About the Skater’s Rhythm-bar

Oh, man, I hope my friends don’t hurt themselves laughing at what I’ve entered down below.  But, here’s a little history to all of this…

A few weeks ago, someone turned me on to an interesting program provided over on YouTube.com.  That program gives anyone the chance to create cartoon videos from a host of characters.  I settled on a pair of robots, and a Facebook friend ultimately named them SlapShot and HatTrick. 

Hoping not to waste my efforts, I thought to use that format to at least share some worthwhile information — first letting folks know how to pronounce my name and nickname (Introducing Dennis Chighisola), and later how the unique spelling of my nickname came about (SlapShot & HatTrick Explain Dennis Chighisola’s Nickname).  I must admit that my earliest works weren’t all that polished (the program is kinda tricky to use).  Oh, I have gotten better at producing the videos, although they’re still probably as stupid today.  (I’ve joked to one Facebook friend that the red robot is my alter-ego!)

As you might gather, however, my eventual thinking was that I could have some fun, perhaps give some social media friends cause to laugh, and also get a little advertising crammed in between the lines.  So, maybe you’ll at least see a little of each within the following video…

– Dennis Chighisola

About the Skater’s Rhythm-bar

My (again, stupid) cartoons somewhat explained, I just posted a new one to My YouTube Channel last night and to Facebook this morning.

At first, I thought to apologize for promoting one of my products within these pages.  However, I then thought it might be just as unfair if I DIDN’T let you know about this…

Over the years, many members have actually written me and asked about the Skater’s Rhythm-bar.  I think that stemmed from my occasional mention of it, or my once in a while showing it in a video.

With that, I am practically going to give this closely held secret away (and I’m serious about the almost giving it away part).  You’ll have plenty of time to consider things, though, as well as learn a lot about skating and my problem solving methods along the way.

All you need to do to be notified of it’s release is to “Like” this page (using the “Like” button up at the top)…  Perfecting the Hockey Skating Stride.

Loading...

A Cool Video Gadget for Hockey Coaches & Parents

I feel it at least a small part of my duties here to keep members apprized of new gadgets that may help them, or may ease their learning or teaching experiences.  So, I was psyched that I received an email this morning showing something that should do just that for you.

Actually, this isn’t exactly about a gadget, but instead an app aimed at transforming your iPhone or iPod Touch into what the TechSmith company calls “the ultimate coaching tool”.

– Dennis Chighisola

PS:  I am not affiliated with this product or the maker in any way.  I just figure it’s a neat idea and something my friends here might like to know about.

A Cool Video Gadget for Hockey Coaches & Parents

Here’s some a wording borrowed from this morning’s email…

Coach’s Eye is a coaching app that will transform your iPhone or iPod Touch into the ultimate coaching tool!

Slumps, bad habits and poor technique can be recorded with Coach’s Eye to point out problems, and review as needed.  It’s like having your own, personal coach who never misses a thing.

Sign up to find out when Coach’s Eye is available and you could win a t-shirt cannon for your team, organization, or school.  Then share out the unique URL you get after you sign up to increase your odds – you’ll get an extra entry for each person that signs up using your link!

With that, I’ll share the video showing the Coach’s Eye, just so you don’t have to chase to find it…

Loading...

Just so you know, I won’t likely be getting one of those apps, mainly because I love my Flip and other similar cameras, and I’ve become so familiar with using those that I can practically work with them in my sleep (there is something to that “old dog” story, ya know — ).

Oooooh…  Should any member know more about this app, or should anyone get to try it, I think the rest of us would really like to know your feelings or experiences.

Transitioning from In-line Hockey to Ice Hockey

I say it often enough, that I love my work in hockey, especially because of the great people it allows me to meet.  Then, since the day I set foot (or fingers) onto Twitter, I’ve said pretty much the same thing:  that I’ve met some remarkable people through social media.

Carole Lockwood Taylor, of Tyler, Texas, is such a find for me, a really nice lady I happened to meet through Facebook.   More interesting, though, is the way Carole and I really got to know one another.  More fascinating still, is her connection with our game, ice hockey.

– Dennis Chighisola

Transitioning from In-line Hockey to Ice Hockey

Over a week or so, I’d noticed that a lady named Carole had “Liked” my different Facebook posts, and she’d even made some brief comments on a few rather general observations or comments I’d made.  What really got my attention, however, was the day she added her feelings on a video I’d posted, this highlighting my summertime Mite & Squirt (primarily off-ice) Hockey School.  I mean, after evidently watching it, Carole said about my video message, “THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE !!!”

Huh?  Why in the world would a young lady from Texas be telling me so absolutely that the principles I’d noted in the video — about how in-line skating can help hockey players — were true?

You have to know that I wrote right back to Carole and asked if she was involved in hockey, or if she was a hockey mom.  And she quickly responded, “Being a former Inline Speed Skating Coach, I can tell you THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE !!!”

We went back and forth from there, and I at some point let her know that I kinda pioneered the use of in-lines for ice hockey players here in my home area, and that I’d seen the miracles those efforts had produced.

The real shocker came in a later message from Carole, however…

My son won many awards, even at Nationals, speed skating on inline skates…  Then some coach called me and asked if Jeff could play on an inline hockey team…  he could out skate anyone, keep his head up, and all he had to learn was the finesse  of stick handling.  WHICH HE DID.   In the driveway, in the house, in the street…  he slept with the stick and puck.  He would play 4 age divisions at Inline Hockey tournaments…  12u,14u,16u,18u adult, when he was 12 years old.  That continued until he was 18 and now coaches atoms, mites, bantams, and the Pro Inline team he is on.  He tried out for and made an Elite AAA Ice Team from Houston when he was 13, having only been on the ice for the first time about 4 hours prior. I would drive him to practice in Houston from Tyler (4 hours one way)…

Carole went on to say that the extreme costs and some personal matters ultimately ended those long trips.  However, she finished with an update on her son, Jeff, in that “… he lives in Houston doing what he loves!!!

Now, I know there’s a danger that some readers will scan that first paragraph and miss what truly took place.  Oh, for sure, Carole’s son was obviously unique in his desires to do well in hockey, and he was also pretty lucky to have a mom like her.  At the same time, the things he accomplished would seem pretty unrealistic to anyone who doesn’t believe that in-line training can — and surely does — transfer to the ice.

Then, while Carole ultimately thanked me… “for pioneering the way for inline skaters transitioning to ice,” I think my CoachChic.com friends might find it even more interesting how I actually lucked into the earliest stages of in-line training.

Actually, my son was given the first pair of in-line skates I’d ever seen — I think by a college coach or a local pro scout.  They were an Erect-a-set (if that’s how it was spelled) kind of contraption, with an ugly frame, nuts, bolts and wheels that had to be riveted onto the bottom of hockey boots.  Genius that I was(n’t), I never paid much attention to those skates, except to think that they might be useful for conditioning during the summer months.

Next, a young lady named Nancilee entered the picture…  In fact, she’s become famous in many of my writings, mainly because she was the inspiration for my invention, the Skater’s Rhythm-bar.

Telling the short version of the story here, a 21-year old Nancilee called my office to see if I would give her private lessons and take her from an absolute beginner to making a local ladies’ hockey team a few months down the road.  Hmmmmm…

Hardly looking forward to our first meeting, Nancilee in advance had told me that she’d never been on the ice before.  (Ugh!)  Yet, she left the doorway onto the ice that first day and promptly twirled a quick loop around the rink surface.  Whaaaat?  ???

Scratching my head, I called her in, and Nancilee almost ran over me.    Explaining it all — including her ability to stride — as well as her inability to stop, she simply giggled, “I in-line a lot!”

Yup, that was my REAL indoctrination to in-line skating.  And, man, did my mind race from that day forward…  I mean, I’d seen for myself that someone could train exclusively off the ice and at least fairly well be able to skate on the ice.  So, what if a combination of wheels and blades could be used to better train my hockey students?  Hmmmmm…

By now, most long-time members know about my studies back in the old USSR.  That’s where I learned about the true value of off-ice training.  But that’s also where I discovered that the old Soviets HAD to train away from the ice because of their drastic shortage of indoor rinks.  The more I thought about that, though, the more I realized that most North American amateurs have nearly the same problem.  Ya, it’s hard to make headway as a youth player in our game if we’re not able to practice regularly.  For sure, off-ice training — or dryland — can help immensely with that.  But, then, how about being able to actually skate without the need for costly or hard-to-get ice-time?

Well, sadly, the so-called in-line craze ultimately subsided in many parts of North America.  However, it’s my understanding that roller hockey is alive and well in many southern and western areas of the US.  In fact, a number of recent NHL Draft choices over the past few years have grown-up in California, and they’re on record as having spent a great deal of time in their formative years on wheels.

So, I’m not saying that in-line training is dead, by any means.  I know if I wanted to hold a roller practice with my ice hockey players this weekend, I could be pretty sure they all have a set of in-lines at home.  And one of the reasons I hold that little guys and gals hockey school each summer is for all the reasons Carole and I have mentioned to this point.  In the case of those little ones — and their young parents, however, I want to be sure I’m starting them off right, and making sure they appreciate the benefits of in-line training, and how much that actually does transfer to their on-ice game.

*

PS:  Over the last 2-ish years, I’ve become similarly fascinated by another cross-over sport called floorball.  No, that game doesn’t involve skating, so it’s not going to totally make slideboards, wheels and ice blades obsolete.  However, floorball does promise to help develop a number of other important hockey qualities.  So, who knows…  Maybe I’ll someday soon pioneer yet another great way to train without the need for costly ice-time.

*

PPS:  For those wondering about my occasional mention of the Skater’s Rhythm-bar, I’d like you to know that I’ve been working for months on how to get you all the information you’ll need to make your own.  It’s not an easy process for me, so please be patient.   “Like” this page if you want to be alerted when it’s ready:  Perfecting the Forward Skating Stride

A Guide to Hockey Learning Styles

CoachChic.com membership DOES have its benefits.  For, despite the fact that the following information is free to the public, most hockey coaches, parents and players will never find it.  In fact, most hockey folks don’t even realize this type of science exists at all, or that it even matters.

Actually, a pro hockey coach called me the other night to tell me about this (he likes to share such things with this old coach).  Evidently the team he works with has used this questionnaire and others like it.

So, with that, let’s get into…

– Dennis Chighisola

A Guide to Hockey Learning Styles

Long-time members would likely recall that I’ve written a few posts on this subject, especially for the sake of other coaches.  The real point to all this is that all humans have different learning styles, and it’s important that these be known.

Probably better than a decade ago I worked with a mental training specialist for the St Louis Blues organization.  He’d developed a test for individual athletes, to discover how each of them learned best.  At the time I was corresponding with that good doctor, it was known that there were at least three different ways we learn, while there was also a belief that there might be more than three.  (The last I heard there are at least seven, but I believe they’re mostly a combination of three main ways.)

I’ve always been of the belief that the more we know about ourselves, the better we function in this world.  So, while CoachChic.com is geared towards athletes — and especially hockey players, I think the current subject could prove extremely useful to member businesspeople, homemakers, students, or just anyone.

Getting back to the ways we learn…

I can tell you that I hate to be inundated with words — .  I mean, don’t stop me in a busy and noisy rink lobby and expect that I’m going to retain specific details about our conversations (in other words, don’t expect that I’ll remember that Johnny is going to miss our practice three Mondays from now).  In most instances, I’ll ask you to, “Please email me.”  Why?  It’s because I’m a “visual” guy, and I need to “see” things in order for them to register.

For that very reason, I’d rather deal with a sketch or chart or watch a video in order to learn a new hockey play, assess statistics, etc.

Oddly enough — and despite the fact that I hate being bombarded with auditory stuff, I do very much enjoy listening to taped recordings or podcasts.  ???  How could this be?  My guess is that I have control over the situation — like my car’s CD player, so that I can re-listen to the information countless times until I get it.

Yet a third type of learning has to do with our opportunity to interact during the learning process.  Actually, my grandson took the previously noted test (also given to the Blues), and it was discovered that he fell in this category.  Little wonder, I thought, that Anthony Chic seemed to love my team’s weekly discussion session, and that he was almost always the first player to raise his hand or blurt-out an answer.

Now, before sharing a little gift with you, here’s what I see as the implication to all this…

As a parent, I don’t believe we should assume that our young hockey player either thinks or processes information in the same way we do.  No, while you might enjoy seeing new information as I do, your son or daughter might be more like Tony C, or he or she may rather read through long text or listen to the information.

There is a HUGE message in all this for us coaches.  For, we don’t deal with just one type of learning preference, but it’s more likely that we have a sprinkling of all types of learners within our squad.  How do we satisfy such a wide variety of needs?  Well, my suggestion is to constantly rotate the way we describe things to our kids — sometimes using a greaseboard, sometimes providing handouts or written materials, sometimes doing a physical demonstration, and sometimes holding brief bull sessions.  (Hey, nobody ever said our job would be easy!)

With all that, I’m going to direct you to a site that provides a free questionnaire aimed at helping the quiz taker discover his or her own learning preferences.  (I just took the test, and the results were dead-on — or exactly what I’ve come to know about myself after a kzillion years on this planet.)  If there’s a problem here, the quiz seems a little beyond young hockey players (bummer), but I’m wondering if an adult might possibly help his or her youngster with the questions.  As for older humans, I think the test can be hugely beneficial.  As I suggested in the start, “… the more we know about ourselves, the better we function in this world.”  (Now, just click the graphic to the left to take the test.  You’ll also notice that there are some other great options you can also explore on that website.)

PS:  As can happen with a lot of outside links, the one above might not be there forever.  And, if you do discover it no longer works, please Email Me to let me know.  Enjoy.

 

 

Helping A New “Hockey” Mom

We can thank Natalie C for the following question, submitted via our Ask The Coach box up above.

And a good question it is, since it’s one that arises throughout the winter as I deal with my own Learn-to-skate/Learn-to-play clinics.

– Dennis Chighisola

Helping A New “Hockey” Mom

Just so you know, I placed the term Hockey in quotation marks because this is probably more about learning to skate — and a lot of other things — than about really playing the game. With that, let’s deal with Natalie’s question in small parts, with hers being indented as follows:

I need some advice about my 4 year old son.  At 3 we started skating lessons for him.  He really didn’t get much out of these, except learning how to get up from falling.

If there’s anything I can get bummed about, it’s that a mistake may be made before I can really do anything about it.  And in this regard, I’d like everyone to know that the two levels of my program run back-to-back, and I control the movement of each student from level to level.  It might surprise readers that I have only a few physical requirements when it comes to moving a youngster up to my Learn-to-play group.  On the other hand, I make absolutely sure that a little one is mentally up to the new challenges before a promotion is in order.  As a matter of fact, I may even let a borderline kid stay in the Learn-to-skate group for a few more weeks after I think he or she is ready to move, but let him or her stay for a few minutes into the next group as a way of testing things and letting him or her get their feet wet.  Not so surprisingly, perhaps, I’ve had better luck with kids I’ve held back a few extra weeks than with those I’ve moved up too hastily.

He is 4 1/2 now and he started Ice Mites.  Looking at all the kids he is probably below average.  He doesn’t need a chair, but he barely moves!  He just won’t even try!  After 30min. of the lesson he moves his way to the door and wants to be done.  He’s been told how to hold his stick many times but won’t hold it the right way for more than a couple seconds.

I think Natalie’s comments here pretty much support what I hinted at above.  For sure, the little guy seems as though he could have used another season (or part-season) back in the basic skating clinic. She also brings into this discussion the age issue, which is something that really should be highlighted here.  So, with that, I’m pasting in a piece from the FAQ section of my Learn-to website…

- About player ages… A lot of new parents wonder about the proper ages for these programs, to which Coach Chic usually responds, “There probably really aren’t any.”  In most instances it has a lot more to do with a youngster’s personality.  In other words, a daring 2 1/2-year old might do better than a 9-year old who won’t let go of the boards.  So again, it usually has a lot more to do with whether a child will come out onto the ice — and just give things a try, versus there being a set age limit.

That piece was actually written for parents who were considering entering their very young one into the clinic.  However, the concept — of focusing more on personality than age — is very appropriate to the discussion at hand.  And this should at least help Natalie appreciate why a lot of 4-year olds in her son’s clinic approach the lessons very differently. It’s quite likely that Natalie’s little guy is less mature than some of the others in his hockey group, but I’m not saying that as a bad thing at all.  (It’s conceivable that some of his more aggressive on-ice friends will have issues later in a classroom environment.)

When they bring the nets out he wants to be the goalie. I think it’s just a way for him to stand and not try.  He says he likes it, but it sure doesn’t seem that way.

This could very well be a good thing.  I mean, it seems like the tyke is “into it”, at least somewhat; it’s just that he’s a bit overwhelmed by the hockey group right now.

So, as a parent, how do I handle this??  I’ve been told he’s just too young, but there are plenty of 4 yr olds zipping around out there.  Maybe he’s just not ready?

There’s not a lot more to be said in this area right now.  However, I may have more positive suggestions to make in awhile.

Fine, but he should learn to honor a commitment.  I am just getting way too stressed and frustrated about this.  I know that’s not right.

  Oh, I am not at all teasing about Natalie’s pain, or the fact that she’s getting stressed over all this.  Actually, I was a 20-something and 30-something hockey parent a kzillion years ago, and I was a jerk.

I do think it nice that Natalie wants her son to ultimately learn to honor a commitment — emphasis on “ultimately”.  At 4-years old, it’s not really his commitment yet.  However, I will suggest that she keep that philosophy in mind for a few years down the road, and I’ll further suggest that coaches like me will love her and her son for that type of sentiment.

I feel like it will be more fun for him once he really starts to skate well, but that’s not going to happen if he doesn’t try.

Okay, now for some positive advice… That thing about Natalie’s son being too quickly rushed out of the skating clinic and into the hockey one is water over the dam.  It’s done, we have to somewhat forget about it, but we sure do have to make some amends.

Only Natalie would know whether withdrawing the boy from his current clinic would be right.  I am thinking NOT.  And that brings me to the suggestion to blend in some supplemental opportunities for the youngster to play catch-up.  Here are a few things that come to mind:

1) Another go-round in a learn-to-skate clinic wouldn’t hurt.  Actually, it’s possible — at a year older — the boy would do quite well with that kind of instruction, he’d probably blow through some of the progressions, and likely gain some needed confidence.

2) My own boy got to play some minor league pro hockey, and I think back to the things we did as a family that just may have helped him as much as all the formal instruction he received.  In that regard, I’m talking about some time on nearby ponds, and the times we’d go as a family to a local rink for public skating sessions.  In both instances, there was no pressure, and the chance to kinda free-wheel-it.  Best of all were the public skating sessions when my son and some other 5- or 6-year old buddies would chase each other in and out of the crowd.  If you folks get my drift here, I’m talking about fun, no pressures, and the chance to actually gain confidence.

3) Every week before my Learn-to-skate kids go onto the ice, we spend about 10-minutes in the lockerroom doing what I call SkateDrills.  I’ve made a science out of that kind of training with my oldest students and players, but with the little ones this short session is a chance to rehearse some of the things we’ll later do on the ice.  And, make no mistake about it:  learning to get up and down, march, jog and jump with the skates on has absolutely nothing to do with ice.  No, it’s about handling the body, and handling the body over a pair of thin stilts.  That said, I’m suggesting that Natalie find a place at home where her son could wear his skates for something like 10-minutes per day, and perhaps she could allow him or encourage him to try some of the tricks I just mentioned.

Are there kids who acted this way when his age and turned out to be great hockey players?  Please tell me what to do?  I’m desperate for some advice on how to handle this.

Thanks Name     Natalie C

A big right back at ya, Natalie, plus some good news… I make it a big deal over on my Learn-to website about the fact that my son’s son was a “snow eater” during his first winter in my program (at about 4-years old).  Truthfully, I didn’t care if he became a hockey player, but I did want him to learn to skate, to swim, etc.  Truth also be known, we had to sometimes bribe him with doughnuts to keep him on the ice.  In a sec, I’m going to direct Natalie and others to see a clip of how well my grandson ultimately developed.

In the meantime, here’s one last, super-important point… Perhaps the one term I’ve used here more than any other is “confidence”.  Honest to God, one can’t do anything well without it, and it’s my main underlying aim as I work with every one of my students or players — no matter their age.  And I’m suggesting that Natalie do the very same for her little guy.  In most instances, holding a youngster back until he’s mastered a given skill is the best way to instill confidence.  For, with that, the youngster increasingly dares to take on new challenges.

Okay, thanks again for that awesome question, Natalie!  Take heart; there’s plenty of hope for your son if you just go slowly with him for a time.  Then, look for the first video on my Learn-to Home Page, to see a slightly older boy feeling pretty good about himself.

The Need to Compete!

Ya know, even after 40-ish years of doing what I do, I still sometimes have difficulty defining the uniqueness of my style — or how my approach to the game tends to be different from most others.

Sometimes reality hits from out of the blue, though, like as I read an article like the following.

– Dennis Chighisola

The Need to Compete!

The article I’m referring to now is about Sweden’s new-look hockey model paying dividends.

As many others have been doing over recent years, the Swedes began looking deeply into the changes needed at their developmental levels to remain among the world’s elite hockey-producing nations.

“It wasn’t too long ago the Swedish Ice Hockey Association was forced to come to grips with the fact its educational and developmental methods had become outdated.”  The Swedes knew they had to make changes in their education system, their coaching, and especially, attitude.  And they’re now believing their ability to improve those areas “… at an early age has played a vital role” in accomplishing their goals.”

Also like a lot of other hockey playing countries, the Swedish hierarchy noticed a point in their history when their players weren’t keeping up with others.  “Realizing this fact, Sweden’s director of youth development, Tommy Boustedt, initiated a Commission of Inquiry on junior hockey in Sweden in 2002. The meeting included 120 people, including junior coaches, club executives and scouts. The professionals were broken down into groups, some working with coaching and education, others critiquing player development.”

“Everyone came up with ideas on how we could change our hockey,” Boustedt told NHL.com.  “Some of the important things we learned were that we had to revise the demands on the coaches and educate much better.  Our education material was old-fashioned … it was built by way of the old Swedish style and the old European style.”

“Boustedt and his group also reached out for the advice of many of the game’s finest Swedish players…”

“The No. 1 reason they provided us was the leadership they had growing up,” Boustedt said. “They all said they had great coaching.  That being said, we had to raise the quality at the youth and junior coaching levels.”

My personal take-away from that article was the Swedes’ huge improvement in coaching, bottom to the top.  And as Devils’ goalie Johan Hedberg noticed about fellow Swedes currently playing in the NHL, “The education level for coaching from a young age to the junior ranks is really, really high.  I think that has a lot to do with there’s a lot of young guys coming in now and being as prepared as they are.  They’re getting great teaching from an early age.”

Ah, yes, “from an early age”.

As I hinted at earlier, the Swedes also began paying more attention to the demands of competing in the current day game, and especially those things they’d need to do better to be successful in the NHL.  Major among these was to improve play around the net and in the corners.

As for my “Aha!” moment, well…

“If you want to be on the elite level, you have to compete in everything you do from the beginning,” Boustedt said. “The best competitor ever was Peter Forsberg. If we could take Peter Forsberg’s mind and put it into all our talented players that would be perfect. Being competitive is more important than skating fast or shooting hard.

“Let’s face it, the word ‘compete’ was obsolete in this country — we haven’t been in a war in 200 years and we have a classic social democratic system that built this society, and to ‘compete’ has historically been a bad word.”

Today, having that competitive spirit in everything associated with Swedish hockey is what has changed most, according to Boustedt.

“The word ‘compete’ is a good word again in Swedish hockey,” he said. “Our message to the kids is what they need to do to become an elite hockey player. It has to do with hockey skills and tactics and all types of physical training. We have psychologists speaking to the kids, explaining what they should and shouldn’t do.”

“North Americans are very competitive, they go to the net, crash and are good along the boards,” Boustedt said. “(North Americans) can body check and take a body check … areas where we have been very soft before, but that we’re now incorporating into our development. The area we need to get even stronger, though, is in shooting and goal scoring.”

Ya, my “Aha!” moment…

Without doubt, the need to “compete” is vital to being successful in our game.  Every critical moment that takes place in a hockey game represents a competition between small groups of players — 1 versus 1, 2 on 1, 2 against 2, etc.

And that brings me to the way I usually develop my drills, as well as the countless posts I’ve offered within these pages having to do with skill progressions.

As if members don’t already know, I like to begin with progressions that one of my social media friends would call “easy peasy” — .  I want them to be do-able, not threatening in the least, and even great confidence boosters.  Thereafter, though, I’m very gradually attempting to make my drill progressions come closer and closer to what it’s really like to play the game.

You’ll even see the above happening if you scan through my three “Must-do Skating Drills” videos…  Kids laugh like crazy as they attempt the drills demonstrated in the Beginners’ video, while there are some pretty touch challenges offered in the most Advanced one.

Over the early part of this winter, I’ve probably overdone the mention of two simple drills I see as key to a hockey player’s ability to “compete”.  What I’m getting at, of course, is isolated games of Tag and similarly isolated games of Keepaway.  In essence, the skills those games enhance ARE the basis for being successful in match-ups like the 1 versus 1, 2 on 1, 2 against 2, etc.  Come to think of it, those drills increase resistance as the players mature.  In other words, using it on some nights provides the challenges two Mites give each other, while on other nights a pair of Bantams provide a very different level of challenge.

However, those drills are only the tip of the ice berg.  I mean, every single skill we can think of should have its own system of progressions — from easily do-able confidence builders to wild and maybe even more-difficult-than-the-actual-game type drills.

And that brings me back to the chance to better define what I do.  Hmmmmm…

For sure, the idea of helping players to better “compete” is one of them.  Still, I don’t rush to accomplish that.  No, I’m very, very care — or methodical — about bringing kids along slowly, mainly because their confidence — and even their love of the game — depends on it.

All this said, any of the posts here that explain my inner feelings are really intended for other coaches (or even member parents).  In other words, I want to share my feelings, so that you may begin to formulate more of your own.  You don’t necessarily have to think exactly as I do.  However, I really would consider incorporating more and more drills within your progressions that have players “competing” in practices, much like they need to do to succeed in their games.

 

 

 

 

A Hockey Defenseman’s Decision-making

This question arrived via my new friend from Italy, Stefano.  And let me tell you that it’s a tricky one.

What I mean by tricky — at least in this case — is that there’s probably no exact answer to it.  But, let me explain…

– Dennis Chighisola

A Hockey Defenseman’s Decision-making

I’ll begin by including Stefano’s question here:

“It often occurs in our practice games that when my team is into the offensive zone, one of the opponent’s forwards is roaming in his neutral zone (in order to get the pass and break free) instead to stay in the zone, covering one of the d-men.  That forces me (or my linemate) to take a step back and cover the guy, in order not to be caught out of position in case of a quick transition or a breakaway pass.  I realize this backstepping is taking me out of the offensive contribution and I’d rather be productive on both ends of the rink.  As a blueliner, I’m primarily supposed to stop players and pucks, but in modern game a solid offensive contribution is necessary as well.  What should I do?  Cover the guy or focus on the offensive?

As an aside, I’d like to let other coaches know that I’ve actually used the roaming forward option as an offensive ploy.  What caused me to resort to that was a long ago opponent of my old college team.  That team was relentless in their forecheck, they pinched their defensemen in ways that just got my wingers hammered, and they would often keep us trapped in our own end for minutes at a time.  So, what I ultimately did was to designate a forward on each line to roam the neutral zone, and I asked my defensemen to look for that guy as their first option on the breakout.  My thinking was to make the enemy D worry about my breakaway man — much like Stefano describes, and to at least somewhat make them hesitant to pinch.  And, if we got just one breakaway early-on — whether we scored on it or not, the chance it would happen again would weigh heavily on our opponents’ minds.

With that, you ought to have a sense of what Stefano is now going through.   And, while I’ve already said that there’s no exact answer to this problem, here’s what I’ve had my defensemen do…

First, it’s obviously important that our D be aware of roaming forwards.  (There’s nothing worse than our blueliners being surprised by a long bomb pass to a man behind them.)

Secondly, remember the old hockey principle, “Head on a swivel”.  I mean, while in their defensive roles, every one of our players should be quickly glancing back and forth — at the puck location, at the man they’re supposed to cover, back to what’s happening with the puck, and so on.

While they’re keeping their heads on swivels, I’ve had my defensemen also keep sliding along their offensive blue line to always stay in-line between their man and the puck.  In other words, if the enemy does try to launch a long pass towards neutral ice, there’s a good chance one of my men will knock the pass down so we can quickly transition to offense.

If we’re able to pull that play off, we actually have a powerplay within the offensive zone.  And, just like I tried to do against our old college rivals, making our opponents pay for a given tactic can oftentimes result in their abandoning it.

In closing, let me state again, that this isn’t any sort of rule, and it’s quite probable another coach out there may have a different and even more successful way of handling this somewhat tricky challenge.  That’s one of the benefits I see here at CoachChic.com, in that there are apparently lots of great hockey minds within our membership.  So, please do chime in!