Drill of the Week - 10.14.2024
FYHP Coaches -
I didn't forget about this week (and I certainly didn't run out of drills!) but I wanted to wait until after today's "Teaching Hockey Sense through Triangles", hosted by Darryl Belfry and IHS.
It was a great session. They discussed the importance of teaching the game through triangles, and how it translates to all levels of hockey. It may seem intuitive, but they discussed how at a young age you can teach kids to try and create an "L" shape. The player in the middle should have the puck, and wherever that skater moves to, the other two need to try to maintain that "L" shape. Running a bunch of different scenarios, challenging kids to maintain the "L" shape, and then talking to them to figure out what they saw from their perspective which caused them to disrupt the "L".
Another interesting discussion point was, don't set "definite" boundaries on kids. A common one that we see is, telling kids "Never pass the puck in front of the net" in the defensive zone. Darryl spoke about how by doing this, it eliminates the kids responsibility at a young age to read and react to the play, which is important as they progress. If we say, "Always go to the boards," then there could be a player wide open in front of the net on a breakout, but the kids have been "programmed" to always go to the boards (where the winger could be defended by two players). Darryl emphasized that it's ok to make mistakes early ("take your lumps") - because it will help to make the kids better at reading the situations as they get older and become better hockey players. Don't sacrifice long-term development, to win a relatively meaningless game today by limiting player development.
DRILL OF THE WEEK
In the spirit of teaching kids the "L-concept", this drill was highly recommended by the moderators. Set up 4 cones, with three forwards next to a cone, and a defender in the middle. Forwards must make a pass to the other forward, and then move to the open cone (maintaining the "L"). After 5 consecutive passes, then they can take a shot on goal. I look forward to trying this drill out with my 10Us this week! Can run this one on both sides with larger numbers, and a drill that can be run with or without a goalie. Space can be modified to increase or decrease the difficulty, too.
Best,
Casey & Eric