24Mar 2010 by Jeremy Weiss 2 Comments

How to effectively teach a new hockey skill

Coaches' Corner, Individual Skills, Philosophy, Skating
Coaching hockey can be a complicated endeavor. The required skill-set to be a good coach is much different than the skill-set to be a good player. Because of this difference, many people find it difficult to make the transition from player to coach. I often hear new coaches say "I know what my players should be doing, but I don't know how to get them to do it..." or "I don't know how to explain proper skating technique, I just know how to show it..." In these situations, I usually recommend that the coach try to break each skill down into three key points that he or she can verbalize. For example, if I were explaining proper forward skating technique, I would say that each player needs to (1) maintain…
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28Oct 2009 by Jeremy Weiss No Comments
Spice Rebound Activation

Spice Rebound Activation

Hockey Drills, Small Area Games, Team Skill Drills
Hockey Small Area Games Drills can be a great way to add competition and intensity to your practices Try using hockey small area games drills to simulate various game situations your players will encounter. This one helps to reenforce shooting and crashing the net for rebounds, as well as odd man play and battles. As always, click here for the printout. Spice Rebound Activation: 1. and  start on the dots across from each other 2.  dumps puck in for a 1 on 1 battle. 3. As soon as a player gets a shot on net, another man from his team may be activated. 4. Player must pass back to next man in line in order to activate the player. 5. Activate up to 3 players - play continues until a…
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22Oct 2009 by Jeremy Weiss 2 Comments
Figure 8 Angling Drill

Figure 8 Angling Drill

Checking & Angling, Hockey Drills, Individual Skill Drills, Skating & Agility, Team Skill Drills
One of my favorite Hockey Body Checking Drills to work on body positioning and angling Remember, as you progress into hockey body checking drills, to stress that the purpose of body checking in hockey is to separate the man from the puck. To do this effectively, players need a strong base in the following areas: "Raw" Skating Ability Agility Body Positioning (Angling, Gap Control, etc...) Stick Positioning Make the Hit Here's the explanation: 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 Cheers!   USE…
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14Oct 2009 by Jeremy Weiss 2 Comments
Hymas Square Drill

Hymas Square Drill

Hockey Drills, Individual Skill Drills, Passing & Timing
Hockey Passing Drills like this one can be great tools to run high-tempo practices One of my players, Nate Hymas, showed me this one a couple of years ago. So, I called 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. Here's the diagram and explanation:   Hymas Square Drill 1. Players in opposite corners pass straight ahead 2. Passes go around the square 3. Players who started the drill skate around the circle and receive pass back from the same line they left from   Option 2: Similar to the first option, but now incorporates backward skating. See Diagram 2 Enjoy!   USE…
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