My New Hockey Coaching Manual

I don’t usually like to sell anything within these pages.  At the same time, I’d feel rather badly if I didn’t let my favorite hockey people know about something unique, or something that could save them some money.  So, please allow me to do this just once…

– Dennis Chighisola

My New Hockey Coaching Manual

A number of years ago I wrote what I felt was THE definitive manual for coaches of young players, and I titled that “How to Assemble & Teach a Basic Hockey System”.

That 72-page book sold awesomely, but the loss of a key office worker ultimately put the sale of hardcopies on hold (mainly because I just didn’t have the time to do the physical things involved in the sales and shipping process).  Nor could I take the time to retrain a new office worker.

Let me tell you, though…  That manual was awesome AND THOROUGH.  Hey, if you’ve come to know me by now, I tend to always act like a teacher, so I undertook the writing of that manual as if I was holding a new coach right by the hand, and telling or showing him or her exactly how a young team should go together.  Again, if you know me, you know I over-explain absolutely everything, just so that the information I share is perfectly clear.

Okay, so the world has changed — a lot — since I first wrote that book.  And mainly I’m talking about the arrival of the Internet.

Now, two recent events got me to thinking about that manual again…

First, I was searching for a way to help the young assistant coach who was about to take-over a team I’d coached this past year.  I mean, I wanted to arm him with all the background information that caused me to decide on a given forecheck for our kids, the whys and wherefores of our breakouts, face-off plays and so forth.  In other words, I wanted to share with him how I think when it comes to putting everything together for a young team.  And then it struck me:  almost everything I could ever tell him about is contained in that earlier written manual, “How to Assemble & Team A Basic Hockey System”!

Yet something else struck me as I thumbed through what I was about to give to my young assistant.  “Hmmmmmm…” I thought, “Even I’ve gotten away from a few of the important concepts I’d described in there!”  Not only that, but it also hit me that most of that manual is appropriate to what I’ll need to do with my new Bantam aged team!  Ya, hockey principles are hockey principles, no matter the level, and I knew that the things I outlined in that book apply to almost all age groups.

Anyway, if you want to know more about my new coach manual, you can go hear:

How to Assemble & Teach A Basic Hockey System

There IS some urgency, because the price will go up in a few days
(that’s why I’m tell you about it right now)!

The first discount deadline has passed,
but you can still save by ordering before April 30, 2011.
To be honest, I’m trying to almost give this away right now;
the eventual cost will be $27 by later this spring.

 

Making Indian Clubs

If you don’t know what Indian clubs are, I’ve provided two videos that show one of those in use, as well as a very similar strength training device referred to as a clubbell.  (It appears to me that their use is similar, but I’d love for a member who knows more about this subject to please share your knowledge with me and others.)

Actually, I love finding ways to make new training devices.  First, my students discover that such devices need not be fancy or cost a lot of money in order to enhance their game.  Secondly, homemade gadgets can often be modified to gain new training effects (but, more on that a little later).

– Dennis Chighisola

Making Indian Clubs

This first video shows the basic use of a clubbell…

This next one shows how to make a very similar device to the clubbell, but this one is called an Indian club.  As the guy in this video says, PVC materials are inexpensive, and pretty durable.  Personally, given the option, I usually go for the slightly more expensive grayish material (used for electrical work) versus the sometimes brittle white plastic (used for water or sewerage drains)…

This final video shows how to make a very similar device from metal parts (which are usually as easy to find at your local Home Depot store as the PVC).  At the end of the video, the guy shows how he uses such a training aid.

Now, I mentioned in the start that I like homemade devices — because they can be modified in different ways, and so I might achieve a slightly different training effect.  And, in the case of the two tools shown here, I find it helpful that both can be loaded differently because the screw-off tops allow us access to the inside.

Both of those shown above hold fairly heavy metal tubes to give them greater weight, and it’s also suggested that more weight can be added.

However, I’ve been on a slightly different kick over about the past 2-years…  I like to add water inside a pipe because it moves as the athlete uses it.  Trust me, that this is quite a shock — and quite difficult for the athlete to wrestle with.  And, you may have missed the guy in the middle video suggesting that something like ball bearings can also be used to gain this same training effect.

Lastly, I’m not going to say much more about using either Indian clubs or clubbells — at least right now.  However, I’ll suggest that an athlete wiggle these kinds of devices — much like we do our StickWags, so that you can “Put REAL Muscle In Your Hockey Shot“.   The idea is to isolate the forearms to put real power in the muscles that flick your hockey stick.  Imagine, though, if we could add the element of a moving weight inside our training gadget.  Aaaaah, I kinda like that idea!

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As I was doing a little research this morning for my new Hockey BootCamp program, I ran across this unbelievable gadget.  I’ve already made something similar to this for The MOTION Lab, but I think it would be easier to make a number of ones like this (because it’s always nice to have several training devices available).

Oh, by the way…  You don’t believe a hockey player would be lean and mean from tossing that sucker around for like 30-seconds (to simulate a shift)?  Ha!

– Dennis Chighisola

Homemade Bulgarian Training Bag

Playoff Hockey Preparations 1, 2 & 3

The initial post has expanded with each recent day, now finishing as a 3-part series…

I’ve struggled with doing this entry — but only because it’s rather difficult to address the needs of all the different levels of our game within one post.  Yet, I thought I might talk a little bit, in general here, about the things I’ve been working on with one of my youngest teams this week.  And, while it might not be appropriate for all, perhaps it still can provide everyone some food for thought.

– Dennis Chighisola

Playoff Hockey Preparations 1

I’ve been fortunate to actually have my young AAA Mite Majors skating five practices this week.  Oh, they’re not all traditional practices, because two of them are skill-oriented ADM sessions where I only have my kids rotate to me in a station for about 10-minutes.

Now, I thought long and hard about what I’d do with my players during those ADM sessions.  For several months now I’ve built-in drills for them that would support (or plant seeds for) the things we’d do in our regular practices (and hope to ultimately do in our hockey games).  So, what I did was to sketch a rough idea of what I planned for the practices, and then I went from there…

I continued a drill that has my forwards feeding a puck from behind the opposition goal to a mate who fires a quick shot on-net.  (If you can picture the Mite level, good passing, a quick shot, and a hunger to bury the puck can really make a difference.)  In our regular practices — where we have more space, the boy behind the net also feeds to a defenseman who is sliding into the slot from his point position.

My team — although finishing in third place overall — led our league in the lowest goals-against.  And I think that’s a pretty good sign.  From the season’s start, I attempted to put together and nurture six pretty good young defensemen, our goaler has developed well, our forwards backcheck better than most young kids, and we also possess the puck a lot with our offense (hey, if we have it a lot, the bad guys don’t — ).  With that, I abbreviated a larger (5 on 5) practice drill in the ADM sessions by having one of my players keep covering another for about 8-seconds (as I hold a puck for a possible pass).   All the while I’ve been yelling, “Backcheck!  Backcheck!”  The idea is to connect that drill to what the kids frequently hear from us coaches on the game-bench.

I also tossed in a quick game of keepaway, sending pairs of kids off in our designated area, all at the same time.  Again, asking you to think about this a bit, a lot of the Mite game is almost a game of keepaway, with the best players holding the puck lots longer than the lesser ones.  Oh, my kids pass the puck to each other — plenty.  But, not panicking and not just throwing the puck away is what I’m aiming for with this kind of drill, as well as developing their skills to protect the puck.

Our three more traditional practices this week — one each on a full sheet of ice, on half-ice, and then in one zone — cover most of the basics, from skills to our strategies in each zone.

However, over the past few weeks — and especially this week, I’m focusing more on the so-called “little things” that tend to sway games…

I think there is one opposition goaltender who can stop our attack if we meet this weekend (he’s a pretty nice little butterfly netminder with a quick right-hand glove).  So, without yet connecting that boy with what I’m doing, I’ve hung two targets to the right side of a practice net — one just over where that boy’s pads would be in the butterfly position, and the other up over his blocker.  Both of these are aimed at shooting away from the boy’s quick glove-hand.  To get my kids to focus, I’ve promised to start the line that hits the targets most often this week.

Over the past few months, I’ve slowly built-in three offensive face-off plays the kids have become very good at executing.  We’ve had a few goals off these, but more than anything, we’ve gained possession of the puck on most offensive draws, and we’ve had tons of near-misses.  My thinking here is that offensive face-off plays are almost like “free kicks” in soccer — it’s especially true with little kids, and not all that untrue with older players.

Just this week I’ve installed a defensive face-off coverage, and this also has the potential of giving the fastest forward on each of our lines a breakaway.  Ya, if there’s a loose puck around the circle, there’s a good chance one of my kids is going to be roaring through, splitting the enemy D, and on his way to the opposition goal.

If you get my drift on those last two paragraphs, I believe that some trick plays will work — in a playoff, and (at least) in the youngest levels of our game.

Believe it or not, I have actually built a little powerplay unit over the past few month, too.  Oh, we haven’t had enough full-ice to really practice it a lot, and I can’t expect 8-year old to really execute like my older guys would.  However, there are two benefits I see in this:  1) I have some of my best offensive players on the ice (or I have kids in “role positions” where they should do excellent jobs); and 2) I’ve also given them a structure in which they should get plenty of shooting opportunities.  On the latter…  Again, not that they’re going to execute a basic “umbrella” like older players.  However, just the layout of diggers-for-the-puck, the movement of the puck around penalty-killers, and the placement of all shooters on their “off wings” should get us some scoring chances.

Oh, and since a few powerplay kids have been selected because they fit certain roles well, that leaves us still a very strong line to come-out right after that unit exits.  In other words, there should be no let-down or drop-off in talent right after a powerplay expires.

Not that the above special situations mean I won’t be working on the basics of our system.  Far from it.  We’ve brought our forecheck to a point where we smother most opponents in their own end for long stretches, and we do a pretty good job of moving the puck out of our own zone.  Honest to God, my young kids now even gain the red line, dump the puck, and get changes on-the-fly as well as most of the older teams I’ve coached.  I mean that!

Then, a reflection on what had to transpire earlier in our time together…  For sure, some of the kids often came to the games having been instructed by their moms (or whomever).  I mean, Johnny initially arrived for the games forcing plays and trying to satisfy someone other than his teammates and coaches.  So was there a little (I hate this term) “puck hog” or two in the crowd during our earliest weeks.  A coach has a choice when he or she recognizes such, so I did what I believed to be best 1) for the team and 2) for each boy.  I sat them for a shift or two (which seems an eternity to an 8-year old), and I managed to bring most of them in with the rest of their team.  (God only knows what still goes on in the different family cars on the way to our games, but that will be a topic for one of my soon-to-come blog posts!)

Well, I guess that’s it.  And I hope this sheds at least a little light on the way I view readying for our coming playoffs (I’ll let you know more on how we did after this weekend is over).

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A funny thing happened on the way to my team’s last practice tonight…

You see, I’ve been negotiating with a guy named Doug Bench in reference to some unbelievable audio programs he has for coaches (more on that later).  Anyway, I slapped into the deck of my SUV a CD of the program I ultimately want you to hear, and it totally altered my approach for later.

Playoff Hockey Preparations 2

Okay, just so you have a sense of what I’ll ultimately be getting at, I have a little treat for you, this being a short video featuring the grandfatherly (but very sharp) Mr Bench…

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Now, while that video isn’t exactly on the topic of this entry, I think it might have given you a sense of how far science has come in recent years when it comes to the brain and learning.

With that, maybe you can also appreciate my hanging on every word Doug uttered on that CD.  I mean, he was suggesting ways to get more out of practices, how to really send our players into competition, and he was making me rethink tonight’s practice with every mile I drove.

This aside…  I wouldn’t say these were earth shattering ideas — after all, he sounds (and espouses) many of the things my dad used to say), and I’ve also had the benefit of learning from the likes of Shaun Goodsell and other great sport psychology guys and gals.  But, I would say Doug Bench put a lot of what I already knew in a brand new context.

As I unloaded gear in the rink’s parking lot a little later, one of my assistant coaches stopped by for a sec.  And, as we were about to head inside, I mentioned that I was going to go with a lot of the things we’d done in the previous practice, but with a slight twist.

Ya, a slight twist…  What I did was to convert almost all of the drills on my clipboard to little competitions.  We played lots of keepaway, and then we did tons of attacking drills that were treated more like shoot-outs.  In other words, we attacked the net in 1 on 0′s, 2 on 0′s and 3 on 0′s, with successful scorers (or groups of scorers) returning to attack again, while those who missed were eliminated from the competition.

I had two things in mind as I did these, both stemming from Mr Bench’s program on coaching:  1) the slight pressures of those contests were closer to game conditions; and 2) the kids were laughing a lot and bantering back and forth in friendly ways with each goal, near goal or miss.

Not that I didn’t sprinkle in a few serious things we needed to refresh — like our face-off plays or coverages and our powerplay.

Finally — trying to think of a way to end things with a lot of laughing, I decided to hold a competition for the wildest attacking move.  And, man, you should have seen the crazy stunts the kids tried (and you should have heard the cackles each crazy move brought from teammates).  Yes! 

Oh, I almost forgot…  I huddled the kids in a corner of the rink at the very end, just to ask who they thought had the wildest moves (which brought more cackles and lots of friendly barbs).  Then, I suggested that tomorrow’s playoff game should be fun, and that our opponents ought to be worrying that we’d beaten them in our last meeting.  Do I know those things to be true?  Of course not.  But, I sense that’s how Doug Bench would have handled things.

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Okay, as I said at the top, I felt it right to continue adding to the original entry, now providing you the final one…

– Dennis Chighisola

Playoff Hockey Preparations 3

Well, after coaching my little Mighty Mite team in an early game in Bridgewater, MA, I had plenty of time to take a leisurely drive to Rhode Island for my AAA Mite Majors’ first playoff game.  And, don’t you know, I continued listening to Doug Bench’s audio series in what would be about a 40-minute ride.

“Stay positive!” I had to keep reminding myself as I arrived at the rink (even if a few of my families  ultimately sauntered into our lockerroom about 30-minutes later than everyone else).

Over the past few days I’d done some note-taking…

Owing to the above mentioned audio programs, I’d listed four things I wanted to reinforce with my kids, and I’d also visualized how I’d give each a very positive spin.  So, I tried to relax everyone in our pre-game lockerroom, and then I reminded them about their duties on our offensive face-offs, how the offensive plays should go, how our forecheck should look, and the way they needed to cover as they backchecked.

I also had made some notes in readiness for special situations that just might occur in a playoff game — like the attackers I’d want out if we entered a shoot-out, or which players I might want on the ice should we need to pull our goaltender in the end for an extra skater.

Although I thought we played well during the initial period, we trailed, 1-0, at the end.  I kinda thought we had the win as we ended the second frame up, 2-1.  However, we lost in the end, 3-2, not being able to muster the game-tier with the goalie off.

As with any meaningful game, there were some things that could have gone better for us.  Perhaps the kid who was our biggest offensive threat had been ill over the few days, and he wasn’t himself for this game.  And, with the refereeing being rather lax all season long, it was sort of a shock that they called everything extremely tight on this day.  Still, a coach can’t cry about such things; he or she can only coach in the moment — with the talent he or she has on hand, and with any unique conditions that arise.

Speaking of crying…  I entered our post-game lockerroom to find a lot of my kids in tears.  Hmmmmmm…  I hadn’t expected a group of 8-year old to take a loss so hard.  (Doug Bench to the call here…)  So, I grasped very quickly for some things that might at least help change a few of those wet faces to grins.  I especially pointed to the great games we had over the long winter, as well as the great friendships they’d all developed with the kids that sat around them on this day.  Was I bummed?  You bet.  However, that didn’t seem to matter at this time.  I want these kids still playing — and still loving the game — long after I’m gone.

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I (and I’m sure lots of other members) would love to hear what YOU are doing or have done in readiness for your final push!

Hockey’s Empty-netter

One of the reasons I like to take game notes is because certain things — or certain situations — only arise once in a blue moon.  Such is the case with the following occurrence (at least where young players are concerned)…

– Dennis Chighisola

Hockey’s Empty-netter

As you might have guessed, the empty-net situation just arose — this late in my young AAA Mite Major’s season.  That’s right, it happened for the first time in our very last regular season game.

Okay, there’s the chance that a few members might stop reading here, because they think I’m going to be talking about Mite hockey.  Ha, hardly.  I’ve had plenty of high school players screw-up this situation, and even a few college players.  Moreover, a “brain freeze” at the older levels just might cause worse problems than my young kids experienced.  (So, please DO read on…)

Now, I thought it was good that one of my young defensemen actually noticed that our opponents’ goaltender had been pulled.  However, psyched at the chance to aim for the open net down at the far end, he fired his shot from inside our zone.

Whistle!  Icing!  Face-off back in our end!  (Gulp!)

Well, perhaps the gulp is a little strong, because most of our opponents — being only 8-years old — aren’t likely to take advantage of that face-off in front of our goal, or even the extra attacker.

And that’s the point I was hinting at above, when I suggested that mistakes at older levels can cause us far greater problems than my young kids were about to experience.  Ya, the older guys are likely to have a decent face-off play arranged for such circumstances, and they are more than likely going to make very good use of their extra attacker.  So, my suggestion — if you work with older players:  be absolutely sure they’re aware of the following.

I made sure that my young kids understood the consequences of taking an icing call at that point in a game.  In other words, there’s a penalty of sorts involved, with the face-off being brought all the way back to our end, in front our goal.  Oh, I did encourage the kids to take pop-shots at that wide-open net (we were having fun with a 2-goal advantage), but I reminded them that they had to gain the red line before taking a shot.

I might add here my personal approach on something like this…  I mean, I give my kids a sense of the “penalty” involved in their carelessly throwing the puck from their own side of the ice.  In most instances, young ones don’t put much stock in face-off locations.  Hey, to them, a draw is something they just have to endure before they’re able to get on with the play. 

So again, I explain it in a way that has them understanding a little better the consequences of certain actions.  And, when it comes to the play in question, I try to draw a comparison between that face-off in our end versus their playing with the puck in our opponents’ zone for (perhaps) the remainder of the game.

Lastly, the reason I take my game notes is so that I can remember to deal with certain things at a later date.  In the case of the above situation, it doesn’t necessitate a new drill.  But, it does call for our discussing this at a coming practice or in a pre-playoff game lockerroom.

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A bonus idea for coaches of older players…

In situations where a team’s school or organization owns the rink, players are often allowed to stay on the ice after a formal practice has concluded.  That’s when the really good players work on so-called “little things”.  And, I’ve observed quite a few guys finish their free time by trying to send pucks the length of the ice into a far net.

At other times, I’ve seen coaches finish their practices with some sort of fun competition based on hitting that far away net.

And, as I’m often known to quip in many of my skill related posts…  When you see something pretty nifty take place in a hockey game, there’s a good chance a player has actually practiced it hundreds (or even thousands) of times.

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I wanted to get this post up kinda quickly for you.  At the same time, it bothered me that I was too soon supplanting the previous one — about that important tryout tip.  So, please don’t fail to read that one if you haven’t already.

Periodization in Hockey Strength Training

So much has changed in the science of strength training over recent years, with new terminology cropping up all the time.  Truthfully, if you grew-up playing hockey (or any other sport) during the ’60s, ’70s or ’80s, it’s best that you forget all you learned back then, and stay tuned here at CoachChic.com.  (Topnotch specialists — like Scott Umberger and Jason Price — and I are sure to keep you abreast of the very latest in scientific developments.  In fact, Scott and I have already done several in depth posts on the subject of “periodization”.)

– Dennis Chighisola

Periodization in Hockey Strength Training

Let me begin by once again providing you an oversimplification of this term…

Appreciate that our bodies adapt to training over a span of time.  And, as a body gets used to the training, that training tends to have less and less impact.  In other words, gains stall, or the athlete hits a plateau.  It should make further sense that some staleness (or boredom) can also result from sticking to the same routine for very long (and this goes for any sort of training, not just strength related).

Personally, I’d learned this in my younger years as I engaged in strength training, ultimately reading that the best way to avoid plateaus was to occasionally — or, should I say “periodically” — change my training routine.  Back then, the idea was to rotate exercises that worked similar muscles or muscle groups, thereby forcing the body to continually adapt to new conditions.

I said that was an oversimplification, because modern day periodization has been taken to whole new level.

Okay, so what got me going on this topic is the release of a new hockey readiness program being offered by my buddy, Jeremy Weiss.  (Jeremy and I have known each other for a few years now, we come from similar Phys Ed backgrounds, and we’ve shared a lot of ideas when it comes to hockey training.)

Now, as many of us start to turn our attentions toward off-season training, Jeremy will ultimately offer a special program aimed at helping hockey players work at home without the need for costly ice (and you ought to know how strongly I feel about that).  You don’t have to purchase his program, however, to have access to several awesome videos…

The first video has just been released, and it deals with the above noted strength-training concept called periodization.   (As Jeremy describes it, “Periodization is a really effective way to keep consistent strength gains and to avoid plateaus.”)

Okay, here goes, on periodization…

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Some time has passed since the above post, and all of the introductory videos have been taken down.  However, I’ve grabbed them for you, with the ones on cardio training for hockey and  nutrition to follow…

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At this point, Jeremy has a new video posted on his site, this one explaining the off-season training program he’s offering.  Actually, I thought it would be extremely expensive but it’s not.  So, if you can’t get this old coach, Scott Umberger or Jason Price to train you live, Jeremy provides a different option by helping you train at home…

Click here to view more details

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Please let me know what you think about those free videos, and about the idea of me sharing such within the CoachChic.com website.

An IMPORTANT Hockey Tryout Tip

Much to my chagrin, most youth hockey organizations will soon be holding tryouts.  (My feelings about springtime hockey tryouts are well documented — within CoachChic.com and over on my blog, Coach Chic’s Hockey Diary.  Ugh.)

Anyway, while I’ve previously mentioned many suggestions when it comes to prepping for tryouts, there’s one I want to re-emphasize right here and now…

– Dennis Chighisola

An IMPORTANT Hockey Tryout Tip

Without question, I think the Number One thing each player has to know about a tryout is that all the coaches’ (or raters’) eyes are on him or her.  Sounds too obvious, does it?  Or, maybe the grown-ups or older players reading this believe every player already knows this?  Ha.

When it comes to very young hockey players, I’ll suggest that most of them are thinking more about their nearby friends than they are about impressing anyone.  In fact, while their parents may have warned them minutes ago — in the car or in the lockerroom, I’d be willing to bet that the very young ones have forgotten the gist of that on-ice session before they’ve taken a twirl or two around the rink.  That said, I have always constantly reminded Mites and Squirts several times during any drill that I’m supervising to, “Make sure you show those guys (or whomever) up there how good you can do this!”  Again, those of us running the on-ice drills should see it as part of our responsibilities to encourage the youngest players to show themselves well.

Then, in the case of older hockey players…  What I’ve found is that many of those in the Pee Wee through high school ages are as concerned about their buddies as they are about impressing coaches.  In other words, they’ll go easy as they tussle with a friend along the boards, and they’ll even hold back at times in fear of being considered a show-off.  Oh, you don’t believe this to be true?  Well, I know it to be, from both observing and talking to numerous kids in those age groups.  For sure, there are players who are going to take to the ice with the idea of impressing everyone in the building.  But, there are still just as many who will hold back a bit, and really never show all that they have.  Consequently, I think parents and tryout supervisors have to remind the players about this.  And, at the same time they have to let the older kids know that they shouldn’t hold back against supposed “teammates”; naw, they aren’t teammates at all until a coach adds their names to a roster.

Spotting the Real Goal-scorer Early

A lot of folks ask me if I believe I can spot a hockey player early-on who might ultimately make it to our game’s highest levels.  I answer honestly, suggesting that no one can tell during a player’s first years — if he or she will still be in love with the game later, if he or she will have the right work ethic, or if injuries might ultimately get in his or her way.  That established, however, I can tell you about one thing I’ve learned to recognize in even the youngest players…

– Dennis Chighisola

Spotting the Real Goal-scorer Early

Actually, I didn’t realize what I was seeing at first, as I observed my grandson playing and practicing at about 5-years old.  At the time, I thought he was just a real pain in the butt. 

Now, long-time CoachChic.com members have probably seen some highlight reel footage of my young buddy, Anthony Chighisola.  If you haven’t, just let me say that he has probably led every team in scoring he’s played for — from Mites right through to his current college team.  In fact, putting a puck in a net seems almost a compulsion with him.  Ya, I said it’s almost a compulsion, which brings me back to that thing about seeming like a real pain in the butt…

You see, even going back to beginner clinics, I noticed that Anthony would never end an attacking drill until he’d put a puck in a net.  And, I’m talking about him taking this to an extreme.  All the other little 5-year old knobheads seemed to be doing the drills right — skating towards the net, making a move or taking a shot, and then going to a line right after.  Not Tony C, however.  I’ve already said it:  that he wouldn’t go back to a line until he finished the drill by putting a puck in the net.  Sometimes it wasn’t even the puck he’d carried towards the goal; naw, it didn’t matter which one he finished with, so long as he tucked something away.

Now, about 15-years later I’m coaching an 8-year old team and I’m noticing I have another pain in the butt on my hands.  I mean, this youngster is just as compulsive about putting biscuits in the basket as Anthony ever way, almost to the point of driving me nuts in some drills.  Hey, I’m trying to keep attack plays moving at a good pace, and that little guy is not getting out of the way until he’s put a puck in the net.  (Grrrrrrrrrrr…)

Oh, but wait…  After all these years, I’ve come to realize that THIS young forward — much like Tony Chic — is most likely going to be the best attacker on every team he’ll ever play for.   Again, it’s a compulsion that he puts pucks in the backs of nets, and it doesn’t matter if we’re talking about games or practices.  In fact, I’m going to suggest that his scoring in the games is a direct result of his need to finish attack plays in our practices.

As an aside, I hope you can picture what I was seeing many years ago, with Anthony constantly going back to a net because his original attack didn’t result in a goal.  And, what made me think he was such a pain in the butt is that sometimes his second and third and fourth and fifth swipes at a puck didn’t go in.  So he’d stay right there, and continue whacking at a puck until he ultimately deposited it where he felt it belonged.

Same thing with my current budding sniper.  I mean, neither will he leave the dawgoned goal-mouth until he’s completed his mission.

All that said, I guess we both know that those two aren’t really pains at all.  In fact, even though they might foul-up the timing of some drills, they should be the models for all other young players.

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Just wondering…  Have you ever had (or observed) a player like I’ve just described?  I’d love to hear more about him or her.

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Talk about precious!  Craig Shaw mentioned this video in a Comment below, and I just couldn’t resist showing it to everyone.  Awesome (and an awesome penalty shot goal by young Sammy Shaw near the end)!

Great Hockey Plays Come From Practice!

I have my grandson, Anthony Chic, to thank for pointing me towards the following video.  And, as soon as I saw it I recognized a “teaching moment” I just had to share with you.

– Dennis Chighisola

Great Hockey Plays Come From Practice!

Before getting further into this topic, I’d like you to view the following video (it’s short and fun to watch)….

Ya, as my title suggests, that was no accident — that the highly skilled forward reacted so quickly and batted that puck towards the goal.  As the color commentator said, it required “magnificent hand-eye coordination”.

Long ago I posted a drill that specifically enhances this skills (please see “Bunting the Hockey Puck“).

However, I’ll offer here that real stick and eye coordination comes from players sort of freelancing with a puck — or especially with a quick reacting ball.

If you can appreciate it, plays like that shown in the video can’t usually be planned.  No, the situation just occurs — in an instant, and a player either reacts properly or doesn’t.  And such (positive) reactions quickly revert back to hundreds if not thousands of times when a player dealt with pucks or balls in the air.

So, I’m talking about some of the tricks that have been posted within CoachChic.com — when it comes to floorball moves, my kids jumping a long rope while dribbling a ball or puck, and the many videos I’ve included that depict pro players performing some pretty nifty moves by keeping a puck or ball in the air with their sticks.

No, it’s no accident when a player reacts as shown in that video.  I mean, all the hours a player spends just fiddling and being creative with a puck or ball surely will pay-off sometime down the road.

Mental Training Interview Series

Thank God I have some of the nicest (and sharpest) hockey friends in the world!  And you can count among them my friends at the Mental Edge.

– Dennis Chighisola

Mental Training Interview Series

Thanks to my good friend Shaun Goodsell and his Mental Edge staff, CoachChic.com now has available a series of interviews with a number of extremely insightful National Hockey League players.  I mean, these aren’t your typical interviews (for the fans’ sake), but instead they’re loaded with ideas on how various professional players prepare for hockey and keep themselves mentally in the game.

Now, the following is an interview the Mental Edge’s Justin Johnson did with the New Jersey Devils’ Paul Martin.  Then, if you like that as a sampling, click on the link provided below to gain access to numerous more great interviews.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Now, gain access to more great (and FREE) interviews by clicking the following link…  Mental Edge Insider Interviews

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With most hockey leagues around North America now nearing playoff time, I thought I’d treat members to a special *Gift, this being Shaun Goodsell’s advice on Mentally Preparing for Playoffs.  It’s this month’s free *Gift, and you can access it (if you’re a member) by clicking either of those links.  Enjoy.

About That Hockey Forechecking Poll

I suppose a lot of folks have been wondering why I polled hockey players and parents about whether their teams use a forecheck (or not).

You can see that and other Polls <= by clicking on that link.

Well, I think it’s about time I explained.

– Dennis Chighisola

About That Hockey Forechecking Poll

As it turns out, I suspect that poll is a little out of whack.  I mean, it makes sense to me that most CoachChic.com members (and those who would stop by here) play on teams that actually use a playing system.  On the other hand, I assure you there are far too many teams out there that don’t.

I really mean that…  A lot of times — as new kids have joined one of my teams, I’ve asked them about the system they’ve been playing on their previous hockey team.  (Hey, it helps if they’ve played something close to what I’ll teach, or it helps me if I know what habits I might have to change.)  But, almost every time I’ve asked that question of a player, I get the old deer caught in the headlights look, or just a wide open mouth with nothing coming out.

I can’t tell you how honest I’m being about this.  In fact, even when I’ve tried to simplify things for someone like a young teen — maybe asking him what forecheck his old coach used, I’ll get something like, “Aaaaaah, aaaaaah, I don’t think we had one.”

Okay, so why am I making such a big deal out of this?  It’s because I feel every team should have some system of play.  (Oh, I might not do it with my 5- and 6-year old beginners, but every team beyond that age has some semblance of a system.)

In general, I’m talking about all of my teams having a way of pressuring their opponents and regaining the puck in our offensive end (in other words, a forecheck).  My older teams may have two ways of checking in the offensive zone — one rather aggressive and the other more conservative.  And so will my players learn to defend in their own end, they’ll be taught principles of moving the puck out of their own zone (or executing breakouts), my older teams will learn to “regroup” or counterattack in neutral-ice, and they’ll also have a powerplay as well as learn how to kill penalties.  All of my teams will have offensive face-off plays and ways to defend on draws.  Actually, I’d wear-out this keyboard if I went on with the things I show my kids.

The funny thing is, I’m not the kind of coach who gets overly hung-up on the game’s X’s and O’s when I work with youngsters.  However…  Ya, however…  What I discovered in my first years of coaching is that the various parts of a team’s system are the best way to teach sound playing principles to developing players.

Teaching the elements of a team’s defensive system — from forechecking to backchecking to defensive zone coverage — is the only way to get across the concepts of steering and trapping an enemy puckcarrier, or how to cover an opponent who either does or doesn’t possess the puck.

The offensive side of a system helps a coach teach decision-making with the puck, and it also brings to light his or her abilities (or lack there of) to make and catch passes, and so much more.

All that said, I just may be preaching to the choir here (or raising these points to a bunch of coaches who already agree with what I’m saying).  However, I don’t want to take the chance that even one member isn’t doing this stuff for his or her players.

At last count, I believe there were over 400 posts within CoachChic.com, many of them aimed at helping a coach put together a full playing system.  As I noted earlier, the youngest kids don’t need to have anything too technical.  But, they do need a framework within which to learn basic playing principles.  At the other end of the spectrum, older players need even more of the X’s and O’s, just so they’re ready to move to levels where thinking the game is extremely important.

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Okay, here I go again with something that might be controversial — at least to some.  So, let me have it, or let me know how you really feel.  You know I love it when we get the chance to talk hockey.

A Hockey Goal-scoring Revelation

I’m kinda chuckling to myself about this title, and this topic.  I mean, I’ve been coaching hockey for over 40-years, which ought to suggest that I’ve just about seen it all by now, and I’ve pretty firmly established all of our game’s playing principles.  Ah, so one would think. 

In reality, however, I never stop learning, and I never stop making adjustments to the way I teach or coach.  And, with that, let me tell you about my latest revelation, this having to do with introducing young players to breakaway goal-scoring techniques.

– Dennis Chighisola

A Hockey Goal-scoring Revelation

To provide a little background to this story, members might read my entry and watch the video I provided in “Scoring on Breakaways or Shootouts“.

Then, because that particular post was part of a *Gift I was offering that month, I also shared a few additional tips beyond the main entry.  And, among those tips was the suggestion that most advanced level attackers like to carry the puck off to the sides of their bodies — in a shooting posture — as they moved in on the goaltender.  Ya, their thinking is that this somewhat freezes a goalie, while an attacker knows he can shift the puck at any instant to either shoot or deke (according to what the goaler shows).

I also have to draw the parent or coach of a young skater to yet another video that should provide even more background to what I’m about to propose, this being the one on “Creating the Early Goal-scorer“.  For, within that post I hammered away at the idea of focusing all our attentions on whatever will help a young player be successful at his or her current level of play.

Okay, so with those ideas as a backdrop, picture me standing on the ice a few weeks ago and watching little one after little one attack a beginner goalie…  What I was seeing is that the rather new netminder basically stood in the middle of his crease and hardly did anything but put his stick in front of the puck.  And, because most of my really new skaters haven’t yet mastered hitting open strings with lifted shots, nearly every one of them hit the goalie — right where he liked the shot — dead-center on his stick.  Hmmmmmm…

By now, of course, you know that I’m an inquisitive type, and I like to really get at the root of what’s happening.  And, what I saw was that 1) most of my young attackers were carrying the puck off to their sides in readiness to shoot, and 2) the goalie was basically just putting his stick in front of where the skater held the puck.  So, one after another it was Splat!  Splat!  And Splat!  In other words, my little guys were just hitting that goalie’s stick, time after time after time.

Enter that idea about helping a player be successful at his or her current level…  Ya, the idea of their holding the puck off to their sides wasn’t working — at their level.  No, instead this technique was playing right into the equally young goalie’s hands, mainly because he wasn’t old enough or experienced enough to take THAT kind of fake.  (The reason that kind of posture works against older goaltenders is because they are experienced, and because they are doing their own thinking and reading of the play as an attacker approaches.)

Anyway, once all this stuff started to register with me, I called a halt to the drill, I left the goaler with his own coach, and I gathered all of my little attackers in another area of the ice.  And, what I showed them was the idea of carrying the puck out-front and in the middle of their bodies.  From there, I had them practice making side to side movements with the puck — ultimately making a rather large deke towards one side of the net, and then tucking the puck into the opposite side.

Once we went back to attacking a live goalie, the idea worked for those kids who got the hang of the new move (while the slightly younger and less experienced kids still tended to shoot into the goaler’s stick).  More practice is what the kids now need, of course, and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing lately — off the ice, on the ice, sometimes against my plastic simulated goalie, and sometimes against a live one.

My main point (or points) to all this, though, is that we really must study what’s happening with our players, and we have to find the best ways to help them be successful where they are at the moment.

Then, just in case you’re questioning my idea of initially teaching something wrongly, I’d like you to consider this…  My belief is that a number of my little guys are going to soon catch fire with the new move, and they are going to start pouring pucks into rival nets.  On the other hand, those kids who continue to attack in the big guys’ posture are likely to get stuff more often than not.  I’ll further suggest that the ones who are filling nets pretty soon will gain a huge boost in confidence, and that it will be plenty easy to show them the other way of attacking when the time is right.

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Okay, so here I go with what some might consider a controversial approach.  So, want to argue, or at least share a different thought on this subject?  You know I love it when members get involved!