockey coaches have had their players doing this for years! What You Get, and Set-up: So... here's what I did. I picked up the PowerSlide slide board from HockeyShot. It's a really high quality slide board that is portable, so…
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