Using Your Down Time!

There’s a point I try to get across to amateur hockey players — of all ages, and it’s closely related to this entry’s title — about using one’s down time.  I happen to think it’s an important topic, yet I’d forgotten to mention it here until I ran across an awesome video by my good friend and fellow CoachChic.com member, Michael Mahony.

Okay, so let’s have a listen at how Mike uses his down time to great advantage (just click his photo), and then I’ll share with you the way I often recommend much the same approach to those in my charge…

– Dennis Chighisola

Using Your Down Time!

As you can see, Michael wisely makes use of time that he’d other wise let go to waste.  And I’m known to do much the same.

For example, my wife would prefer to do the driving on our long treks chasing Anthony Chic’s hockey schedule all over New England.  So, whether you realize it or not, I’ve written a good many of these entries from her Jeep’s passenger seat and on one of my trusty laptops.  Hey, we can still talk as we ride — and I’m not being rude or anything, but I sure can get a lot of writing accomplished in 4- to 6-hours on those boring highways.

But, let me bring this topic closer to the needs of my favorite hockey players…

For, you see, I don’t believe hockey homework has to always be a drudgery.  In fact, I’ll warn parents of very young players that such things should NEVER seem like work to their little ones.

In particular, I think adult players and younger ones who still need work on their basic skills could do something like the following.  (Actually, I put this video together in an entry I did long ago for Megan, a site member.  And, while the skating drills demonstrated at the start of the movie might require exact focus on what a player is doing, I’ll suggest that the last two exercises could easily be done as part of some multi-tasking.)  So, please have a look before I comment further…

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As a follow-up to that video, I’m always suggesting to older players that they could do something like WallSits while watching TV or while doing lots of other things.  And so could any player experiment with a stick and ball — as Anthony Chic is doing at the end of that video, also while watching television.

I have often advised my young teen players to kill a couple of birds with one stone, perhaps keeping a tennis ball stashed somewhere in the rec room, and squeezing it for hand and forearm strength while watching TV.

As Mike Mahony is saying, an athlete can use what might other wise be consider down time to enhance his or her physical abilities.  And what Mike is also suggesting is that certain kinds of down time happen on a regular basis.  And that’s pretty close to what I’m usually pointing-out to my students, team players and local parents.  I mean, if an adult player regularly watches the local news on TV each evening, why not do a simple hockey related exercise at the same time?  Something like the previously mentioned ball-squeezing exercise, sit-ups, push-ups, and other very simple movements could be done by any aged player on a planned basis.  Or, what about just balancing around on one of those air pillows as part of your multi-tasking?  Of course, I could go on here with more ways to improve during regular down times.  However, you probably know more about what you really need, and even more about what you’d enjoy doing.

The real point here — that Mike and I are both trying to make, is that we all tend to waste some time, and I’ll even suggest that we all engage in a lot of activities that are almost mindless.  In either case, there are opportunities within our schedules to get-in some regular work on our game.  And, judging by the players I’ve seen take that advice, there’s an awful lot of fun and satisfaction to be had down the road.

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Have any thoughts on this subject, or some ideas to share with other members?  Just use the Comment box down below.  I love interacting with you guys (and gals)!

To All My Very Favorite Hockey Friends…

Have A Safe and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From my family to yours…

– Dennis Chighisola

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And please remember…  This is YOUR HOCKEY RESOURCE SITE, and all you need to do is ask for help, advice or direction and I promise to deliver it promptly!  So, let’s make 2010 awesome — together!

Dealing with "Murphy’s Law"

During my very first year in coaching, I lost my best player for an important tournament game.  Oh, he wasn’t out injured, he wasn’t home sick in bed, and his parents’ car didn’t break-down on the way to the game.  No, it was something more common than any of those things that robbed us of our top scorer.  “Murphy’s Law” is what did us in that day, and I swore it would never put my team in a hole again.

– Dennis Chighisola

Dealing with “Murphy’s Law”

Okay, so here’s what happened on a frigid February morning nearly 40-years ago…  My team was assembled in their lockerroom awaiting their march down the corridor for the start of an exciting holiday tournament.  As the players arose from their seats, one of my guys slightly stumbled and evidently stepped onto some bare concrete.  I thought nothing of it at first, but a few seconds into our pre-game warm-ups we discovered that an edge had been completely stripped from that player’s skate-blade.  (As I recall, he couldn’t cut to his right without the skate going out from under him.)  Believe it or not, the rink’s pro shop wasn’t yet open.  And, believe it or not, this was a time when few coaches or players thought to carry a skate-stone.  And, of course, this was long before the advent of small, handheld skate sharpeners.  So, just by a stroke of luck, and because we were unprepared for such an occurrence, our team lost one of the most dangerous scorers in the region.

Now, I’m sure you know the gist of Murphy’s Law, which basically states that, “If anything can go wrong, it will!”  Still, what you might not know is “Coach Chic’s Law”, in that, “I only need something to happen once before I find an answer to it!”

So, how many times has Murphy’s Law struck me — or one of my players?  Let me count the ways…  A missing helmet screw, a missing mouth piece, a missing neck guard, a missing cup, a broken goalie pad strap, a missing chin strap, a missing…

True to Coach Chic’s Law, however, I learned from the first crisis and pretty much assured myself and my team that at least THAT crisis wouldn’t bite us again.  In other words, every time some little — or large — problem arose, I found a way to deal with it should it ever happen again.  In most instances, that meant adding another tool or small piece of gear to a collection that I ultimately dubbed my “Murphy’s Law Kit”.

You can imagine the things that are now in my kit box (shown in the two adjacent photos)…

• first aid needs
• skate-stone (several)
• scissors
• pliers
• flathead screwdriver
• phillips screwdriver
• awl
• file
• sandpaper
• Swiss Army knife (with various tools within)
• helmet screws
• matches or lighter
• extra skate laces
• tape (various kinds)
• new mouthpiece
• neck guard
• goalie strap
• chin strap
• pieces of foam
• pieces of leather
• several glues

Actually, I’ll oftentimes see a strap or other small item left in a rink parking lot or wherever, and I’ll consider whether that might come-in handy sometime when Murphy thinks he’s going to get me again.  And I’ll do the same thing when discarding sports equipment from home, or when tossing out some old hockey gear from my NEHI equipment room.  In each case I’ll ask myself, “Can something here bail me out in an emergency?  (Sure, call me a packrat if you must.  But, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a player back into action when Murphy’s Law wanted to send him to the bleacher!)

In more recent years, I’ve been fortunate to receive a lot of little Swiss Army like gadgets as Christmas stocking stuffers or as gifts.  As a matter of fact, I have one beauty of a tool that straps conveniently on the shoulder strap of my skate bag, and that thing is always getting used to tighten some clinic kid’s helmet or facemask.

Is a hockey coach the only one who needs a Murphy’s Law Kit?  Aaaah, far from it.

A number of years ago — when my grandson started going off to the rinks on his own, we thought it a good idea to set him up with a smaller version of my kit.  A small, unbreakable box it was, stuffed with a stone, some extra helmet screws, an extra pair of laces, and a few tools that would help him in a pinch.  Oh, that tool kit has evolved over the years, but it could always be found in his hockey equipment bag — during his high school career, at prep school, at several showcase tournaments, and now at college.  And I’ll suggest other players gather together odds and ends to form their own Murphy’s Law Kit.

As a matter of fact, I don’t think it’s a bad idea for hockey parents to carry something like that kit, even if it’s just safely stashed in the car trunk for when Murphy rears his ugly head.

Finally, I’m thinking that the contents of a fully stocked Murphy’s Law Kit would prove valuable to members.  Ya, imagine if thousands of us put our heads together and kept adding to the list.  So, if you’ll add your ideas in the Comments section below, I’ll find a way to keep our running list somewhere available for all of us to see (and maybe print-out).  Deal?

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Please add any ideas you might have for our Murphy’s Law Kit in the Comments area below!

Straight Cycle Passing – Variation

Please see Drill Submission Rules and Help below.

Contributor: Dennis Chighisola — Whitman, MA USA

Drill Category: Forward & Backward Skating, Passing and Receiving

Drill Description:

Please see the Straight Line Cycling Drill for details on the initial set-up.

As for the variation…

• The drill runs exactly like the basic one, with this exception…  The passer carries the puck to mid-ice, then begins skating backwards.
• About half the distance back to his starting place, that player initiates a pass cross-ice while still skating backwards.

Objective of the Drill:

Backward skating and puckhandling are involved in this variation.

Better yet, the most difficult pass to make in hockey is one done while moving backwards, so this drill forces players to work on that skill numerous times within just a few minutes.  (A player doesn’t have the chance to use his or her full body to generate force in this kind of pass.)

Running the drill:
Please watch the video linked below to see the variation in progress.

Click image below to see a short video.

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Have questions or suggestions concerning this drill?  Please leave a Comment below.

Straight Cycle Passing Drill

Please see Drill Submission Rules and Help below.

Contributor: Dennis Chighisola — Whitman, MA USA

Drill Category: Skating, Puckhandling, Passing and Receiving

Drill Description:

Groups of threes perform this drills across the ice.

All players can (and should) participate in this kind of drilling, from forwards to defensemen to goaltenders.

• Two players assume start positions on one side of the ice, with one of these players having a puck
• A third player begins at the other side boards.
• The player with the puck carries it to mid-ice, and then fires a firm, flat pass onto the stick-target of the man on the other side of the ice.
• The passer follows his pass and takes the place of the pass receiver.
• The pass receiver now carries the puck to mid-ice and makes a good pass to the man on the other side boards.

(The sketches shows the layout of players, while the video below accomplishes more than I could do in words.)

Objective of the Drill:

It’s a sound practice for players to follow their passes.

So is it helpful for players to work on their passing skills while moving.

This drill makes it necessary for the passer to be extra accurate when sending the puck, since his or her target is in a stationary posture.

As an added benefit…  I find that with the passer moving towards his or her target, a fairly firm pass requires the receiver to have really soft hands in executing the catch.

FYI…  We do our weekly individual skills session on a mini-rink (shown in the video below), so the short distance across the ice dictates less skating and quicker passes than when we do the same drill later in the week on a regulation sized ice surface.

Running the drill:
Please see the video below to see how the drill looks in progress.

Click image below to see a short video.

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Have questions or suggestions concerning this drill?  Please leave a Comment below.

PS: Watch for a variation on this drill within a day or so.

Hockey Line Changes

Now, this entry was inspired by a coach asking for some guidance when it comes to changing on-the-fly.  More specifically, he was wondering if there is a certain age or level when players can be expected to learn this.  So, let me give that a whirl, and let me add as much as I can about making those kinds of changes…

– Dennis Chighisola

Hockey Line Changes

Getting right to that coach’s main question here, my feeling is that the time to teach changes on-the-fly has an awful lot to do with a team’s overall game awareness.  Said yet another way, I’ll suggest that youngsters who have their basic skills under control, and those who are able to understand basic positioning should also be able to learn how to make exchanges while the game is in progress.  So, I’m guessing that decent Squirt or Atom players should be able to learn it.

As an aside…  I asked for some input on this subject, and I received a couple of good suggestions — about things I’d want to be sure to include here.  And first to arrive in my inbox was the suggestion from Mike M, who said, “Do them quickly and often to win games.”

Ya, quickly and often, which brings me to the timing of our shifts.

Now, I have to chuckle a bit as I think about how the earliest levels of our game frequently start-out by playing 2-minute buzzer-hockey.  The reason I’m laughing to myself is that an awful lot of kids, parents and even coaches believe that sort of timing should continue through later years, with the players staying out there on the ice for several minutes at a whack.

Of course, watching just one pro or college hockey game should change that impression.  For, teams at the highest levels probably play something closer to 30- or 40-second shifts.  Yup, go out, bust your buns, and then get-off!

When it comes to the timing of shifts, I’d like to insert this personal feeling, as well…  You see, while most folks are (rightly) concerned about the length of time players are out on the ice working, I’m as concerned for the players who are sitting.  This is a three-pronged thing with me…

• First, players who are sitting for any length of time are physically cooling-off, and I think this gets worse with the length of time they’re off their skates.  So, while there’s definitely a need for players to rest and catch their breath, I believe there is a point where time away from the ice becomes a negative.  (Is there a greater chance for injury as players sit for long stretches?  I don’t know, but I think this ought to at least be considered.)
• Secondly — and this is probably something most members haven’t thought about before…  I honestly believe that a player can get mentally out of the game if he or she is away from the action for very long.  In other words, I think there’s the real danger that a player can lose his or her focus and intensity during a long stretch away from the ice.  Consequently, I think a coach can keep his or her players more alert by quickly getting them back out there — quickly and often, as Mike M says.
• Then, maybe my third point is really a combination of the previous two.  For, I know that players like to stay in a certain kind of rhythm over the course of a period — especially my good players, and it’s hard for them to do this unless there’s a reasonable sort of rhythm to their shifts.

So again, as Mike M might say, “Do them quickly and often!”

As another sidebar when it comes to keeping my players in the flow of things…  It’s always driven me crazy when my team has suddenly taken a string of penalties.  All the above points come into play when that happens, with a number of my guys sitting and getting cold, getting themselves out of the game, mentally, and also getting out of that proverbial rhythm.

Oh, I might add one more thing to the timing of shifts…  I usually like to keep the earliest shifts in a period a little on the short side.  I want to get everybody a quick taste of the action, and I also want to delay the build-up of lactic acid as best I can.  I might lengthen the shifts just a tad in the middle of a period, and then go back to shorter ones as the period winds down.  This approach is really just a personal thing with me, but I’ve sensed through the years that my players have benefited from it.

Now, as for going about the teaching of line changes, I recommend that members next watch my brief video on “Dumping the Puck“.  As you’ll see there, the right kinds of dump-ins provide units the “time” to make changes without getting caught shorthanded.

I also believe bench decorum plays a big part in effectively getting changes on-the-fly.  So, I highly suggest these things…

• During each period, all defensemen should sit on the defensive end of the bench, while all the forwards sit on the offensive end.  Getting our guys (or gals) even closer to their end of the ice, the next defense pair will sit closest to the defensive zone, and my next forward line sits closest to the offensive zone.
• I make it a rule that players who are going out next should keep a very close eye on the man they’ll replace.  In other words, the instant a centerman enters the play, the next centerman must keep focus on him (or her).  Why so soon?  The idea is for us to never get caught shorthanded — should a player limp to the bench with an injury, should he discover an equipment problem, whatever.  The point is, unforeseen things can happen seconds into a shift, and the next player up has to immediately notice if or when he’s needed.

Then, there’s the matter of the actual exchange of personnel…

As much as I like having players go over the boards as they enter the ice, we coaches must take into consideration the height of the boards in comparison to our players.  Under normal circumstances, this probably suggests that those at least below Pee Wees aren’t going to be able to make the climb.  However — and believe it or not, I’ve actually coached at a few rinks where even high school players weren’t able to get over the unusually high boards.  That in mind, I think all players should learn to properly enter and exit through the bench doors.  And for more help in this area, I suggest that members refer to my article on “Buzzer Hockey Line Changes“.  (Don’t let the title fool you; there’s valuable information there about older players changing on-the-fly.)

Next, there’s the matter of when to change.  And for this, I have the following suggestions…

• You’d think that growing-up amid farms would have provided a great atmosphere for a young boy to hone his whistling skills.  Or, perhaps, that the powers that be could have had a course on whistling in my long ago Phys Ed studies.    The truth is, I can’t whistle a lick.  If I could, I’d use that as a signal for my guys to change.  Instead, though, I’ve had to resort to calling-out loudly, “Get a change!  Get a change!”  (Oh, well…)
• Now, the lengths of shifts can’t be totally dictated by the timing we’d like.  No, conditions for a successful change aren’t going to fall exactly every 35-seconds or so.  That said, I’ll usually opt for less than the desired time if it looks like going any longer is going to trap my guys out there.  For example, I have to know there’s the possibility that a unit heading down-ice on the attack is going to ultimately have to backcheck, and then breakout again in order to get a change on-the-fly.  And, presuming they’re not going to have the juice to accomplish all that, I’ll probably call for the early change.
• I might also call for an early change if a unit has been bogged-down in their own end for an extended period of time.  Hey, it’s just better to get fresh legs (and minds) out there, and to give the unit coming-off a little time to regroup.
• Of utmost importance is the need for the players on the ice to be absolutely sure the puck is safe before they turn and head-off. I mean, even though they see the puck being dumped, they mustn’t head to the bench until they’re absolutely sure that it is going to safely get through rival players and land deep in their opponents’ end.

Now, despite the fact that the next players up are supposed to be watching the man they’ll replace, I also like my players yelling their positions as they come-off.  In other words, as the left winger comes to our bench, he yells, “Left wing!  Left wing!”  I don’t know; it’s just a safety measure that makes me feel good.

Then, Deb K inspired the next suggestion…  You see, she’s not only a youth hockey parent and coach, but she’s also a referee.  So it should make sense that she’d joke a bit and offer, “Tell coaches about the changes so refs aren’t having to educate from the ice “

Deb’s comment in mind, this biggie…  From my perspective most of the “too many men on the ice” penalties are caused by the players who should be coming-off the ice, and these usually come about because the man coming-off either changes his mind or he fools the player who is supposed to replace him.  In other words, the guy coming to the bench gives every indication that he’s coming, the new player hops over the boards and onto the ice, and then the player who is supposed to come-off doesn’t.  (I don’t know of any way to actually practice this key communication, but I surely do beat it to death in conversations with my players.  I mean, I make it a very big deal that guys coming-off shouldn’t fool their replacements or change their minds at the last second.)

Finally, if a hockey coach feels that line changes are an important part of his or her team’s game, then it should make sense to practice these as often as other plays.  And, once established, it wouldn’t hurt to review them on occasion, and to also frequently talk about the principles involved.

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A lot of things go into proper line changes, and I almost fear I’ve forgotten a few.  If you think I have, please add a Comment so that this topic is eventually covered as thoroughly as possible!

Soft "Touch" Passing

For anyone who stopped by here thinking that I’m going to be talking about one-touch passing, naw; that’s a subject for another time.

What I do want to share with you is my feelings on the passes players often make to themselves.

– Dennis Chighisola

Soft “Touch” Passing

Just supposing a player is going to push the puck through a defender’s skates, then go around that defender to retrieve the puck on the other side.  Well, I can’t tell you how often I’ve noticed attackers treating that puck rather roughly as they send it, which usually brings about new problems when they go to retrieve it.

The first thing I usually do in dealing with this is to suggest to my players that they are actually making passes to themselves.  I don’t know, but most of the time this method seems to help in getting them to look at that kind of play a little differently.  Actually, once I get them to realize that it is a pass — and that the pass is to themselves, they tend to pay closer attention to the technique required.

By the way…  Making passes to oneself happens more often than some might think.  It’s required along with nearly all the different dekes or maneuvers players use to get around a defender on 1 against 1’s (as in the drill I described above).  And a pass to oneself is also what’s happening when a player banks a puck off the boards and around a defender.  And so is it a major part of the way I teach breakaways (so see my article and videos on “Proper Breakaway Skills“).

Anyway, once that’s established — that the pass is to oneself, I next try to get my players to appreciate that it takes a certain kind of “feel” or “touch” with the puck to make that pass.  In just about every instance, the attacker wants the “pass” to arrive in a certain location.  And in every instance he or she wants the puck to just sit there, nice and flat (not rolling or wobbling around).  So again, the attacker doesn’t want to treat the puck roughly on that pass ahead, but instead “place it” with a nice soft “touch”.

Of course, talking about the problem only gets us part way in establishing a better touch or feel for that kind of pass.  So, I’ve developed a number of drills to help my kids develop such skills.

Now, as members know by now, I have the luxury of both on-ice and off-ice practices throughout most of the year.  And for that reason I’ve had to create drills that can be done in both venues.

The first photo (on the left) shows a drill I created long ago to enhance a number of qualities in my players.  Tumbling — or any gymnastics — is great for athleticism, and it also puts my kids in a slight, momentary state of confusion, not unlike the frequent collisions they have in games.  The reason I initially created this drill was so that my players could learn to find the puck quickly coming out of a roll.  So — as described elsewhere here at CoachChic.com, I’d have my kids roll and then quickly find a puck that had just been introduced by a coach.  And that drill certainly has helped them in the ways that I’d hoped.

More recently, however, I’ve expanded the drill to help encourage the skill at hand.  So, clicking on that first photo (above) will open a short video I shot at a recent off-ice practice.  It shows players pushing the puck ahead, tumbling, and then having to find the puck so he can perform the next challenge (to either tumble again or shoot).  Go ahead, watch the video before going on.

Hmmmm…  If you don’t mind watching that video again, I just caught the first little rascal doing something I hadn’t noticed before, and it’s something that truly does make my point here.    For, as he comes out of his last tumble, he doesn’t shoot his own puck at all.  No, he fires a different one, because the one he brought down the course wasn’t ultimately placed nicely, or where he really needed it to be!

Now, the second sequence hopefully shows that soft “touch” pass a little better.  (You should know that I purposely spaced the tumbling mats the way I did, just so each player had to be pretty accurate in placing his pass.  For — as you’ll see in the next video, that pass had better fall close to the right location if the player is going to be able to immediately take-on the next challenge.)  So, click on the second photo and see what I mean.

Now, between the lines, I’m kinda hoping that you’ve noticed how I try to make drills simulate the craziness of our game.  Just in the shown drill, for example, I’ve at least slightly recreated the confused state that comes with falls or collisions, and I’ve also tried to recreate the urgency necessary between challenges.

As an aside, I’ve previously joked in other entries about how the little firing mechanisms in my noggin’ tend to make me think of something new as I’m working at another project.  So, don’t you know, I just arrived at a new drill for pass-receiving as I wrote that last paragraph.  I’ll be sure to show you that once I breathe life into it.  However, just as a hint…  It drives me crazy that a lot of my players are too casual about catching passing during drills, and this results in far too many lost pucks during our games.  So, why not insert a give and go between tumbles (or other challenges) as an adaptation to the above drill?  Hmmmmm…

Okay, as for an on-ice application to the above drill…  We don’t often do tumbling on the ice.  So, what I’ll usually do is have by players execute continuous spins down the length of the ice.  In other words, a player will tap the puck ahead, then spin to find and grab it; he’ll tap the puck ahead again, and spin in the opposite direction next, etc.  And, much like the off-ice version of that drill, a player must make his pass with some “feel” in order to have the puck lie where — and in the way — he needs it in order to continue on to the next challenge.

Finally, I hope you also noticed that the two physical challenges featured in the drill examples are drastically different.  With that, I’d like you to appreciate that the rolls or spins (or shots) are purely things that need to be done before or after a pass to oneself.  However, make not mistake about it:  Those passes have to be done with a nice “touch” in order to make the next move possible.

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Can you help me make this site all the better by adding to the discussion?

The Angle of Pursuit

Although I had my share of notoriety and recognition as a young football player, I’ll tell you — right up front — that I wasn’t all that hot.  However, I did have great hands (from my baseball background), and I could run like a deer (from honest to goodness great genes)! 

That said, I always was kind of a “thinker”, even as a kid, and even as a football player.  Oh, by the way, I also had one of the region’s best high school football coaches — far ahead of his time, I think he was, and he later went on to coach a string of championship semi-pro teams before settling in as a game film rater for the New England Patriots.

Anyway, the reason I mention all this is so that I can introduce the topic at hand.  For, one day during a defensive segment of a team practice, my old high school head coach described that “angle of pursuit” thing to his players.

You don’t have to totally understand this, because I’ll explain it better and show you later how this relates to our game.  But for now, what my coach was suggesting had to do with defenders needing to watch a ball carrier’s route — or anticipate where that route would take him, and then meet him at some point along that route.  Again, I’ll explain that far better in a minute.  However, just so you know, I was playing The Thinker again that day, inwardly shaking my head, and wondering to myself, “Does anyone really have to be told this?”  Oh, well…

– Dennis Chighisola

The Angle of Pursuit

Now, the answer to my question actually came by way of a video I watched just a few years ago, this from the Centre for Hockey Excellence in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  For, in that video, former Canadian National Team coach, Dave King, took quite a bit of time explaining that very concept, and almost in the same way my old high school football coach had.

Okay, so here’s the gist of it, as it relates to our game…  If you click on the adjacent photo, you’ll see one player dump a puck that is destined to go around the boards and arrive near the opposite corner.  What you’ll also see is a skater from the other team chasing the puck in the wrong manner.  Go ahead, and watch that short video before you read on.

Confounding me, but giving validity to Dave King and my old football coach, I’ve come to realize that some athletes actually do follow behind in the pursuit of a puck or opposition player.

That out of the way, I’m sure my late-coach would appreciate the animation I’ve just created to show a little smarter way to pursue that same puck.  So, please click on the (left) photo to watch that video.

Now, it has been a long time since I viewed that piece by Dave King.  But, I recall him suggesting that we (hockey) coaches can run drills to show the merits of pursuing the puck rightly.  So, my next video shows two players taking different routes as they race for the loose puck (click on the photo below to view that).

You’re probably wondering what caused me to raise this “angle of pursuit” issue tonight.  Well, as I’ve been standing back and watching my young Mighty Mites team, attempting to drink-in as much as I can — about their specific needs, and about the way they learn.  And, I’ve been fascinated by a number of things…

- In one instance I watched a little 4-year old race back out of our offensive zone for a puck that had been tossed out to neutral ice.  The little tyke was skating right towards where I stood on the bench that afternoon, so I had a great view of what was to happen.  For, as he began to approach the puck, I saw him turn his head about halfway, this so he could see if anyone was nearby.  He next snatched the puck and made his exit in the direction opposite from the nearest rival.  Unbelievable or what?  The truth is, I actually run drills to ingrain that looking-over-their-shoulder thing in my older players, and most of them take quite awhile to make it a regular part of their game.  ???

- On a number of occasions I’ve seen members of that Mighty Mite team gain the puck along the side boards in their offensive end, and somehow realize they weren’t on the greatest shooting angle.  With that, they kept moving towards mid-ice with the puck, finally sending it on-goal once they reached a better angle.  And again, I felt this to be really good thinking for little guys who had only played a handful of games.

- Then, that old angle of pursuit thing…  I shot the following video really only as an example of how the game action looks in that instructional league.  I’m not sure you can pick-up anything special in this brief clip, but I’m going to suggest that some kids are moving laterally at times, just to keep themselves in the path of a rival puckcarrier, or — as if they knew enough to anticipate it — right in the path of a possible pass up-ice.  Go ahead; click on the photo (below), just so you can see some of their game action (my kids are in black, with our opponents in dark blue).

Now, I’ve written this entry for a number of reasons…

• First, if you never had cause to think about or teach the correct angle of pursuit, perhaps I’ve armed you with some valuable knowledge.
• Secondly, I hope the observations I’m sharing about my youngest team members awakens you (as it has me) to the fact that all of our players are growing organisms.  And, as such, we coaches and parents have the awesome responsibility of guiding them in that growth.
• Then, from what I learned on that long ago football practice field, it’s important to appreciate that some players do certain things instinctively (or seemingly so), while those same things evidently don’t come naturally to others.  And, while it might be easier to coach the gifted ones, I believe the true measure of a “teaching coach” is in our ability to help the players who really need it.  (Come to think of it, it’s only since I’ve grown older that I realized my old high school football coach dealt with us in that way.  So, God bless, Coach, and thanks so much.)

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You know how much I appreciate your feedback.  So, please do add your Comments here!

A Beginner Hockey Player’s Skating Speed

This is about a note I took as I watched our beginner (or Mighty Mites) team play in one of their earliest games a few weeks back…

Let me start by stating that my kids seemed as though they already skated faster than most opponents.  What caused me to jot that note, however, was that I knew my little guys could be much faster, and that I’d want them to be far, far faster as we got deeper into our season.

As an aside here, I think this might be a way of conveying how helpful note-taking can be — for a coach like me, for a player, or for a parent.  I mean, in this case I’m aiming at a long-term goal, and not one that’s going to be a one or two practice deal.  Probably making this point even better, I recently watched one of my teenaged guys play in a scrimmage with his high school squad, and I noticed an area of his game that still needs some work.  The fact that I recorded that in my diary when I arrived at home doesn’t help him now, since I won’t get to work with him again until next spring.  What will help him is the fact that I placed it among my March of 2010 notes, with it then acting as a reminder to design some things that will help him (and other like skaters) with that problem.  In the case of my Mighty Mites, my notes went under the next several Sundays, since that’s when we’ll be practicing.

Anyway, here are a couple of things I’m now doing for the sake of their skating speed.

– Dennis Chighisola

A Beginner Hockey Player’s Skating Speed

I hope you appreciate that skating speed can’t be solved by just one drill.  As a matter of fact, beginners tend to move around the ice better and better just from gaining more and more experience on their blades.  That said, there are a few things I feel I can do to hasten their development in this area.

If you haven’t done so already, I suggest you review two earlier posted videos (“21 Must-do Skating Drills for Beginners” and “24 Must-do Skating Drills for Intermediates”) as prerequisites to what I’m about to cover…

Going back to their earliest times on the ice for a moment, understand that most first-time skaters walk rather than skate, and they usually do this by inching their way along on the “flats of their skates”.  In other words, they don’t immediately thrust with one blade and glide on the sharp edge of the other.  No, again, they basically march or walk around the ice.

So, do you want to know what will ultimately encourage the desired push-offs or thrusts?  The answer is to introduce some form of resistance against the skater’s movement down the ice.  And, for beginners, I find their attempting to push a similarly sized partner down the ice on a chair works awesomely.

What you should know is that this kind of exercise almost adapts itself to the various player levels — or, should I say, the players from each level tend to use the exercise differently, and we can also coach it a little differently according to the players.

In the case of my Mighty Mites, I now view them as intermediates.  Ya, while they’re still very young, my little guys get around the ice really well at this point.  So I kinda push and prod them a little (not meanly or anything, but still trying to get them to work harder and faster), and I look for increasingly more speed with each repetition, and with each week that passes.  (Some footage of this drill in action can be found near the middle of my video on “24 Must-do Skating Drills for Intermediates”.)

For this next one, it would be extremely helpful if you review my video on “Analyzing the Forward Stride“.  For, in that analysis, you’ll see that a player’s arm — or shoulder — motions can help a great deal in adding rhythm, power and efficiency to his or her forward movement.  And, this all translates to better forward skating speed.

Anyway, over the past month I’ve had my kids regularly practicing pumping their arms (without sticks) — while standing in place and while moving down one side of the ice.  In the beginning we can expect a real forced, uncoordinated movement.  But, over time, even the youngest ones will ultimately put things together.  And again, when they do, you can expect that they’ll skate far faster than when their arms and legs were out of sync.  (Click on the adjacent photo to see my kids in their earliest attempts at coordinating the arm/shoulder pumps with their skating push-offs.)

I hope you appreciate how much getting the sticks out of this drill really helps the kids concentrate on their arm and shoulder swings.  As as matter of fact, I have my older guys practice their striding without sticks on a fairly regular basis.  (Oh, as you’ll also notice, some of these little ones are already getting it.  Actually, I just watched that video again, I thought to myself, “Aren’t they cute!!!”  Ya, I things in perspective:  These kids are adorable, but they also want to be taught to be successful.)

I’ve also added a second video from that group (click on the snapshot to the left), this one in slow-motion, so you can see how much of a difference the arm-swing makes in a young skater’s forward movement.

Finally, I can’t say enough about the benefits of holding competitions when working on skills that will ultimately require some urgency in a game.  For example, the group we’re studying now frequently engages in races for loose pucks, with the winner getting a chance to continue on towards the goal for a shot.  (If you click on this link you’ll see an example of that from an earlier post on “Loose Puck Races“.)

By the way, I also have these little guys do other sorts of races, sometimes with a little trick required in the middle.  In one such competition, I find it very appropriate for kids at this particular level to race down the ice, do a belly-flop at mid-course, and then recover as quickly as possible to sprint for an end-mark.

Currently, however, I’m adding a competition to the arm swing thing.  In other words, my kids are engaging in short races — again without sticks — while also needing to pump those arms.

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PS: As always, I love to know what you think. Please comment and even share this article with your friends.

Proper Breakaway Skills

For sure, breakaways are among hockey’s most exciting plays.  That being the case, I’m really surprised at how often I notice these — and related skills — being taught wrongly.  Anyway, hear me out, huh?  I think what is to follow should make sense.

– Dennis Chighisola

Proper Breakaway Skills

Every time I approach this subject with my students or players, I begin by having them envision us holding footraces out in the rink’s parking lot.  That picture planted in their minds, I’ll then ask which runner they’d like to be — the one with his hands in his pocket, or the one allowed to use his hands as he runs.

Of course, it doesn’t take but a few seconds for everyone to agree, that anyone can run faster if he’s able to pump his hands and arms while sprinting.

The reason I raise this point is because I frequently see coaches teaching their kids to hold a puck on their sticks as they race down the ice on a practice breakaway.  The adjacent photo shows what I mean…  The sample player holds his stick in one hand with the puck kept right on his stick-blade, which means that he can really only pump one hand.  If you click on the photo you’ll see a slow-mo video of that youngster in action.  Oh, by the way, I sense that he’s initially doing things the way he’s been taught elsewhere; but, he ultimately starts doing things a little differently when I yell to him.

Again, did you notice that he could initially only pump his left arm, but then he eventually shifted to my way of doing things (I guess you can tell at which point I yelled, huh)?

Now, the next photo pretty much shows what I recommend…  First, I want my players to achieve maximum speed by having both hands free to pump — almost as if they don’t even have a puck (’cause they don’t).  Secondly, my guys don’t really need to control the puck on their way down the ice.  In fact, I’ll suggest to them that, “You and (most likely) a chaser are going to have a footrace to a point just inside the offensive zone, and all you have to do is beat him there and have the puck!”  In other words, there’s absolutely no reason to stickhandle or make dekes on the way down ice; all one needs to do is go straight and have the puck in the end.

And that brings me to the suggestion that a player tap the puck far ahead, and then use both arms to speed towards the puck.  Actually, I’ve studied numerous of my top students — high school players to pros, and I’ve found that the best of them only need to touch the puck three times from about the top of a defensive face-off circle to about the middle of the offensive zone.  In other words, they tap the puck straight towards the net, fly up to it, tap it straight ahead again, fly up to it, and then grab the puck in readiness to attack the goal.  Nothing fancy in between, but everything just aimed at being speedy on a straight line.  Okay, so click on the photo up above to get a sense of what I’ve been saying (and decide for yourself if this isn’t the fastest way to get down-ice).

This next player is a pretty good one, and he’s awfully quick down the ice.  He had a problem on the rush I video-taped, however, which gives me a chance to show you something that often goes wrong on these plays…

Once you (click on the photo to the right and) watch the video, notice that near the end of his rush — after he’s done pretty nicely, this youngster finds the puck almost in his feet.  Purposely, I’ve really slowed the video at the end, just so you can see that my guy is nearly upright.  And, you know he can’t be going at full speed in that posture.  So, the lesson to be learned from this?  A player needs to gain a certain “feel” for tapping that puck ahead — not so far that he can’t get to it, but not so short that it’s going to break his stride.  Again, about three touches of the puck seems to do it, in order to cover the distance I’ve described.

Next, let’s deal with grabbing the puck and attacking the goal…

The photo to the left shows my guy just after he’s picked-up the puck about mid-zone.  Now, I can appreciate both sides of the argument — for carrying the puck the rest of the way out in front of the body or off to the forehand side.  For a lot of years I’d taught the latter, but more recently I think a player can hide his or her intentions better with the puck held out-front.  Again, though, both arguments make some sense, and I think the best answer is that the attacker have an idea of what he or she wants to do in the end.

My final bit of advice is to suggest that a player NOT move his or her body left and right in order to make the goaltender move.  Sure, a player can make head and shoulder fakes, but I don’t advise skating side to side.  For, I believe that the stick (with puck in-tow) can travel faster and farther, and the goaler has to respect that as much as if the attacker moved his body (after all, netminders line-up on the puck, and nothing else).  In other words, if the attacker is able to move the goaltender towards one side with just a wide deke, he or she should be able to move the puck quicker across to the other side than the goalie can react back.

Finally, while I’ve covered a lot here, the one thing I want to emphasize is that long dash towards the far end NOT being slowed by much handling of the puck.  Tap it ahead, fly, tap it ahead, fly…

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Have any questions or arguments with what might be some controversial territory?  You know I really appreciate your Comments!

Reacting to Adversity

Like a lot of adult members, I wear many hats.

For sure, I’m thinking hockey nearly 24/7; that’s what I love, and that’s what I love to immerse myself in.  At the same time, I’m a businessman.  And, whether I like it or not, I can’t keep doing what I really love to do unless I keep succeeding in that area, too.  Then, if there’s something that really keeps me on my toes, it’s the fact that so many hockey people rely on The Old Coach for guidance.

All that said, you might appreciate my need to devour books, manuals, videos and audio programs of all types.  Ya, even when I’m working on a hockey project, there’s a good chance I have a recording of some kind running in the background.  (Multi-tasking is my middle name.)

Of course, the New England Hockey Institute library is something most hockey folks would die for.  I mean, it’s just loaded with all sorts of training manuals and videos I’ve gathered over 40-ish years.  (Actually, a member has recently requested I share with others a list of my favorite hockey books and videos, and I’ve promised to do that here pretty shortly.)

What might surprise you, however, is that I’ve delved as much into the life stories of greats from outside hockey, or even from outside the sports world.  For, there’s something to be said for understanding the likes of famous statesmen, military leaders or businessmen (and women).  In fact, if they’re leaders in just about any field, I want to know how they think and how they function.

And there’s also something to be said for getting a daily spiritual boost — from my well worn Bible, as well as from a myriad of motivational speakers.  Yup, nothing picks me up and gets me going quicker than some good, honest positive talk.

And this all brings me to the subject at hand…  About a year ago I began following a pretty interesting guy on Twitter.  Billy Cox is his name, and his bio describes him as “…one of the most dynamic and entertaining authors and speakers in the world.”  And, as Billy says, his “Goal is to Energize People to Action and Inspire Positive Change!”

Anyway, today I needed a little energizing and inspiration, so I looked-up Mr Cox.  And, once I got into his presentation, I realized how much his words could help a good many of my CoachChic.com friends.  So, borrowed here from YouTube.com is what I think is an awesome video…

– Dennis Chighisola

Reacting to Adversity

( Billy Cox’s video title is “PERFORM BETTER“)

As a final preface to this video, I’m going to suggest that every one of us gets down at one time or another — I mean, it happens to everyone, from business people to parents to coaches to athletes.  And, as I so often share with my grandson, “I think the measure of any great person (or player) is seen in the way he or she reacts in tough times, or in times of adversity.”  (More to say on this at the very end!)

Okay, here’s that Billy Cox video.  And, while he’s obviously talking to a room full of business people here, this speech just as easily could have been staged in your team’s lockerroom or mine….

(If you visit YouTube.com, you’ll find a number of other similarly themed Billy Cox videos.)

Okay, so how do those Three P’s relate to our game of hockey?  Well, here’s my humble opinion:

1. Preparedness – Practice!  Practice!  Practice!  You know, I’m an incessant long-range planner, and I’m always asking those in my charge to look ahead.  Right now, for instance, you likely know about an important tryout that’s coming-up.  Or, there’s something you’d like to achieve by this season’s end.  In either case, you should have a feel for what needs to be done, and you also know exactly how much time you have to accomplish that.  From there, it’s a matter of attacking the long-range goal in small increments.  Ya, just lop those intermediate steps off, or…  Practice!  Practice!  Practice!
2. Persistence – I’ll tell you a funny story…  By the time I was an older teen, I’d failed at countless strength programs.  Ugh.  Then, one day, like out of the blue, I told myself that I was going to stick with a program just to see if all that I’d read really worked.  In other words, I’d read that after about 90-days I was guaranteed results.  So…  Hmmmm…  So, I stuck with that program — six days per week, and I never missed a session no matter what.  I also did all the other things rightly — this time, including sticking to a special diet.  So, what happened?  One night — not even 90-days into that lifting program, another teen spotted me with my shirt off in the gym lockerroom, and he asked me, “What do you do to get such a big chest?”  (Huh?  Is he talking to me?)  Shortly after, while out riding with a bunch of friends, the two guys on either side of me started complaining that my shoulders were taking up the whole back seat!  Ya, I’d realized by then that I’d gotten big — huge, in fact.  So, how did my earlier attempts at strength building differ from the one that worked?  It surely wasn’t the difference in the routines.  No, the reason my earlier tries failed was because I looked for quick gains, and I was too easily discouraged when they didn’t come.  And, the reason the last one worked was because I gave it an honest to goodness chance.  Man was I persistent — and faithful, to the max.
3. Playing the numbers – I like Cox’s stories about Ruth, Edison and Colonel Sanders, each suggesting that those men couldn’t be totally discouraged by setbacks.  So, another quick story…  I attended a special lecture one time when I was in college, this on the art of job hunting.  The guest speaker, a famous author on the subject, made one point clear enough that I still remember it to this day, suggesting to the audience that, a certain number of turn-downs should be expected before we’d likely hear that first, “Yes!”  In the end, he rationalized (and I paraphrase), “Why not get all those turn-downs out of the way so you can hurry to the answer you’re really looking for?”    Just think about that one for a sec…  After all, that’s the way Edison and The Colonel handled such matters!

So, in closing…  If you’re not currently getting the results you want, prepare yourself even better for future tries, be persistent, and play the numbers (as in getting all the setbacks out of the way so you can get on to the good stuff)!

Oh, and speaking of learning about how some of the great minds think, here’s an appropriate quote from General George Patton:

“I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.”

Finally — and since there’s the likelihood we’ll all feel a little discouraged from time to time, why not save this page among your favorites?  I know I’m going to be revisiting that video often.

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If you liked this — or even if you didn’t, I’d love to hear your feedback or Comments!

Coach Kelly’s Hockey Shooting Drill

This won’t likely be the last post on this subject…  Naw, I have the feeling my search for “finishing skills” around the net will be a season-long thing for me (with both my Mighty Mites and my Jr High School Team).

Coach Kelly did kind of get the ball (errrrr… puck) rolling awhile back, however, with his own suggestions.  As Greg offered, “How about pairing up the kids about 1-2 feet from the boards. One of the kids drops 3 pucks in front of the shooter. If they stay close to the boards the pucks won’t travel as far. Of course they can take turns shooting and dropping.

I know you’ve done a similar drill in Lakeville (at the off-ice facility) by lining up three pucks horizontally, equally spaced and close to the boards. But by dropping the pucks instead of having them in-place should make the kids react quickly to the pucks bouncing in all directions.”

I countered with the fact that that was a pretty good idea.

If I have a difficulty with some forms of drilling, it usually revolves around the administrative side of it.  In other words, if it’s difficult to run a drill, not as much gets done in the allotted time, and I tend to cringe at using it very often.

I went on to tell Greg that — like his idea of dropping the pucks, “… we have to find a way to create urgency (like in a game).”

Anyway, I thought I’d show members what I’ve so far done with Greg’s idea.  (FYI…  And this is only a “so far” proposition.  I guarantee the below drills will evolve, perhaps as early as in this week’s practices.)

– Dennis Chighisola

Coach Kelly’s Hockey Shooting Drill

Actually, I believe I’ve shown the drill in this first  clip elsewhere, because it’s one I’ve used a lot through the years.  Mainly, I give the kids a small handful of pucks (no more than about 5, so they don’t lose concentration), and then I ask them to move their hands as quickly as possible in flicking each puck towards an imaginary net.

Practicing out of the way, you’ll hear me in the next video ask the kids if they’re ready for a little competition.   With this, they’ll compete against each other to see which one can shoot all of their pucks the quickest.  So, if you’ll click on the next photo (below), you’ll see a pair racing to get rid of their pucks.

In this third adaptation of what is really the same kind of drilling, I ask a pair of players to ready an odd number of pucks for another competition.  We need that odd puck, because the goal of this game is to see who can get rid of the most pucks, and that single, remaining puck is almost always sort of the tie-breaker.  So again, click on the nearby photo to see how this competition goes.  Oh, by the way…  This pair wanted to arrange their pucks neatly, with the odd puck sitting in the middle of the others.  However, I ultimately suggested that all the pairs of kids just toss their pucks out there in random fashion.  Either way is okay, though.

Oh, and have you noticed that the kids really work when there are some bragging rights on the line?  That’s my fascination with competitive drills like these; the players almost always work harder (or quicker) to beat their buddies. 

Finally — as I mentioned earlier, we expect this form of drilling to evolve in some ways (although I might not yet know how).  It seems to me that both of my current teams are missing-out on a lot of scores because they’re not quick enough around the goal mouth.  So, I’ll suggest that getting more from our efforts is a very worthwhile endeavor.

Creative Training Ideas for Goalers! Part 3

Todd Jacobson is still off with his women’s team at Notre Dame Academy for the next few months.  Of course, that won’t prevent him from occasionally sending us updates, ideas or further insight into goalie training.

In the meantime, my Team NEHI kids keep training, and I’m still here to show you a little of what we’re doing.  And, picking-up from where we left-off in Part 2 of this series, I’m going to show you another step in those 2-puck Drill progressions.

– Dennis Chighisola

Creative Training Ideas for Goalers! Part 3

If you haven’t already, please take a quick run through the earlier post on this topic (”Creative Training Ideas for Goalers! Part 2“).

Now, this particular drill does not employ 2-pucks, but there’s a reason for that…

You see, Todd and I like to bring our players along in slow, do-able steps.  So, all Team NEHI players learn to tumble (forward and backward) when they first join us.  And from there, we can add tons of new and challenging twists.  That said, we had to get the forward roll and finding a ball skills in before going on to the next problem.

In this drill, one goalie tumbles while another lobs a ball to hang in the air just above where the tumbler will arise.  And, a lot like happens in a game, the goaler has to quickly orient himself and find that ball.  Oh, I said “orient” himself on purpose, because a player will get a little disoriented during the roll, which makes it all the harder to find that ball (and maybe even harder than it would be for him in a game).

So, click on the (below) photo for a neat video showing a really into it goalie tackling these problems.

As stated earlier, we have some other progressions to show you shortly.

Can you help with further challenges along these lines?  Todd and I would love your Comments or ideas!

"Controlling" Hockey Drills

I know I’ve mentioned “controlling” drills in the past, but probably haven’t explained that very well.  So, I thought I’d take this brief opportunity to tell you why I do this, as well as describe a few of the ways I manage to accomplish it…

– Dennis Chighisola

Controlling Hockey Drills

To begin, I do find it a little difficult to explain exactly what I mean by “controlling” drills.  In a way, there’s my want to organize certain drills a little differently than other coaches might, this so I can keep my player’s focus on specific skills or techniques, and so that we might positively affect muscle memory.

But, knowing that I still haven’t explained myself well, perhaps a few examples will help you far more:

1) One example is the way you so often see me run shooting drills…

The above photos show members of my two NEHI teams staking claim to their own area along the side boards, and armed with a handful of pucks.  We do this at the start of almost all of our off-ice and on-ice practices, and quite often for a good 10- to 15-minutes per practice.  So, how many shots do you think one of my players takes over the course of a season?  My guess is that the number falls somewhere near 5- or 6-thousand.  Ha, little wonder my kids ultimately shoot absolute lasers!

In contrast, just envision the team that practices shooting by having a player circle, collect a pass from someone, and then head towards the net for a shot.  If he or she is on a normal sized roster, that means an individual player probably has to wait for 14 other skaters in order to have a turn.  And that, at least to me, removes the chance for a player to truly develop muscle memory.  If you think about it, there’s a good chance that my kids will get somewhere in the order of 20- to 30-shots in the time a player working in the other format gets one or two.  And, when it comes to muscle memory, my kids get to gradually adjust their technique as they take one shot after another.

As an aside…  I use many of the traditional attacking drills, including something like the one I just described.  The difference is that I’ll run those kinds of drills for other reasons, or to give my kids the chance to use their newly improved shooting skills in more of a game related context.

2) Just recently I described this drill for enhancing my kids’ ability to tap a puck out of the air and towards the goal (or, in this case towards an imaginary goal).  Done in similar fashion to the above described shooting drill, my players are again close to the boards, and pairs have a handful of pucks at their disposal (see the photo below).

Now, here’s how I sense other coaches might run this drill…  I know that a lot of them would have someone flip a puck — off their stick — so that an attacker could swipe at it.  Worse yet, it’s quite likely that some coaches would have players, one after another, head to the net for their periodic attempt at the play.  (I’m chuckling a bit right now, recalling the player who occasionally asks me why we don’t use the nets.  To which I’ll answer, “Because we have 30-players here, and only 2 nets!” )

My method, of course, assures lots of repetition, and it also assures fairly well placed pucks for our attacker to practice on.

3)  Okay, here’s something I haven’t previously shown you…

In the above photo, one of my hockey school coaches is helping a young defenseman with his 1 on 1 skills.  What the coach is doing is pretending to be the attacker on that 1 on 1.  And, he’s controlling everything about the drill, including the most important aspect, skating speed.  (In other words, he’s keeping the speed under control so that he can do the following…)

Throughout the course of this drill, my coach is talking to the young blueliner — about controlling the gap between them, about keeping his eyes up (not down towards the puck), about pokechecking technique, about angling, and about so much more.

Of course, I’m sure you can picture how this way of doing things so drastically differs from typical one against one drilling.  Actually, I’ll suggest that absolutely nothing is learned if attackers and defenders aren’t closely matched.  Moreover, all too often defenders just continue to reinforce the wrong techniques when working at full speed and just trying to survive the drill.

Finally, I don’t want members to get me wrong here…  As I intimated above, I use all sorts of really great game related drills in my practices, many of them described or shown throughout CoachChic.com.  However, when it comes to working for repetition — and working on the good kinds of muscle memory, I’ll suggest that we coaches really do have to find ways to “control” our drills.

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Can you help Coach Chic and other members?  Your Comments and additional ideas really do add value to this site!

Carrying Our Hockey Pucks

Okay, this might not seem like the greatest tip in the world.  However, anything that makes our jobs easier has to be worthwhile.

If you think about it, a typical youth coach — working with his or her team on the average of only twice per week for thirty-five winter weeks — is going to tote his or her pucks into and out of a rink at least 70-times.  And, while I travel to rinks close to 5- or 6-times per week, just 70-ish trips would get me to looking for a better way.

– Dennis Chighisola

Carrying Our Hockey Pucks

All right, so I’ve suggested that toting our pucks around IS a big deal (at least to me).  The reason I feel that way is that they’re a part of the “tools of our trade”, and it would be pretty awkward to try to run a practice or hold a hockey game without any of those little black (and sometimes little blue) things.

Now, the photo below shows a number of aids, including my rather huge, black practice puck bag.  The reason I need something so large is because I like to carry in the neighborhood of about 70- or 80-pucks, and that thing does the trick.  (I like to figure on at least 3-pucks per skater, which would mean about 45-pucks for a roster of 15-players.  The reason I generally carry more than that is because my high school and junior high kids quite often practice together or on the same ice.)

Why so many?  First, a lot of my drills call for players to use anywhere from 3- to 5-pucks at a time.  Furthermore, I dump all of the pucks on the ice once we hit the ice — and I like them to be spread all around, because I don’t want a player to miss more than a couple of seconds without having one on his stick-blade.  Hey, a given drill might be designed for stickhandling, passing or shooting, and I’ve yet to run a drill called “Look Around The Ice For A Puck”! 

Looking at the photo again, notice my smaller white bucket.  That contains my game pucks.  No, I don’t want to continually dig into the big bag — or carry that humongous thing into the games (if I don’t have to).  So, I keep about 20 “pre-game pucks” in that bucket, plus a couple of newer one if they’re needed for the actual game.

Ah, yes, MY kind of pre-game pucks…  If you’ll notice, there’s a silver colored puck in the fore.  All my pre-game pucks look like that one — painted silver or while on the sides, and left black on the top and bottom.  Mean coach that I am, I want my older goaltenders to have to REALLY focus when they face warm-up shots.  And, nothing is going to cause them to focus more than dealing with pucks that are VERY difficult to follow.  (Ought to make the games seem easy, huh?)

Then, as for the other colored pucks in that display…  A few years ago a friend and assistant coach of mine returned from his USA Hockey Level 5 training with a cute game that calls for kids to deal with a whole bunch of differently colored pucks at once.  Actually, it’s a lot like the games I introduced in “Maybe It’s Time for a New Kind of (Hockey) Practice“, in that different rules can apply to different pucks.  Anyway, I usually have a handful of those spray painted pucks in the back of my SUV, just in case I want to use them at a given practice.  These, like my other pucks, are contained in a different type of carrier, a small net bag.

Oops, that picture of the blue puck reminded me that this season I’m now carrying around a collection of those, because they’re required at my Mighty Mite team’s level.   In the beginning I put those in an inexpensive canvas bag.  But, it took only a few weeks for the constant wetting and drying of that canvas to make it fall apart.

And that thing about a bag falling apart (at the very worst time) brings me to one more point…  Most canvas bags won’t last long (I’ve even tried — and ruined — some very heavy duty ones).  My black bag is a heavy vinyl, and it’s elevated on heavy plastic feet that keep it up off the ice.  Plastic buckets get brittle in the extreme cold, and they fall apart if hit by a puck.  My game bucket never touches the ice, though, since it goes from the lockerroom (where kids grab their own warm-up puck) to the top of the game bench (where the kids each deposit their own puck later).  As for the little guys’ blue pucks?  I think I’m going to get another small bucket for those.  Although it may go on the ice at times, the beginners aren’t nearly as apt to break it with an errant puck.

Oh, as for where I’ve come by these aids…  I stumbled across and purchased about a dozen of those huge bags in the baseball/softball area of a sporting goods store.  (I think they were made for carrying softballs.)  The plastic buckets are free at a local company that makes pastries for area doughnut shops.  I know that some coffee shops also sell them for a dollar or so.  The net bags I use for those odd colored pucks are just small launder bags, and they can be found in any department store.  (I generally buy those by the cartload, because I use them for all kinds of small balls and such, especially up in The MOTION Lab.)

Now, again, to explain myself..  Appreciate that I don’t want to have to bring all the different kinds of pucks into a rink if I only need one type.  Nor do I want to have to sort-out pucks from one large container whenever I only need a few.  So, because these ARE part of the tools of my trade, I really do go to at least some small extremes to carry my pucks around as conveniently as possible.

PS:  Talk about the tools of MY trade, wait until you see what I have to show you next!

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Okay, you know how much I love your feedback (and other members do, too).  So, please add your comments below, and even share with us any ideas you might have in this area!

On Sale: Hockey Skates & Sticks!

ON SALE!

Ya, that’s pretty much what the pitchman said on the radio this morning…

– Dennis Chighisola

On Sale:  Hockey Skates & Sticks!

  The reason I’ve decided to comment on this particular advertisement is because I immediately thought of our buddy, Jerry Z, as I heard it!

Actually, the sponsor was a well known hockey equipment super store, but the message wasn’t really for us serious hockey players, coaches or parents.  Naw, what they were peddling was “pond hockey gear”!  I mean that, and that’s exactly the expression the announcer used: “pond hockey”.  And, as best I can recall, that equipment was/is selling for $40 to $60, or thereabouts.

Now, why did I choose to raise this issue here?  It’s because Jerry owns two pairs of in-lines skates, with one pair being of pretty good quality and the other pair being rather questionable.  (You can go back and see about our previous exchange on Jerry’s sticks and skates by clicking here.)

Okay, I know that sophisticated members usually know exactly what they want when they enter an equipment shop or store.  But I can’t blame any new hockey player or parent from being confused when he or she sees the wide array of products carried by some merchants.  (I suspect that’s what happened to Jerry his first time around.  In fact, why would a new skater even realize that some of the stuff made by a reputable company could be junk?)

Anyway, that’s the point of this article, to help save anyone who might be fairly new to such things.  And, if I had to advise new players or parents of new players, here are a couple of things that come to mind immediately…

1) Even though a company might be known for their high quality gear, there’s the likelihood that they also produce low quality equipment for recreational type players.

2) Most of the pro shops (or those located inside local rinks) primarily carry gear that is more suitable to competitive players.  They may have some lower priced articles for real young players or adult rec skaters, but even that gear should meet player needs for a time.

3) It should make sense for a customer to ask plenty of questions wherever he or she does shop.  Armed with the above information (and loads of other equipment advice distributed here at CoachChic.com), he or she ought to have a better sense of what’s needed before even arriving at the store.

4) All that said, I’m going to share one more thing I’ve noticed…  A lot of the so-called super stores hire athletes to wait on their customers.  That’s the good part.  Perhaps the not-so-good part might be if a family is trying to get “expert hockey help” from a tennis player or swimmer.  This again probably suggests going to a rink pro shop when you need advice.  They’re almost always manned by current or former players, and usually by people who really like what they do.

Blinded by Winning

Man, where has this article — or this line of thinking — been all my coaching life?

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Now, I’m going to bite my tongue (for as long as I can stand it), and let you read this unbelievable piece by Mental Edge’s Shaun Goodsell.  Thereafter, you know I’m going to have LOTS to say!

– Dennis Chighisola

Shaun Goodsell, MA

President and CEO of Mental Edge

Blinded by Winning

As the winter sports kick-off I am preparing for the many questions I will field as teams and individual athletes seek to chase their ideal success.  Athletes, coaches and parents will invest enormous resources of time, energy and money to climb that ladder of whatever they are chasing that defines success. Some will determine success by wins and losses; others will use a post-season appearance or a championship and still others will dig deep to frame success in ways that cannot be defined in visible ways. However each team or individual defines success, there is no doubt there will be ups and downs along the way.  The small successes and disappointments experienced on the journey are significant in dictating the overall success at the end of the season.

Recently, I have been looking for a mental paradigm that can help people look at their season in a way that helps to prepare them and their teams to play better at the end of the season than at the beginning. Here is the challenge as I see it:

For years I have been hearing that each time a team or player sets out to perform they should be their best. Coaches talk about bringing your best game day in and day out. Parents go watch in the hopes of seeing a quality performance and a win. There is no doubt that watching a winning performance is fun and exciting. However, winning can at times blind us to what makes us vulnerable as an athlete and as a team. It is as though chasing the Win becomes the goal instead of seeking to use the contest as a learning opportunity to reveal to us what requires work to make us most invincible at the end of the season. Wins, although important, often blind teams and individuals to vital points of development that if not fixed sabotage teams and individuals from the ultimate goal they may be chasing. What might be true is that a well timed loss or short term disappointment may be more critical leading to success of the team because of the focus it creates on what makes a individual and team vulnerable later on in the season.

We need to value the learning that can occur through points of defeat and disappointment. To do this requires us to lessen our focus on winning and increase our emphasis on learning. Every athlete and team should ask themselves after a win or loss, “What did we learn about ourselves and our team?” Subsequently, “What do we need to do in order to get better in that aspect of the game?” Becoming seduced by the short-term success of a win can alter our ability to learn crucial lessons about ourselves that can be bridges to long-term success. Every moment needs to be seen as part of a bigger picture. Doing this allows learning to be a viable goal each time we perform.

This season consider learning from disappointments and team losses and resolve to use them to improve yourself and your team. You will find that you will elevate your game with this mindset when in the past you had become frustrated and disappointed and missed those vital points of learning that kept you stuck.

At Mental Edge we desire to challenge people to experience breakthrough in their lives by establishing new thinking skills and thought patterns leading to a renewed energy for their lives and what is possible. If you are ready to make breakthrough changes in your life, please call Dawn to take the first step at 763.439.5246!

Until next time, here’s to your possibilities!

Shaun

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Okay, let me begin by saying that a “young Coach Chic” would have taken the “W” over anything else.  Thank God I changed my ways by the time I started working with my second generation of players!

Now, let me tell you a few things that should help validate Shaun’s comparison of wins versus losses (or learning experiences:

1. I started using video-tape back in 1979.  And, back in those days, I had a great dad who followed my high school hockey teams, and he was also really into video.  So, we arranged that he’d tape all the games he could attend, while I spent countless hours studying those tapes.  A funny thing happened very early-on, however.  I discovered that games in which we won big were of almost no value to me.  I mean, it seemed as if only tough opponents really exposed our weaknesses or showed me the things I had to do to help my kids back at practice.
2. By now, members know my penchant for note-taking.  In fact, there’s an entire category here that allows me to share some of the things I record.  Anyway, much like what I discovered from the study of videos, I’ve come to realize that my notepad is nearly blank after an easy win, and it is crammed full whenever we suffer a setback.  Ya, again, it takes a stronger opponent to expose the things we really need to work on.
3. Next, I need to say that a combination of things have helped me become a better coach…  Number One — and what I see as a main part of Shaun’s article — is that This Old Coach has had to be open to learning.  Secondly, and as you should have gathered from the first two points, I’ve needed to face some tougher opponents each season in order to learn or to grow.  (In actuality, I don’t think I’ve have ever arrived at some of my training inventions or training manuals unless I first found I was failing at something.  Ya, think about that one, if you would.)
4. Lastly, I know my players are better today than they were on opening night, mainly because of the very “mindset” Shaun describes.  Thankfully, I have managed to convince my players and (most of) their parents (as well as myself) that “Development comes first.”  If you think about it, “winning at all costs” usually requires shortcuts, or shortchanging players.  You know what I mean:  a coach only skates certain kids in a tight game, he or she arranges lines or defense pairs solely for the sake of winning, or a coach pays more attention to the best players during the practices because they’re the ones who spell “W-I-N-S” for him or her.  On the other hand, I can’t tell you what a relief it is to put development first…  With that, I probably pay a hair more attention to the kids who need to catch-up with the rest of our roster; our practices are mainly dictated by what the kids need for the long-term; I spread my talent evenly over all the lines so that kids are learning from each other; and — until the last minute or so of a close game, I just keep rolling my lines with no regard for the “W”.  (FYI…  I do one thing each week that might seem like it’s for the sake of winning, in that we do have a set powerplay unit for each game.  However, that’s actually used as a reward for practice attendance!)

Finally, as for my comment about “where has this article been all my life?”  Well, I’ve lost a few hockey families through years, mostly due to the fact that I couldn’t convince them that long-term gains were far more important than stats, championships or trophies.  And, while I wish I had Shaun’s article to help sway them back then, I plan on using it to save some future folks in need.

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Double-dare you to argue this one in our Comments area! 

High Intensity Skating Drills – Part 2

As promised (at least to Eric S), here are some video clips of the speed oriented drills I described in the earlier entry (High Intensity Skating Drills).

– Dennis Chighisola

High Intensity Skating Drills – Part 2

In the initial one, my kids work on their forward take-offs by first moving backwards.  As you should notice when watching the video (click on the nearby photo), a shift in upper body momentum is needed in order to start the forward motion.  Also know that I’ve dictated which way the kids should stop — with their skates in a vee, with the right skate or with the left skate.

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The second video happens to show one of my quickest young skaters (an 8th grader).  His technique is first shown in slow-motion, but you can really see how quickly he shifts his weight and moves his feet in the second part shown at normal speed.  (Please click on the second photo to see that video.)

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As noted in my earlier post, I oftentimes allow my players to work on their own when they’re practicing their take-offs.  Yes, I like races at most times, to get the kids really working hard.  At the same time, I’ve found they sometimes cheat in order to win races, and in this sort of drilling that likely means they’d avoid concentrating on technique.  Anyway, clicking on the third photo will show some of my junior high school kids leaping while going backwards, and then immediately (or as best they can) taking-off forward as they land.

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Photo four (and the linked video) isolates another 8th grader executing the latter exercise.  And, as I also said in the previous article, I feel there’s a slight plyometric component to this form of drilling.

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By the way, I go easily with — or limit — jumping exercises like these when it comes to my junior high school kids (or younger ones).  So, at most, such a group will do something like this only once per week.

Finally, I just shot some additional video at our weekly off-ice practice, but that still needs to be edited and doctored for posting here.  I promise to do that soon (as Part 3), because it shows some awesome twists to the above exercises, and I’ll also show you the way my kids work on that earlier noted “towel drill”.

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Be a friend:  EVERY worthwhile Comment really helps Coach Chic and our membership!

WBV Leads to Coach Chic’s “WakeBoard”

Now, I hope you’ve had a chance to read my earlier entry on Whole Body Vibration, because — as I said there, it’s pretty fascinating stuff.  And, as I also intimated there, it sort of sets the groundwork for how I ultimately arrived at my WakeBoard.  So, please do that if you haven’t yet, and then come back and read on…

– Dennis Chighisola

WBV Leads to Coach Chic’s “WakeBoard”

Long before I located an affordable Whole  Body Vibration device, I thought to build one — I mean a really high tech and heavy duty one, and one that might accommodate hockey type movements.

So, I called my brother, Lou, a genius when it comes to inventing any kind of electronic or computerized contraption.  We must have gone back and forth on various ideas for at least a half-hour, until he asked me to do something pretty interesting…

“Dennis, just think about the times you’ve spent fishing out on a small boat,” Lou suggested.  “You sat for most of the day, yet you were totally exhausted when you got home!”

True enough, and we laughed about that — about how I often hurt in places where I didn’t even know I had muscles! 

I thought long and hard about that over the next few days — about the soreness one gets from being out on a nearby pond.  And I began thinking that the movement of the boat — even in the calmest waters — forces a body to constantly wrestle to hold its position.  I mean, I wouldn’t even be thinking about it, but I know that every tiny part of my musculature was working overtime to keep me upright and fairly steady.  (Interestingly, a few days after talking to my brother, I shared the gist of that conversation with a Lab visitor who happens to be the commander of a US Coast Guard ship.  And he pretty much agreed with what I was thinking.)

Next, yet another thing went into my want to create a special gadget…  In studying countless hours of high level hockey play via video, it was quite obvious to me that players are subjected to something pretty similar to what happens in a boat.  In other words, there’s this gut-wrenching of core muscles that goes on throughout any individual player’s shift — with every learn, cut, stop, and with every bump or wrestle with another player.

Furthermore — and while I’m not downplaying the benefits of traditional lifts — like Olympic ones or squats and presses, I realized that hockey players have to exert tremendous force while in a myriad of less than convenient postures.  Doing my best to say that in another way…  A player might make contact with an opponent while leaning x-number of degrees off his or her best squatting posture, and he or she may need to continue resisting or pushing while rocking from forward to back and from side to side.  Actually, I think the same can be said for a player when he or she attempts to execute a high speed skill — like shooting, passing, pass receiving or making wide moves with the puck.  So again, I know that traditional lifts have proven helpful for hockey players; however, they don’t exactly replicate the way our game is played.

In reference to the above, I just had a little fun with some video..  So, clicking on the thumbnail to the right shows one of my former players wrestling with a very light sandbag while some on-ice college players go through their typical on-ice wrestling in the background.  (Okay, the video ain’t great, but I was just having some fun.)

The next photo (to the left) shows what I arrived at as a device for mimicking the frequently changing postures a player might deal with in the game action.  If you click on that photo, you’ll see a former student in The MOTION Lab moving a 10-lb weight in random patterns.  This is just a basic exercise for work on the WakeBoard, but you might envision the unbelievable full body workout that’s taking place here…  I mean, imagine what every leg muscle is going through, not to mention this student’s core and upper body muscles.  Ya, it’s a lot like being on a boat — his having to constantly wrestle with staying steady and erect.  And, while the weight makes it all the tougher, moving the weight around makes it even more so (and more game related, I’ll suggest).

The next photo shows another Lab student using a sandbag.  I’ll cover this interesting training tool in another future entry.  However, I will tell you that, as light as the shown sandbag is, it introduces a challenge beyond the barbell plate, mainly because the sand shifts around within the bag as my guy heaves it all around.  Click on the photo to see that student in action with his sandbag, the earlier guy moving the weight again, and then a close-up of the WakeBoard as it rocks with each movement of the athlete.

Then, two final things…

1) I haven’t totally satisfied the ways I think the WakeBoard can be used.  To date, the exercises I’ve shown surely do work (as do a few Todd Jacobson and I have used with our goaltenders).  However, I sense a lot more things can be done atop that awesome unstable surface.

2) Because I want to continually add value to your CoachChic.com membership, I’m going to include the following sketches in hopes you might be able to build your own version of the WakeBoard.  Dimensions aren’t critical here; as I’m so often heard to say, “It’s the doing that makes a player better!”

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If you have any questions or ideas concerning my WakeBoard, let’s get a conversation going here in the Comments area!

In-season Hockey Strength Training

I’ve had the chance to grow-up through many generations of training approaches, and it’s amazing how things have changed over my 50-ish years as both an athlete and a coach.

I’m actually shaking my head at the atmosphere and thinking that dominated my youth — mainly through the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Back then it was believed that work with weights would slow a skilled athlete.  (Ha!)

Even years later — when elite athletes began seriously training for strength during their off-seasons, a prevailing belief was that the weights should be abandoned as athletes played and practiced during their regular seasons.  Ya, that was the case until some studies were done (within the NFL, I believe) that showed most players “de-trained” or lost body strength during their playing seasons.

With that, most pro sports teams (and other elite athletes) have shifted to “maintenance programs”, or programs aimed at maintaining strength levels over the course of a long regular season.

Then, I love the point Scott Umberger makes below, in that an in-season program will help an athlete take-off from a much higher level once he or she ends the season and heads into the off-season.  So, have a read, ’cause I have a sense this is going to put you far ahead of what most other amateur hockey players know.

– Dennis Chighisola

In-season Hockey Strength Training

Scott Umberger
Umberger Performance LLC

So you have busted your butt to get into shape for camp. You were “jacked” and strong when the season started and you end the season smooth and all sucked out. Maintaining your strength levels are vital to your post season training as well. If your strength levels are down it will take 4-6 weeks to get ready to train hard. If you are “familiar with the bar” by having trained all season, that time can be cut in half.

Here are my thoughts on keeping your weight up and trying to maintain your strength levels throughout the season:

• At minimum you must continue to squat, press (bench, dumbbells, etc), and clean or snatch. I prefer box squatting closer to games (2-3 days before a game) over back squatting, due to the potential soreness from squatting.
• Keep reps on the lower end with these lifts. I’ve slowly dropped the hang clean and squatting reps for my hockey players. We are performing around 5-6 sets for 2-3 reps depending on their game schedules. This will eventually drop to single reps.
• If you feel great on an off week you can go over 75-80% of your pre season maxes. Don’t go crazy here, you aren’t maxing out. I’m simply saying that if you have on off week and you feel great, it’s ok to go a little heavier.
• Don’t start incorporating new exercises that you haven’t done in a while and get out of control with them. If you haven’t lunged in a while, take it easy on the weight and volume (sets and reps) for the first week. The new movement alone will get you sore and you don’t want to be to sore during the season.
• Always perform a dynamic warm up before practices and games. These warm ups really help keep the body working like it should. Let’s face it, skating isn’t a natural movement.
• Make sure that you continue to perform assistance or accessory exercises that maintain wrist/grip strength, ankle mobility and strength, hip mobility, and shoulder mobility and stability.
• Buy and use a foam roller.

This insert is courtesy of Dennis.  Scott and I knew you might not be all that familiar with the foam roller, so I found a few videos on YouTube that should prove helpful…

Although Scott and I can’t necessarily endorse a given foam roller, Scott prefers the shorter one over the longer, because he feels it easily fits into your hockey bag for weekend tournaments, etc.  Anyway, Dennis has done a little of the work for you…  The image on the left (below) is linked to a popular model, while the image on the right takes you to the results I received from a Google search.  (Neither Scott or I have any commercial interest in a certain roller brand, and we even suggest you comparison shop after looking at these)…

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• Do workouts to recover from long weekends. My guys hate life when they walk into Umberger Performance after playing 4-5 games at a weekend showcase. After a complete dynamic warm up they feel a little better. I’ll have them perform a few sets of a barbell complex and they’ll feel much better and on the road to recovery. A barbell complex can be many things…. A typical complex can be a dead lift, Romanian dead lift, push ups on the bar, bent over row, push press, and back/front squat. You can also add some Olympic movements if you prefer. Perform all of the movements until you have gone through every exercise. Perform 5-10 reps for 2-5 sets in a workout. They are tough but they won’t kill you.
• Don’t forget to eat the right food at the right time. Post practice and post game meals are very, very important. Shakes are a great and convenient way to maintain vital nutrients and calories during the long hockey season.

I know the season is long and it’s very hard to stay on top of the things that I’ve just outlined. If you can stay disciplined and maintain a training and eating schedule you will finish the season the strongest and healthiest that you have ever been. Remember that players get “paid” for consistency. Point a game is great production in any league. However, it’s hard to be consistent if you loose 70% of your strength and 10 pounds over the course of the season.

Good luck and shoot me an email if you have any questions,

scott@umbergerperformance.com

Best Regards,
Scott Umberger
Umberger Performance LLC
www.umbergerperformance.com
412-523-0060

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Whole Body Vibration Strength Training

One of the things I’ve promised you, my valued member, is that I’ll do all the long, exhausting research, and then pass my findings on to you.

That said, the following excerpt explains a little side project I’ve been into for about the past 5 or so years.  It’s from an article entitled “History of Whole Body Vibration Technology” (from the website History of Whole Body Vibration Technology).  I’d like you to have a read, because it should introduce you to something that I find absolutely fascinating:

“There’s nothing new about the benefits of whole body vibration technology; it’s been around for over 47 years.  The world first saw its effectiveness when the Russians started winning all the Gold at the Olympic Games in 1960.  Then, they started keeping their cosmonauts in space longer and longer — eventually, over a year longer than we could.   However, the Russians kept the technology of whole body vibration a secret until after the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989.  Therefore, the world didn’t learn the secret to the Russian’s superiority at the Olympic Games or in outer space for 30 long years.  It was one of Russia’s key sports scientists, Dr. Vladimir Nazarov, by experimenting with a vibration system, who began the research of this technology.   Nazarov was an active sportsman, a member of the Soviet gymnastics team and occupied a chair for sports biomechanics at the State College in Minsk.  Finding his experiment a success, he introduced this technology to competitive sports, ballet, and medicine in the former USSR.  The Russian Space Program continues to use the technology — while the cosmonauts are in space — as physical therapy to help the cosmonauts overcome the considerable decrease of bone mass and muscle tone that they risk during extended periods of weightlessness.  After the fall of the Soviet Union, Nazarov’s research on whole body vibration made its way to Europe in the early 1990’s…”

Now, the following YouTube video starts out a little corny, but the guest really knows his stuff about WBV benefits and methods.  So give him a minute, and the be prepared to have your eyes opened to what Whole Body Vibration technology promises do…

If you’re interested, here are the final two videos in that Youtube series…

I actually stumbled across this rather new (to the Western world) strength training approach long ago, from an unrelated Internet search.  And as I soon discovered, all sorts of Whole Body Vibration (WBV) machines are currently available.  Professional models can go for well over $10,000, these made for heavy duty use in busy sport clubs, etc.  I actually managed to eventually find and purchase a smaller, far less expensive type more suited to individual or small group use.

Now, I’m not really here to promote this form of training; again, I find it fascinating, and I love the workouts I get from my machine.  However, there are as many studies out there downplaying the benefits of WBV as there are supporting it (so it’s up to you to decide if it’s right for you or your player/s).  Also, while I personally think there’s a huge difference — in the way exposure can be governed and in the way settings can be controlled, we’re all likely aware of the potential for injuries from overexposure to driving heavy equipment or operating some vibrating machines.

So, why have I posted this particular entry — if I’m not really promoting it?  It’s because I needed a way to set the groundwork for my own invention.  For, as you’ll soon discover, my “WakeBoard” came about because of an interest in Whole Body Vibration technology.

Look for that article and related videos to appear here very shortly.

"Bunting" the Hockey Puck

Okay, by now you probably know I like to be descriptive — or maybe colorful — when it comes to hockey technique.  That’s the teacher in me, really.

I’ve done that with the following skill because I want my players to picture a given kind of movement as they practice.  But then, you’ll see…

– Dennis Chighisola

“Bunting” the Hockey Puck

From the first photo you can probably already guess that I’m talking about my players learning to tap the puck out of the air and into the goal.  And, you might also guess that I use the “bunting” tag because I want the kids to think of the movement as a rather short rap at the puck, not a wild swing.

Also, you might notice from the way I set-up this drill (and numerous others) that I like to have control.  In other words, players needn’t be moving all around or dealing with pucks that aren’t placed right in a good area to practice with.  In fact, the way I arrange this and a lot of other drills ensures my kids get far more repetitions than do players I see in other practice formats.

The Basic Drill……….From the picture you should see how I like to organize this drilling…  Pairs of players are very close to the boards, with one partner kneeling and holding about 3 or 4 pucks.  That “feeder” must take care to lob the puck –  between waist-high and chest-high, so that the “bunter” can practice tapping the puck towards an imaginary net.

Now, you can click on the photo to see a short video of that pair in action.  These are actually two pretty good young players, yet the one doing the bunting is achieving so-so results.  You might also notice that he needs reminding to shorten the stroke, and to be sure to keep his stick down.

Batting the puck out of the air (or a regular basis and with some accuracy) really is a skill.  And, as such, it should be practiced often.  Also, I’ll suggest that all the tricks players do with a ball or puck — like keeping it balanced in the air for a good length of time — will also help with stick dexterity.

A More Game Related Drill……….The set-up in the next drill is exactly the same as the previous one.  This time, however, I’m going to have the bunter jog in place as he attempts to bat pucks towards an imaginary goal.  The purpose is to get my players moving and to cause their hands and eyes to bounce a little, thereby making the focus and contact with the puck a little more difficult.  I say this form of drilling is more game related because — in a game — players only get a quick glimpse at the puck and only an instant to swipe at it, and they don’t get any time to really focus their eyes are pretty their posture.

That said, you can click on the second photo to see some players jogging in place and attempting to bat (or bunt) the puck out of the air.  (By the way, we could create similar game-like conditions by having a player step back and forth over a low obstacle, or by having him or her spin a different way just prior to each toss.)

Now, having seen the two videos, I’ll bet you know how you’d have corrected the youngsters who appeared in them.  I give them credit for just starting to learn that skill.  However, I think we can see where they made some nice “bunts” or where they swung a little too wildly, and we can both likely recognize when they needed to carry their stick a little lower.

Finally, and as I suggested previously, this really is a skill.  And, as such, it requires lots of practice.

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I would love your Comments or thoughts!

Error Recognition & Awareness

One of our outstanding strength coaches and good friend, Jason Price, wrote this piece for Athletes Equation, and it does have a slant towards strength training.  However, I’d like players, parents and coaches to look at it more from a “player’s” perspective — in other words, as this same line of thinking might apply to correcting hockey skill-type errors.  So, give it a try, huh?  I think you’ll see what I mean…

– Dennis Chighisola

The Difference between Error Recognition & Awareness for Athletes & Coaches

Jason Price, MS, CSCS, ATC, CPT, USAW Club Coach

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When coaching athletes in drills and lifts, one key point that I try to get the individual to understand is the difference between just recognizing their technical error and truly becoming aware of the error. In his book “The Inner Athlete” Dan Millman describes this difference very eloquently:

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“There is a great difference between recognizing an error.. and accepting an error as an error — an acceptance that implies full responsibility for correcting that error. Full awareness implies willingness to change, and we may not be ready to do that.”

As a coach I can’t make an athlete correct an error. I can only direct them towards making the correction. It is easy for an athlete to say they understand or recognize an error taking place. But, it isn’t until they are fully aware of the error that they can correct it.

So, why is understanding this difference between recognizing errors and becoming aware of errors important for coaches and athletes? It is because ultimately it is up to the athlete to make the correction, not the coach. The coach can only teach proper technique or how to do a skill; they cannot “make” the athlete do it correctly. Making errors and mistakes is what athletes must do to learn, grow and improve. But the athlete must want to understand their body and what they are asking it to do.

An example of this is one of the simplest drills in the weight room. The Romanian Deadlift (or stiff legged deadlift) is a simple exercise which requires only movement at the hip while stabilizing the other joints involved. Seems simple, but wait, because it is actually one of the more difficult exercises to coach. Simply, it’s because many individuals are not aware of what their body is doing. They think they are doing one thing and then they do something completely different.

This is where understanding the difference between error recognition and awareness comes into play. Coaches mostly recognize errors and flaws in what is being asked of the individual. That is what we do. But, how many coaches try to teach awareness?

Now this may not be appropriate for all levels of coaching. For the personal trainer, strength coach, athletic trainer, physical therapist and some sport coaches this is exactly what is missing from their instruction on some drills. If an athlete just doesn’t seem to get it and you are hammering home the same points, change it up. Put it on their shoulders to truly become aware of what they are doing. If the athlete or individual doesn’t understand they are making an error, they can’t become aware. Again, using the Romanian Deadlift example, my goal as a coach is to try to make the person aware when they don’t move at the hip or don’t fully stabilize. I can tell them all I want what they did wrong. However, unless they are aware they won’t make the correction.

So next time you are coaching a drill or exercise, instead of focusing on telling individuals what they are doing wrong and how to correct it, ask them what they are aware of, or that they are doing. Ask them how it feels for them try to make the correction without you having to tell them or position them over and over. Yes, this may take a little longer at first, but it will save you time in the long run.  For, as the trainee or athlete learns this skill, they will be ready to be aware of what they are doing as they are learning any new skill.

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Be a friend:  EVERY worthwhile Comment really helps Coach Chic!

High Intensity Skating Drills – Part 1

The following question was submitted by member Eric S.  It’s a good one, but it can be difficult answering long distance (or without being able to actually see where his players are at a given time).

Nonetheless, I do know that Eric works with a fairly talented teen group, so I’ll approach things from that perspective.

– Dennis Chighisola

High Intensity Skating Drills

Q: Eric states that, “We always spend the first 7-10 minutes on the ice having our boys run some high intensity skating drills without pucks. Currently we have them run overspeed circles, once forward, once backward and once transitioning @ the hash marks. Then they do two sets of iron crosses and then one other high intensity start/stop drill that we developed. They have been doing these for about 3 weeks and we want to replace one of the drills with a new one every few weeks to keep things fresh. Can you suggest a few other drills of this nature that we could incorporate?
Thanks, Eric”

A: First, Eric, when you say that you do these rather intense exercises in the first minutes of a practice, I’m trusting that effective (and long enough) warm-ups are done prior to the hard skating.  As you’ll read in some of what Scott Umberger and I have said, (other than the obvious injury prevention) more growth is gained from a workout if the muscles are properly warmed.

Continuing on that first point for a moment…  Members might like to know that I begin most skill oriented practices with drills that need to be done slowly, and ones that tend to enhance skating technique.  So, instead of using specific warm-up exercises on the ice, I kill two birds with one stone by having my guys do useful drills at a gradually building intensity.

Now, as for some drill suggestions, I’ll first remind Eric to refer occasionally to my video on “29 Must-do Advanced Skating Drills“.  A goodly number of the exercises shown there would likely suit your needs.  You might also check the few entries I’ve done in reference to speed training or over-speed training for some really good tips.

Then, a couple of things come to mind for specific drill ideas…

- It sounds like you’re attempting to satisfy my first suggestion.  I mean, remembering that players need to be able to go quickly in four different directions (forward, backward, and in both lateral directions).  My “2-step Drill” (shown in the above linked video) is a great one for lateral work.

- What I like to do with those directional drills is to also incorporate quick changes in direction.  For example, if I want my players to work at quick, short forward bursts, I’ll begin the drill with the players first skating backwards, then breaking and shifting their weight to go forward.  Sometimes we coaches will run races and oversee the drill with whistles or voice commands.  However, a lot of the time I’ll let my older players work on their own.  In other words, I’ll tell them what to do, and then I’ll allow them to do the drill in their own area (which frees me and the other coaches to move among them and to offer tips or feedback).  Again, these can be done in all four directions, with the players beginning with a movement in the opposite direction.

- Now, I only do this next one with my older guys (because it’s pretty stressful).  Actually, it’s the same kind of drilling I’ve just described, but with a plyometrics component added.  For example, adapting the drill I just explained…  My players will start skating backwards, but then they’ll jump in the air and immediately dash forward upon landing.  Again, it’s pretty stressful, but it’s also pretty effective.  And it can be adapted to use in all directions.  (I’ll try to get some video of this form of training later this week and attempt to update this entry — or do a follow-up one — as soon as I can.)

Oh, by the way…  When left to their own devices, most players will turn towards a favorite side to do their stop and take-off.  Knowing this, I dictate ahead of time how they will stop — with a vee, turned to the right or turned to the left.

- Oops, one more great one just came to mind…  By now, I’m sure you know how I like to adapt ideas from other sports.  Such is the case with a sprinting exercise called “The Towel Drill”.  In the gym or on a track, one sprinter has a towel around his or her waste, while a partner holds the ends of the towel to provide resistance against a short run.  Part way through that brief but intense sprint, the partner lets go of one towel end, thereby letting the runner really burst out.  (I tend to think there’s an over-speed component to going from lots of resistance to no resistance.  ???)  I like to use this drill both off-ice and on.  And, when we’re on the ice, I have my guys hold their mates’ jersey-tails instead of using towels.

Come to think of it, the above drill could be adapted to accomplish a little striding technique work as Jerry Z is shown doing (using a bungee rope) in a recent video (click here).

Finally, Eric, I like the fact that you are attempting to rotate drills (much like I’ve also described elsewhere, or a lot like strength trainers use in “periodization”).  Hopefully these few tips get you started.  However, if there’s anything more specific you’d like me to deal with — or a drill you might want me to invent for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.  Good luck!  (Oh, I just remembered to ask:  When are you going to send me some video footage of that “high intensity start/stop drill” that you developed?  I know I’d love to see it, and I’ll bet others would, too!)

This PS to my members:  Something evidently has (at least on occasion) gone wrong with the submission of questions.  I mean, they sometimes aren’t immediately relayed to me as they should be.  So, if you don’t see your question dealt with in a day or so (and I should answer that quickly), please email me.  I really want those questions, and I especially don’t want anyone to think that I’m not responsive due to some technical snafu.

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Be a friend:  EVERY worthwhile Comment helps me in the search engines!

On Lopsided Hockey Scores

Today’s entry is just sort of a muse on my part…

You see, besides being an incessant not-taker, I also clip and save a lot of little bits of information from the nightly newspaper or from other on-line sources.  These usually contain ideas I either want to explore more for my coaching, or they’re on subjects I might like to comment on here at CoachChic.com.

Such is the case with a news clipping that just fell from my notebook…  It’s a beauty, as you’ll discover, and something I’d at least like for you to ponder.

– Dennis Chighisola

On Lopsided Hockey Scores

Okay, hold onto your hat as I tell you the headline on an article I long ago clipped from the local Brockton (MA) Enterprise newspaper.  For, it reads:

“An 82-0 score… in hockey”

Yup, you read that right!  And the article begins by saying, “With more goals than minutes in the game, Slovakia’s women’s ice hockey team claimed an amazing 82-0 victory over Bulgaria in Olympic qualifying.”  It further states that Slovakia outshot their opponents — yikes, 139-0!

Now, I know you and I are going to have very different views on that game’s outcome.  I mean, I can image you being outraged that a team would pound on another squad like that, especially if you’re from North America.  Ya, it only seems that we in North Americans get bothered by lopsided scores — I mean, as if a team is trying to run-it-up.  On the other hand, I’ve noticed a lot of really out of whack scores abroad (although none probably as bad as that one), and I don’t think I ever got the sense that the losers felt insulted.

That said, let me offer some thoughts of my own here…

To begin, I thought the idea of a game was for two teams to go out and play to the very best of their abilities.  ???  And, if that’s the case, why should one feel insulted by that game’s outcome?  Again, it’s just two teams playing as hard and as skilled as they can.  From there, you win some and you lose some, and you sometimes either win or lose by a wide margin.

Oh, I suppose that we could enter a game with the idea that we’re only going to play our best if we’re evenly matched or inferior to the other team.  (Wanna read that one again?)  But, somehow that just doesn’t sound right (does it?).  In a way, however, that seems to be the North American mentality:  Only play your best if the game is close or if you’re losing.

If you think about it, a team (or at least a youth hockey team) practices all week to ready for an opponent.  And, pretty likely their hope is to beat the other team with the skills and tactics they’ve learned to that point.  So, what a downer it is — or would seem to be — if a team discovers that it has to play other than it’s very best.  In a way, it almost seems a waste of time (as in, how can we NOT score today?).

Actually, my sentiments are very much like the Slovakian coach, Miroslav Karafiat, who is quoted as saying, “We took it as training.”  Yup, there is nothing better for a team than to get to practice against just a slightly less than equal amount of resistance.  We coaches do this all the time in our practices (perhaps having a shorthanded group play with their sticks reversed so that our powerplay unit’s plays work a little easier than usual).  It’s one way to build confidence in what our players are trying to learn.

Now, I’m not saying that there aren’t times when a lopsided game isn’t badly mishandled by the stronger team’s coach or individual players.  For sure, they can do or say or act in ways that are degrading to the losing side.  But, to be upset because the stronger team keeps playing hard doesn’t seem right to me.

As a matter of fact, many years ago I tried doing off-the-wall things in an attempt to not run-up a score.  And, I ended-up discovering several problems with this…

First, an opponent can be all the more embarrassed if the superior team overtly tries to hold back on the attack.  Secondly, I’ve actually seen some of my teams have difficulty getting untracked in subsequent games after I’ve made them do some odd-ball things.  Thirdly, there is a huge danger in players getting hurt when they’re too relaxed, or not playing with full intensity.  (I think pro teams in most sports feel the same about this one, so they oftentimes pull their regulars at some point.  Of course, I don’t think it would be fair — or even possible — to bench a youth team’s best players once a game gets out of hand.)

Of course, it’s my hope that no member takes me wrongly about all this.  I usually hate being on either end of a lopsided game.  However, if we’ve come to play, we ought to let the kids do it to the best of their abilities.

Actually, I’ve experienced both sides of this as a coach over the past two weeks…  In our big win, I looked for my kids to polish certain areas of their game in preparation for more difficult opponents.  In the one where we got trounced, I used a goodly number of our mistakes (or shortcomings) as “teaching moments”, and I also gathered a boat-load of notes from which to help my kids further at coming practices.

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Okay, no fairs sending firebombs to my NEHI PO Box!    At the same time, I really would like to hear your impressions on this topic!

Maybe It’s Time for a New Kind of (Hockey) Practice

By Dennis Chighisola

Last week I lightened the training for my NEHI High School Prep guys.  Hey, they were in good enough shape (actually, better than good enough), so I just wanted to keep them working some without risking a last minute injury or sending them off to their respective school team tryouts being either physically or mentally drained.

We did plenty of puck work and shooting at our last on-ice skills session, and our last mid-week X’s and O’s practice has traditionally been a fun oriented intra-squad thing I call our Red vs White Game (involving both high school and junior high members).

So, what should we do with our very last get together — the weekly off-ice training session?  Well, over recent years it’s become another tradition that we play all sorts of crazy games, many of these while the kids wear their in-line hockey skates and other gear.  Oh, by the way, the key word in that last sentence is “crazy”. 

Ya, I want everything to be a little off-the-wall.  It just makes sense — to get the guys laughing and feeling loose, while at the same time giving them an opportunity to work-up a good sweat.

Anyway, using the tools at our disposal (like a roller hockey rink complete with hockey nets and even four basketball nets), I organize games of soccer, basketball, and European handball.  Of course, that’s nothing; the real reason the kids laugh so much is that we often have a couple or three games going on at once.  Yup, I might have a b-ball game taking place across the rink, with the handball or soccer game (or both) going on lengthwise while using the hockey nets.  And, if I think the kids need to be shaken-up a bit more, I might tell them that they can play in either game once we get underway.  In other words, a player might be defending in the soccer game, and suddenly take-off with the basketball that just bounced his way.

In effect, there are few rules, no rules, or whatever rules might pop into my (sometimes pretty sick) mind.

With that, click on the photo to see a brief video showing my older and younger teams mixed in a warm-up game of basketball on in-lines.  (Things would get a little crazier after this footage was shot.)

First, I must say, thank God my guys are hockey players, ’cause they sure are terrible b-ballers!

Secondly, though, while I know my friends here come from all ages and levels, and that you’re not all headed towards high school tryouts, I’m really telling you about this for a very different reason.

You see, things can get pretty stale over the course of a long winter.  In fact, the kind of boredom I’m suggesting has a way of sneaking up on us coaches (or parents), with our kids starting to suffer the effects without us even noticing.

So, my real point here is to suggest that we — coaches, at least — look for ways to shake things up before boredom has a chance to rear its ugly head.

Oh, understand that I absolutely hate to waste a minute of valuable practice time.  At the same time, it might be wise to do something a little off-the-wall once in awhile in order to make the next practices all the more effective.

Now, I’ve mentioned elsewhere about using basketballs and soccer balls to practice our breakouts and powerplays.  I’ve done that at times, however, in order to get my kids to be more creative (than they would be with a puck), and to encourage them to think more about the overall principles of our given plays.  Still, here’s an even better idea…

From my long ago Soviet studies, I learned that their hockey teams often engaged in versions of soccer and basketball during the off-season, with these games played mostly by hockey rules.  So, for example, we might choose to have our kids play soccer, but this would be done with five free moving players per side — plus a goalie, and to include rules like off-side and icing.  I can envision even giving extra points if a team is able to execute something we’ve been working on lately (maybe like a regroup or a face-off play?).  Even special teams play could be included, huh?

My point, really, is that a mental break is needed every so often.  And, I’ll also suggest that there is a lot to be gained in the learning process if our players get the chance to mix their hockey tactics with some other form of play.

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Be a friend:  EVERY worthwhile Comment really helps Coach Chic!

One Way to Improve Your Hockey Skating at Home

As you might recall, a big part of the reason I took-on Jerry Z (as sort of a private project) was that I felt this would greatly help you.  Of course, Jerry has said that our work together has also helped him plenty.

My reason for raising that point again is that the following should give you further insight into the ways I study a player (or players), as well as how I tend to arrive at given solutions.  Ya, I think it should help both beginners and advanced folks if you can follow this old coach’s thought processes.

– Dennis Chighisola

Improving Your Hockey Skating at Home

Now, I’d like to begin by showing you a fairly recent clip of our friend moving around the roller hockey floor.  (Understand that there’s virtually no difference in the way I view an in-line skater versus an ice hockey player.)  So, please click on the first photo (to the left) and watch that video before going on.

From my viewpoint, Jerry is miles from where he was when we first met.  He actually doesn’t do badly moving around that floor nowadays.  Still, my old but experienced eyes tell me there’s more that can be done to enhance his movements.  And, in this case, I’d like you to watch that video again — this time concentrating on the slo-mo part at the end, to see if you can notice how his arms and legs are still just a little bit out of sync.

With that hopefully established, there’s something else at play here, and it’s something I think should help other skaters even more.  You see, between our conflicting schedules (that make it hard for us to meet often) and the onset of winter here in New England (which undermines his outdoor training), Jerry is going to have to lean more and more on practicing indoors, at home, and in fairly small areas.  So, as I just suggested, there might be some things you can borrow from what we’re now doing.

Okay, as we get into my trying to help sync Jerry’s movements, please click on the next photo (below) and keep referring to this video for awhile…

It begins with him working with my Skater’s Rhythm-bar in The MOTION Lab.  (Even better than video, the large mirror he’s using throughout this clip should give Jerry instant feedback.)

Now, over time, the R-bar will help loosen a skater and bring him or her into sync.  So, that’s the point of my sticking with that form of training, as well as incorporating some of the things shown in the next parts of that clip.

Actually, as I was shooting that segment with the Rhythm-bar, I noticed that Jerry was still too tight or too rigid.  So, I had him set aside the bar, and I asked him to just try to relax (be kind of “loosey-goosey” is how I put it).  If you can appreciate it, any tenseness is going to rob Jerry — or any skater — of valuable energy.  Oh, for sure a player has to do some things forcefully as he or she skates.  At the same time, clenching the hands or tightening the upper body for no reason is definitely not good.

Lastly in the above video is a clip that shows Jerry wearing a weighted vest and jumping laterally for a short distance.  Of course, skating isn’t just about the legs, and it isn’t just about pumping the arms or shoulders.  No, skating is a full body motion  (or at least it is if one wants power and maximum efficiency).  And that’s what we’re attempting to work on with Jerry doing that jumping exercise.  If you’ll notice, he didn’t really put it all together in his first trip down the floor.  However, I think my giving him a mental picture — telling him to “really coil-up” — helped him look really good on his next attempt.

So, that’s about where we were early last week when Jerry visited the Lab again.  And, still looking to pull everything together for him, I adapted a drill I normally use with my fairly advanced players, this incorporating the bungee cord I described in a recent post (”New England Hockey Recycles!“). Now, if you click on the photo to the right, you’ll see Jerry doing that lateral jumping movement again, but this time supported by the bungee.  In reality, I’ve asked him to jump for a point just a little ahead, this to create some tension in the rope.

For your sake (and so Jerry can see), I’ve also included a slow-motion version of the above video.  Clicking on the final photo you should notice how the rope’s supporting him is probably helping to sync the movements (or it’s probably making it easier for him to move in the right way).  That said, there’s one more point…  Like all relatively new skaters (and some more experienced ones), a good knee bend is a problem.  I mean, I’ve probably sounded like a broken record to Jerry through these past months, constantly reminding him to sit low, or bend his knees.  However — and maybe it’s because he’s working against a little resistance, but it surely looks to me as if he IS bending his knees a little more in that video!

Finally, that bungee skating approach truly is effective — for working on mechanics or form, and it can be adapted to enhance strength and/or conditioning for more advanced skaters.  As I’ve explained in the earlier linked article, it’s really easy to make your own training device, and the materials can usually be obtained at no cost.  Of course, as with all training devices, safety should be your first concern.

Now, I’m always worried that a more sophisticated member might discount things like I’ve noted above.  That in mind, let me tell you about something that came to mind as I was writing this piece…

Years ago I used to frequently cross paths with local NHL scouts.  Back in that time, I happened to read about a young tough guy who was borderline in making the jump from a minor league roster to the big club.  The knock on him:  His skating wasn’t up to NHL caliber.

Actually, I’d seen that player skate a few times, and I knew that his problems weren’t unlike those I’ve described above.  Sure, that guy was only one notch away from the big time.  But, that’s the point I’m trying to make here, in that very experienced skaters can have similar problems to near beginners.  And, I can tell you that that out-of-sync thing is exactly what was holding the young pro back.

Well, to finish the story…  I called the scout associated with that kid’s team, and I offered to square away his skating stride.  The scout answered, “That would be great, but we just traded him (to wherever)!“ 

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Your Comments are truly welcomed here!

New England Hockey Recycles!

Here’s a huge (<= SMILE) right off the bat!

Actually, as Jerry Z and I were standing outside my office after a session in The MOTION Lab, I could tell he was amused by my stories about making some of the training devices I use.  So, while I’m preparing to show you a pretty good drill for working on the skating stride in an off-ice setting, why don’t I share a few of those “recycling” stories with you.

– Dennis Chighisola

New England Hockey Recycles!

Shortly I’m going to be posting some video clips of Jerry training in the Lab.  In those, you’ll see him using an easily made device that really helped him with his striding.  The gist of this article, however, is about some of the devices I use regularly — either in the Lab or out training at the rinks.

Bungee Ropes……….Actually, this whole thing started when Jerry asked me where I got the bungee-like material we used that night.  So, I told him that the late-John Cunniff was a good friend.  For those who don’t remember John, he was a former NHL player (for a long time with the Hartford Whalers), and he was later a coach with both the Boston Bruins and several US National Teams.  Anyway, John gave a presentation in the Boston, MA area many years ago, and one of the gadgets he showed was something I believe he said he’d learned about from the Soviets.  In effect, it was a long bungee-type rope anchored at one end and tied around a player’s waist at the other.  With that, the player gets to work against the resistance of that large elastic for a time.

Now, a lot like this old coach, John wanted to impress upon all the other coaches in attendance that good training gear doesn’t have to cost a lot.  So he passed his bungee apparatus through the audience, pointing out that it was nothing more than a bunch of bicycle tubes strung together.

That was a long time ago, and long before folks were really into recycling such stuff.  What I’ve discovered in recent years was that my local bicycle shop is thrilled to get rid of as many old tubes as they can (my guess is that they actually have to pay to have discarded materials like that removed).  I still have boxes of these up in the Lab, I give them to my players or students when they visit, and I gave an arm-full to Jerry so that he could continue his training back home.

Tow-trainers, et al………. Talking about recycling rubber products, and about merchants being thrilled to unload such things…  Last month I showed you Jerry working with my version of an off-ice and on-ice sled I dubbed the Tow-trainer (and I also provided plans to build your own in the *Gift section).

Well, a lot like bike shops and those inner tubes, I found that the local automobile service station is just as excited to get rid of old, worn tires.  Yup, just ask, and I’m sure a mechanic will point you towards a pile of them.

By the way, I’ve used tires for a lot more than as towing devices…  I store a set of very large tires outside our off-ice facility so that my players can twist and heave them — from the left side and the right, as a means of strengthening their shooting muscles (click here and view this article to see what I mean).  In several other areas of this site I’ve either shown or mentioned my players passing metal or plastic weights so that they get a sense of how to generate good force into their sweeping motion.  However, I have on occasion substituted very small tires (the kind used on small off-road vehicles).  And again, the guys at the local recreational vehicle shop are usually happy to unload a trunk load of those.

Tumbling Mats………. Now, I have a lot of nice, clean tumbling mats in The MOTION Lab.  However, once I decided to have my Team NEHI guys train — indoors and outdoors — at our off-ice practice facility, I also decided to look elsewhere for mats.  No matter where my teams use them, they take quite a beating.  Furthermore, I didn’t want to have to cart mats back and forth between the Lab and the athletic club.

So, thinking long and hard, I ultimately decided to ask a local carpeting installer if I might have any padding he was going to toss-out.  And, while I suspect that the thick rubber material left over from their installation projects is more valuable than old tires or tubes, the store manager was great about supplying me a huge section to take home.

What I did from there was to spread the big piece on my lawn, mark it into smaller sections, and then cut it so I have about 8 good sized mats.  Oh, and while I worried about wear and tear on professionally made mats, that original set looks the same today as it did about 5-years ago.

Now, those are the three types of gadgets I mentioned to Jerry the other night, although I’m guessing I own a whole lot more training aids that have been fashioned from recyclable materials.  (I’m sure I’ll show more as we use them.)

But, there is one last, HUGELY important point I want to make here, and it’s a major reason why I like to use low cost — or no cost — material…  As I’ve said countless times elsewhere, I hate long lines, and I hate seeing my players standing around waiting their turns at a given station.  So, I need a lot of gadgets to run my kind of workouts.  And, while I might not want to invest in something like 4 or 8 professional sleds, I am willing to spend a warm summer day in my backyard making Tow-trainers (or whatever).

Finally — and I’m guessing my old friend John Cunniff would suggest the same if he was around today, in that, “Fancy gear doesn’t make you better; using it does!”

I truly appreciate your Comments!

Off-ice Hockey Tactical Practice

Now, before coaches of older players see the below photo and think this is all about beginner hockey, I want you to know that I have some very important tidbits to share with advanced folks at the end of this piece. And, while the early part of this IS about teaching little ones, I think those who work with Mites through at least Pee Wees ought to seriously consider slight adaptations to what I’ll offer here…

– Dennis Chighisola

Off-ice Hockey Tactical Practice

If you don’t know by now — that I’m a huge fan of off-ice training, I guess you never will. I especially like to teach a lot of my playing system away from costly ice-time… I mean, I could talk about things like slot coverage or a given breakout move for a good 20-minutes, and that doesn’t require ice.

Actually, I can be a little flip when I hear a coach complain about his lack of practice ice-time, quite frequently answering with, “I’d like to think I could get the job done in a dawgoned closet!”

Okay, maybe not in a closet. But, I surely can teach in a parking lot, in the rink runway, or even in a tiny lockerroom.

Take, for example, my recent need to teach face-off positioning to my very young Mighty Mite team. These kids had never played a game before this past month. So, I encouraged our team parents to have their youngsters watch the “Learn Hockey – with Coach Chic & Chomper” video (a kzillion times).

I next took the team to a lockerroom where a face-off circle had already been drawn on the floor (see the adjacent photo). I’ve previously mentioned how water-based spray paint can be used on the ice for special marking, while large sticks of chalk prove awesome for marking on the rink’s dark colored rubber mats.

Now, please click on the second photo (below) to see a short video of my kids learning to line-up for face-offs. I’d like you to do that now, so you’ll have a better sense of what I’m about to explain or describe.

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Okay, I’m guessing that this is about our 4th time holding such an off-ice session. In the first few it took awhile for the kids to locate the five face-off spots.

Until the day this video was shot, we didn’t pay any mind to the names of the positions. (Hey, one small thing at a time.) However, now that it’s time to identify those spots, I’ve decided to stick to just one per week. And – just like I’m doing in the video, I’ll be hammering and hammering at just one (actually two terms on this day, “center” and “center-man”). The kids need that, you know –- my repeating the term and their having to constantly say it.  For, only in that way will it become a regular part of their hockey vocabulary.

Notice how I’m also able to slip-in some applicable rules – like only the center being allowed inside the circle, as well as the one about “hash marks” separating opponents.  (The kids learned that from Chomper and me — LOL!)

By the way… You might be startled by my seeming yelling at/to the kids. But, they’ve learned to giggle when I do that, and not take the gruff voice seriously at all.

As for the future…

Next week I’m going to keep reviewing the center position, and introduce two “wings”. Ya, I’ve thought about that for awhile, and few of these kids know their left from their right. So, I asked our parents to have the kids watch that movie more (that helps with the left/right issue), and to also see if they can teach their kids at home. As I explained to them, “Knowing left from right is going alleviate lots of future frustrations.”

So again, I’m just going to ask kids to identify the two wing (or “winger”) spots without them having to tell left from right right now. The next week they should be ready to learn where two “defensemen” line-up.

Oh, by the way… Notice our young goaltender in the background of that photo (in a gold jersey). He’s positioned there to orient our kids. Knowing he’s there, skaters can also tell me that we’re attempting to score on an imaginary net located at the opposite end of the ice (or room).

Believe it or not, shortly after the camera was turned-off, I moved the goalie to the other end of the room. Oh, I saw a few blank stares with that — at first. However, within a minute or so the kids were able to line-up facing in the other direction. (Gotta love it, huh?)

FYI… Notice who else is learning the game here. I mean, when we’re dealing with very young players, doesn’t it make sense that their parents know at least as much about the game as the kids do? You bet!

I hope to later show you some video of the way I teach off-sides to first-time players. My kids don’t need to know that for the first few months of their season, but they will need to know down the line. Anyway, what I’ll do is draw one line on the floor (per coach), and then have a coach walk with a ball or off-ice puck while a little guy approaches the line with the coach. The coach might delay crossing the line at times, which requires the player to also hold back. At other times the coach will quickly get the ball on-side, allowing the player to enter the imaginary zone.

I’m sure I’ll arrive at other ways to teach the game in that dressingroom. So, stand by for more as the weeks go by.

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Okay, I promised to mention how I’ve used this method with older kids. Sooooo…

- A few years back I was coaching a springtime Squirt-aged team that received no practice ice. I needed to teach those youngsters some semblance of a team system, so I used my trustworthy chalk and the lockerroom floor to do this. I had the room represent our offensive zone for a few weeks so I could teach a simple forecheck, I used it later to teach defensive zone coverage, and I drew circles to show the kids some basic face-off plays and coverages.

- Another time I was coaching a Pee Wee aged group, and I used a large area outside our pre-game lockerroom to teach my way of covering defensive face-offs. Again, it was on a big circle I’d drawn with chalk.

- Then, believe it or not, I pulled that chalk out countless times when I was coaching in college, mainly to show some adjustments I wanted to make between periods. Oh, I suppose my greaseboard would have satisfied our needs. At the same time, there is something extra beneficial to a player (or players) actually moving through a given play.

Have you done something similarly, or do you have an idea that might expand on the above concepts? We’d all love to hear about them in a Comment!

Creative Training Ideas for Goalers! Part 2

Todd Jacobson is off with his women’s team at Notre Dame Academy for the next few months.  Still, that won’t prevent him from occasionally sending us updates, ideas or further insight into goalie training.

In the meantime, my Team NEHI kids keep training, and I’m still here to show you a little of what we’re doing…

– Dennis Chighisola

Creative Training Ideas for Goalers! Part 2

Tennis balls continue to be a great (and sometimes safer) way to enhance our netminders’ reactions, both on and off the ice.

Actually, the following drill isn’t an NEHI creation, but one we found some time ago on the Internet (my apologies for not recalling whom to credit).  It’s called the 2-puck Drill, but we often substitute small balls for the pucks.

If you notice in the accompanying video, there’s a lot for a player to deal with as two balls travel towards him, and I especially like the way this drill forces a player to multi-task and also use split vision.  So, have a look  at two of my HS Prep goaltenders in action (by clicking on the above photo).

Awesome, huh? 

By the way, this drill has actually evolved into other progressions with even more difficulty.  But I’ll show you some of those fairly soon.

Got a better idea for increasing the difficulty of this drill?  Todd and I would love your Comments or thoughts!

Quickening the Slapshot Setup – Part 2

By Dennis Chighisola

The last post in this section (”Quickening the Slapshot Setup“) showed my Team NEHI guys working on this drill while in an off-ice setting.  And, since I said back then that the same exact drill could be used on the ice, I thought I’d gather some video footage of that just as soon as I could.

Actually, the kids I was able to capture on camera are all pretty skilled players, and they make awesome demonstrators.  So, have a look (by clicking the photo below), and notice the footwork required to set-up quickly for a slapshot.

Having seen that (and hoping you’ve seen Part 1), do you have a sense of why that skill was better taught off-ice first?  I do that as often as I can, taking time to demo and explain a new skill away from the ice, initially.  I just find it a lot easier and quicker if my guys have gotten the feel for something new (and perhaps fairly challenging) before they take to the more costly ice-time.

Your Comments are truly welcomed here!

Defenseman’s Point Decisions

Please see Drill Submission Rules and Help below.

Contributor: Dennis Chighisola — Whitman, MA USA

Drill Category: Point shooting, decision-making, passing, reading and reacting, point coverage

Drill Description:

Comments: This is one of my all-time favorite drills, and I sense that my players love it as well.  Really, the video below probably shows it best.  However, I’ll attempt to describe it here:

• Two Point Defensemen:  Once a pass is made to them, the pair attempt to shuttle the puck back and forth for an open shot (versus a forward covering them).
• Defensive Forward/Point Cover:  A forward from one corner goes and covers the two point men as soon as a pass is made out to them.  This checker keeps working until a shot is made or until he or she prevents a shot.
• Offensive Forward:  A forward from a corner passes to either point man, then breaks for the net to screen, deflect or rebound a shot from the point.

Objective of the Drill:

I find that defensemen very quickly learn to draw the checker, thusly getting their partner open for a clear shot.  This drill also encourages quick handling of the puck — under real game-like pressure.

I’ve noticed that slightly experienced D also make good use of flip passes and dekes while challenged by this drill.

Running the drill:
The Offensive Forward in the corner basically runs the drill, starting it with a pass soon after the previous shot is taken.  Forwards switch roles/corners after they work on one side.

An Extra Benefit: Over the past few seasons I’ve also employed three defensemen in this drill, this to simulate our Umbrella powerplay formation.

Click image below to see a short video.

Buzzer Hockey Line Changes

As much as I work on it (and harp on it during games), my older (even high school-aged) players still end-up waltzing with a partner or two in the bench doorway as they change on the fly. I mean, the kids coming off the ice think that’s as important as the fresher kids coming on, so they often get stuck and entangled, and they quite often delay us in getting fresh legs onto the ice.

Now, I’m thinking that the mob-scene-at-the-door thing is a learned trait, and one that’s been ingrained over an older kid’s decade or so of playing the game (without my kind of discipline). So, when it came time for me to organize my new Mighty Mite team (of first-time players), I thought I’d start them rightly…

– Dennis Chighisola

Buzzer Hockey Line Changes

Actually, the above didn’t strike me until I heard the buzzer that ended the first shift of our very first Mighty Mite game. On the spot, though, it hit me that I could start my little guys off on the right foot by getting them into a really good habit.

This was my thinking…

For changes on the fly, I like my older guys to come and hug the boards in front of our bench until the replacement skaters have hit the ice. That’s all that’s required for a legal change like this – for my guys to be “at the bench”. And, with them against the boards and away from the doorway, fresh guys can jump quickly into the play.

Of course, there’s no changing on the fly in buzzer hockey (instead there are timed 2-minutes shifts in my little guys’ league). But, these kids DO have to switch roles – one 5-player unit leaving the ice with another 5-players coming on to replace them. So, I decided to get my kids in the habit of doing as is shown in the accompanying photo – with the kids coming off the ice lining-up in front of our bench until replacements have entered the ice.

If you click on that photo (above) you’ll see a brief video of our player exchange. And, while I sense this action isn’t quite automatic to them yet, I suspect that within a few more weeks it will be. Again, I’m talking about habit here, and I’m hoping this small group of players will ultimately have this ingrained in them. Better yet, perhaps I’ll suggest that the organization these kids are headed to in future years might help reinforce this in their next few age groups (maybe through Mites and into Squirts).

Any thoughts on the above?  Your Comments really help me!

MY Kind of Agility Ladder

By Dennis Chighisola

A lot of years ago a young coach wrote me to ask about making his own agility ladder. For sure, these are available through sporting goods stores and on-line. But, that young coach was asking about building one for a very good reason.

You see, he’d watched a video showing my teams training with the ladders, and he noticed a couple of things that made mine a little different than the store-bought kind.

First, I actually like to use my ladders on the ice at times, or on a rink’s runway mats with my kids wearing their skates. And for this, my ladders had to have rungs that wouldn’t be damaged by skates, or that wouldn’t do damage to the players’ skates. So, I made the rungs out of strips of heavy rubber, with these strung along very heavy ropes.

Secondly, I wanted to add a little twist to the ladders my hockey players use… My thinking was that their footwork has to be in answer to all the obstacles they encounter in the game action. And that footwork is NOT in a set (18”) cadence as the normal ladders would have them do. So, if you’ll notice in the adjacent photo, the rungs in my ladders are spaced at various distances apart. (Actually, I made my rungs movable, so that I could adjust those distances as I wish.)

If you click on that photo you’ll see a brief video showing the rubber rungs and rope, as well as the odd spacing of the rungs.

Oh, and by the way… Most of my guys do a pretty good job of hitting the open spaces. As for those who don’t? Well, that’s just one of the reasons agility ladder training is a regular part of our training!

Might you have any ideas or questions on this?  Your Comments really help me!

I Need to Quicken My Players’ Shots!

Although I’ll show you some of my Team NEHI guys working at the drill I eventually created, the inspiration for that drill came from watching my babies (or my little Mighty Mite team).

Oh, you know how I am about taking notes — especially during games.  Well, I’m doing the same at our weekly instructional league contests, and I’m going to gradually fill you in on the things I’ve observed there.

That said, here’s the first problem I noted…

– Dennis Chighisola

I Need to Quicken My Players’ Shots!

My little guys came-out smoking in our very first game, with plenty of action around the opponents’ net.  If there was a problem, they didn’t score nearly enough goals for all the swipes they had at loose pucks.

I wrestled for quite awhile trying to solve that, and one version I arrived at will be shown in the accompanying video.  What I’d like to do beforehand, though, is give you a little insight into what I was thinking…

I’m sure you’ll appreciate how chaotic it can be out in front of the net:  Oops, there’s a puck; oops, then it’s gone!  Ya, one second a player has the chance to bat the puck home, the next second that opportunity has vanished.  And it’s recreating typical game situations (like that) that makes a drill worthwhile (or not).  So, how could I make my players feel that kind of urgency?

Actually, I’m experimenting with a couple of variations right now, and I’ll soon let you know how I feel about each approach.  For the time being, however, here’s what I’m experimenting with:

1. The drill shown in the accompanying video (click on the above photo to watch) has three players in a nearby line each tossing a puck softly to the slot.  As you can see, the forward in front of the net attempts to pull the trigger — three times — as quickly as possible.  If you’ll notice something wrong in this video, my hope was that the pucks would all arrive at close to the same time — to make the forward out front really scramble.  Didn’t happen.    (Honestly, I think I can do better than that drill.)
2. I tried something differently with my little Mighty Mites, this time having a coach drop three pucks from his hand and into the crease area.  This is a little harder to administer, but I think it comes a lot closer to the problem I was seeing in our games.
3. I tried yet another version of that second drill, this time have two offensive players battle to see which could score the most goals from the number dumped into the crease area.  Again, trying to keep a supply of pucks on hand to keep the drill going was a pain.  But, I think this drill comes a lot closer to recreating the urgency of a game.

Now, while I always enjoy your Comments to a post, this time I’m hoping some members might even have a better idea than mine!  (Ya, help!!!)