Coaching Development Weekly Drill
FYHP Coaches -
Already on the cusp of October, we are fully in the thick of the hockey season. But it's also important to remember it's a long-season. We're not going to see results over the course of one or two practices, which is why I like to run a couple of drills for multiple practices in a row, rotating in a new drill or two each practice. Thanks to everyone who has made recommendations for drills to share. I have a list of drills to share, but I have added them to the rotation. We have a wealth of knowledge in this community, so it's great to see the willingness to share best practices from your experiences.
One challenge we all face as coaches is managing those weekend practices. This past weekend, I had a 7 AM practice on Saturday with my 12Us, and a 6 AM practice on Sunday with my 10Us. I look at the weekend practices as bonus practices - opportunities to work on a specific skill (maybe a series of shooting drills to improve on shooting), or a chance to incorporate a fun game like handball to engage the kids in a fun activity. On Saturday morning, I had 9 skaters, and on Sunday morning we had 10 skaters and 2 goalies, nearly full teams for each practice. We used different strategies on each day to attract the skaters to the rink.
On Saturday with my 12Us, after practice, we advertised a team breakfast at IHOP. We had a good skills session, focusing on puck protection and passing, and made it to IHOP by 8:15. We were paid up and out by 9:30, and the kids seemed to have a great time and start to their weekend. And it's great to sit with the parents and connect with them - really builds the "team" environment.
On Sunday morning, we coordinated with the other team sharing the ice to do a scrimmage. Of course, this only works if the teams are compatible. But at the end of the day, between the two teams, we had close to 20 skaters and 2 goalies racing up and down the ice for a 6 AM scrimmage. Kids had a great time, and it was an effective use of an early sheet which historically is hard to manage for numbers.
We encourage you to find ways to entice your skaters to come to those early morning practices. But even with small numbers, you can still develop your player's individual skills.
Please make sure you have your CEPs scheduled. As we all know, if you haven't completed a CEP in 2024, your current one will likely expire on 12/31. Please ensure to register for one before the end of the year. Casey and I will be following up with coaches to ensure they have a reservation in a CEP.
DRILL OF THE WEEK
At all ages, there's a good chance that our skaters would benefit from more time with pucks on their sticks. The Finnish 5 Puck Progression gives coaches the latitude to increase the complexity. At its simplest form, the drill has your skaters each with a puck, skating around the zone. I like to do each iteration for 45 seconds to one minute, and then have them progress to doing it backwards as the next progression. After this, we'll do it with top-hand only on the stick, only using forehand, only backhand, etc. Then it transitions to passing. Kids can pair up, skating around and passing through traffic to their partner. Or you can have them in groups of 3+, passing multiple pucks. We do this as a 10-minute warmup, to get the skaters moving with their heads up, maximize the time they have pucks on their stick, and get comfortable with skating the puck and passing through traffic. And the beauty of it is you can adjust the complexity of the drill based on the skill level of your team.
Best,
Casey & Eric
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