Learning Hockey — with Coach Chic & Chomper

This special note from Coach Chic…

If your son, daughter or team is at the stage where they need to learn hockey’s basic rules and positioning, this is the video for them.  No, it’s not for grown-ups, as I’ll soon explain.  But it’s been written and produced in a way that seems to really work for 5- to 7-years old.  And, as you’ll see, it’s awesome for helping very young kids learn about off-sides, icing and where to line-up for face-offs.

Now, I’ve coached all levels of our game — up through high school and college, and I even had several minor league pro interviews.  I’ve also helped a number of students reach the NHL or other elite levels.

That said, perhaps one of the things I’m best at is in knowing where I am at a given time.  I mean, I don’t treat high school guys like kindergardeners, and I don’t talk over the heads of my littlest students.  No, in fact, I go into what I jokingly refer to as my “Mr Rogers impression” when I teach my Learn-to-skate and Learn-to-play clinics.

And that’s what I felt the need to do as I prepared to write the script for the following video.  As I said already, I wasn’t writing it for you, the parent or coach.  (Actually — and I’m chuckling at myself a bit here, because I felt pretty stupid doing some of the audio.  But, I knew “baby talk” and a lot of bells and whistles were necessary if I was to keep the attention of little ones.

If you’ll notice, this video was created a number of years ago (it still has my old CoachChic.com introduction).  Actually, I produced it as a gift to a number of students I had in a summer hockey school back then, sort of as a supplement — or home study program — for the things we were working on on the ice.

Frankly, I held my breath as I waited for feedback from my camp parents.  But, every single follow-up comment was unbelievably positive.  In fact, a number of parents told me that their kids practically wore-out the CD I’d given them.  And, some told me their youngsters knew the video by heart.

Okay, so why don’t I let you take a peek at it right now.  Then, once you’ve had a chance to view it, I’ll add a number of further comments and some advice down below (there seems to be something slightly off with the timing of audio and video when face-offs are covered — it’s hardly noticeable; but I promise to fix that as soon as possible)…

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Okay, is it silly?  Yes.   But, does it work?  Absolutely — because it’s just what a young player needs!  And, as I suggested in the video, countless viewings are going to prove a whole lot more effective than just a few.

As I also suggest, a parent can enhance the learning experience by asking questions of the youngster, perhaps testing him or her in a fun way (and even using a little tool I’ll make available here pretty shortly).

For both parents and coaches, I think you ought to also consider that kids aren’t ever going to truly understand their playing positions without first knowing their left from their right sides.  So, I would make it a point to frequently quiz or otherwise help your youngster/s in this area.

As for coaches of very young teams…  I have done a simple drill — off-ice and on the ice — that really reinforces the off-sides rule.  So, here goes…

• Either mark a line (with chalk) on the lockerroom floor or out in the runway, or use a section of the blue line on the ice.
• Have a coach be a partner for one kid at a time as they both approach the offensive blue line.  In this way, the coach gets to totally control over the drill.
• The coach will want to alternate his her approach to this drill.  In other words, sometimes you might move at a slow, sure pace, and put the puck on-side ahead of your young partner.  At yet other times, the coach should pretend to have difficulty advancing the puck, at which time the young skater must know enough to delay until he or she sees the puck cross the line.

Oh, by the way, parents could easily run that drill at home.  Just be creative about locating a mock blue line.

Then, here’s a little insight into my reason for solving the problems dealt with in that video…  When my grandson was a 6-year old Mite C in the local youth program, I used to cringe at the amount of ice-time that was wasted in his games.  I mean, kids would mill around for what seemed an eternity, searching for where they should line-up for a face-off.  Worse yet, few of the little guys understood the rules of off-side or icing, which meant there were countless more face-offs than there should have been.  So, if there is a very good reason for solving these problems — or for having your youngster or team watch the video countless times, it’s to give them more real playing time within an hour of ice, and to thusly make the game more fun for them.

Finally, here’s our deal, and a good reason why I’m currently making this video available to non-members:

I NEED YOUR FEEDBACK!

Down below is a box for “Feel free to leave a comment… “.

What I’d really like to know is if the video seemed to work — with an individual, or with a team.  And, while it would be nice to have a commenter’s name and organization, I would at least like to know the age of the youngster/s using the program, as well as your position (as a parent or coach).

Oh, and yes you can share this page and video with teammates or friends.  Just send them a link to the CoachChic.com home page (that works best), and tell them to scan the free stuff for “Learning Hockey — with Coach Chic & Chomper“.

Thanks for stopping by.  And, I look forward to helping you further as your little one grows in the game.

– Dennis Chighisola