I am starting a thread for examples of youth practices. I do my school group and am supposed to do some springand summper groups and various hockey camps here and maybe in the Czech Republic.

Other coaches are welcome to post their practices and share ideas. That is why this site exists.

March 15

I was supposed to just help out this day, but the substitute teacher had never run the ice session before and asked me to take over. So we separated a mixed grade 7-9 group (24 skaters; 2 goalies) into three 'shifts' of equal ability so they would compete on equal footing. We played 4 on 4, so 8 kids on each bench. This replicates similar situations in a minor hockey game - on the ice every third shift.

Rules of Engagement: They had to pass within three seconds (or else it was a free puck to the other team) and upon gaining the offensive zone, had to gain the creaseline within three seconds before making a play on net (direct attack, pass, shot.)

On the whistle (every one minute), the player with the puck passed it back to the respective goalie.

I encouraged quick transitions and legal line changes (man for man substitutions).

The goalies had to pass to their new players entering the ice; if a poor change (too slow) resulted in the goalie getting forechecked, he had to move the puck down the ice into open space.

We kept score and played for 50 minutes. Losers were punished (skating / pick up pucks / move nets.)

The kids wanted to play instead of drills. They were quite vocal in what they wanted to do... "PLAY!"

I have done this game before and I can see some improvements with the principles of puck control, support, and pressure. These kids are still learning about transition and decision-making preceding the 'moment of anticipation' when it is a "0" game (nobody has the puck.) More time with this game variation and I hope 'the game will be the best teacher.'

Hmmm. Here are some different ways I suggest you "get up to speed on TGfU":

(A)

You could certainly re-read the old Thorpe book.

http://www.tgfu.org/articles/PHED RETHINKING GAMES.pdf

Joy Butler (UBC) also has two TGfU books out that are pretty good (search Human Kinetics publishers.) I would also search "Game Sense" for more titles, on YouTube, etc. Try to get Joan Vickers books at the library (regarding the topics of Motor Development, Neuropsychology, etc. - also through Human Kinetics.)

Check out these videos from Australia (cut and paste with no spaces):

http://www.ausport.gov.au/
participating/coaches/videos/
coaching_children/game_sense_-_part_1

There are 3 parts. And:

https://www.isportz.com/videotemplateview.cfm?
urlkey=Mj0nSC9SQEkrRklOX01bX09CSTs3I005
Sgo%3D

Again, there are 3 parts.

http://www.activehealth.uow.edu.au/
gamesense/index.html

USA Hockey book:

http://usahockey.cachefly.net/Coaching/Manuals/
SmallAreaGamesBook.pdf

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(B)

You can't 'speed up' decision training. It takes time and repetition - lots of it! Just like 10 years or 10,000 reps of deliberate practice to become an expert... this is a long-term approach that will pay dividends the more you use it. Ideally, you would start teaching basic skills via repetition to young kids. Then incorporate games... by the time they are 14 / 15, they would be deadly decision makers! (If you can expose the athletes to GS between the ages of 8-14, this is where their minds are still pliable and the biggest / quickest gains can be seen... based on the LTAD. You can do it with older athletes / adults, but I don't think the effect is as easy / quick / dramatic. At the HS or Junior age, you might only have them for 3-4 years.)

But even if you are 'starting' to use GS with high school athletes, it will make a big difference. (You might need to 'sell it' as older kids are less open-minded.) You will see some confusion at the start and perhaps their performance (outcomes) will dip; if you keep with it throughout the year, these outcomes will start to come around after a few months and soon you will outdistance the 'pattern players' / teams! Have faith! Off-ice training in the summer and / or during the season is a great way to teach using this approach. It's cheap, you avoid trying to find and pay for ice, the kids (and coaches) learn, have fun, compete and increase fitness levels! I play handball games in a gym to teach these concepts. You can use different sizes / shapes / weights of balls; or floor hockey / floorball sticks; or play these games using soccer balls / basketballs. (I am writing a coaching book on the use of Smart Transitional Games... I will make an announcement when it is complete.)

I started training the university female hockey team off-ice with my Colombian friend, John, at the end of year one. We trained off-ice 4-5 mornings / week for 1.5 hours for two months. Then when the girls came back to school, we trained four days a week after practice for 1 hour. All in a gym using handball games, etc. We had no new recruits (long story - I took over after the season ended.. the A/C responsible for recruiting had done none all year and then left the program, along with the head coach.) So even though we had the same players, they were WAY more intense and competitive and started to learn and understand the concepts of transition, puck control (stall/ contain), support and pressure. This translated into better performance on the ice (keep in mind, our skill level was still way below where the other teams were...) and really demonstrated to me the drastic improvement (right from the first session!) this style of coaching has over the traditional methodology.

By putting athletes into game-like situations, they start to become more adept at reading and reacting. The coach must craft the environment to highlight certain elements of the game that he feels are important.

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(C)

Tom and Jusso's approach to teaching (outlined in their book) is excellent. Outline what a 0-1-2 situation is, then identify the four playing roles. Put them into situations with a lot of 1 vs 1 drills; then 2 vs. 1 or 1 vs. 2; then 2 vs. 2; then 3 vs. 3; then 3 vs. 2 or 2 vs. 3; 4 vs. 4... up to 5 vs. 5. (If you read my colleague Igor's work in his PhD dissertation, you see the majority of game situation play is 1 vs. 1. Judge your practice time accordingly! I will try to post this article later...)

Sounds too simple, but... start at the start... then progress. Even if you feel you can start later in the book (some kids might seem like they are ready), some or all of the kids NEED the basic understanding of 'WHY' things are done... if you skip over stuff, or move too quickly, they might never get it and always lag behind. This becomes the art of coaching and it is up to the coach to decide 'how fast' to move. And don't forgot to go back and repeat lessons either!

I approach it like teaching hockey 101. Ask the kids for the answers... never provide them. Let them Figure It Out (FIO) on their own time - this then becomes the right pace.

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(D)

Also, I would recommend you read Tony Wagner's book, "The Global Achievement Gap" as he highlights the Seven Critical Steps we AREN'T addressing in the education system. These steps essentially mirror HOW Game Sense is taught! (I am writing an article with another administrator in a local schoolboard addressing how to revamp our teaching style; and what teachers can 'steal' from coaching sports! When it is done, I will post it here...)

Tony's site: www.schoolchange.org

"Education expert Tony Wagner conducted scores of interviews with business leaders and observed hundreds of classes in some of the nation's most highly regarded public schools. He discovered a profound disconnect between what potential employers are looking for in young people today (1, 7 & 5 below) and what our schools are providing (passive learning environments and uninspired lesson plans that focus on test preparation and reward memorization.)"

1. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving. Create independent thinkers! Learn to ask great questions.
2. Collaboration & Leadership. The ability to positively influence and lead a team.
3. Agility and Adaptability. "Open-mindedness" - the ability to use a team environment to find solutions.
4. Initiative & Entrepreneurism. Try! Don't be afraid to risk. By not trying, you have already failed!
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication. Be clear and concise, across cultures, in 60 seconds or less - an "Elevator Speech."
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information. The ability to find, filter, synthesize and prioritize the overabundance of information out there...
7. Curiosity, Imagination (& Creativity - I added this one...) Think outside the box. Come up with novel approaches and solutions.

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(E)

My time researching and teaching with Joan Vickers at U of C made me scratch my head in disbelief at the start, but as I grew (grow) older and wiser, I see she was right on the money (and she continues to produce outstanding research.) It took time for me to evolve from the old school, traditional methodology of coaching drills that had little purpose (except mimic motor patterns for skills) with no accountability, poor intensity and weren't game-like (no pressure / don't have to make reads... just skate a pattern) into the Game Sense approach. Really, it took me from 1986 to 2003 - which is when I started to get it and 'challenge' the traditional path. By 2008, I felt 'converted' and hate the traditional style. Just watching these practices makes my mind get dumber - almost like exposing myself to kryptonite!

Here is what Mel Davidson said of Joan's decision-training model / style several years ago:

Melody Davidson is (was) head coach of Cornell University's women's ice hockey team at Ithaca, N.Y. She was assistant national coach of the Canadian women's hockey team at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and 2002 world championships and head coach at the 2000 world championships. She was also head coach of the 1998-1999 women's under-22 team. She graduated from the National Coaching Institute - Calgary in 1997.

"When I first learned about Decision Training from Joan while studying at the NCI, I wasn't really sold. I had some doubts. But I began to see it as the course progressed, and it is now quite natural in my coaching. It really did two things for me as a coach.

First, it widened my viewpoint on how to teach skills. Random practice, integrating different skills into a single practice setting, as opposed to the steady progression of skills, has been very useful. Certainly for this to be effective, the athletes have to have some basic skills and some playing experience. With random practice, you don't see a lot of success at the beginning, particularly with younger, less skilled athletes, so it does take some patience. With my players now, at the university level, I do basic skill development on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday and Thursday we do more random practice, with lots of questions from me on what they are seeing, and how they will execute a particular strategy. Working with the national team, we did a lot of random practice so that we were continually creating situations where the women had to think about how to play effectively together in new situations.

The second way that Decision Training really helps me is in my practice planning. It taught me how to create a lot of different situations where the athletes need to think about how they would execute a certain strategy. It taught me to ask a lot of questions of my athletes, rather than always telling them what to do and how to do it. It is so natural for me to do this now. Decision Training has given me a lot of confidence as a coach."


Here is the link to the article:

http://quieteyesolutions.com/_private/content/pdf/publications/Vickers2003CAC.pdf

Other Vickers articles:

http://quieteyesolutions.com/_private/
Publications.htm

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(F)

CREATIVITY

http://www.ministry-of-football.com/creativity/

"Kids will take a chance. If they don't know, they'll have a go. They are not frightened of being wrong.. If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original. By the time they are adults most kids have lost this capacity, they have become frightened of being wrong.. We're running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make. The result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities"

- Sir Ken Robinson

Ministry of Football firmly believes that the way children are taught in most schools stifles their natural creative freedom. We believe that following a set syllabus with strict and rigid learning outcomes and methods prevents the children from finding their own best way to learn. In Ministry of Football sessions, we allow children to learn through playing, and we encourage them to experiment with rules, ideas and different ways of doing things. We believe this is conducive to producing a better generation of young footballers.

"The principle goal of education is to create people who are capable of doing new things not simply repeating what other generations have done, people who are creative, inventive and discoverers"

- Jean Piaget, child psychologist and expert on child development

In 2010, The English FA published its new blueprint for youth football development - 'The Future Game'. This publication is based on the premise that the game of football will change in future years in ways we cannot currently foresee - so in order to prepare children adequately for the game of the future, we need to help them develop the skills and techniques to cope with whatever football looks like when they grow up. Ministry of Football wants to contribute to this development of skilful, able football players. We also believe that it is not enough for young footballers to learn only what we know today. We believe it is essential that children are given the encouragement to be creative, to come up with their own answers, and to develop the learning potential to remain creative into their adult life in football.

'Requirements Needed for the Development of More Creative Football Players', by Horst Wein.

http://www.ministry-of-football.com/storage/Requirements Needed
for the Development of More Creative Football Players.pdf
(this one had spaces between the words... might have to search it out.)


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Good luck Dave. I hope these angles provide some guidance and better yet, inspire you to embrace this coaching methodology. Your players will be the benefactors of it!

No problem Dave. I am always glad to help out like-minded individuals. These sources are merely the tip of the iceberg. There is lots more info out there. For what it's worth, I will continue to post practices that I do with my junior and senior high kids on this forum.

I challenge you and any other coach out there to try to look at your regular ''drills" or games in a different light. Take your 'favourite' / most often used 15-20 drills or games and try to figure out ways to make them more game-like. Add competition. Add pressure (people / time / space / rules, etc.) Keep score and punish the losers / reward the winners. Then watch what happens next year when you try these revised favourites... keep notes on what works and what doesn't... and try to figure out, "Why?" This process might not stop. Just when you think you have created a masterpiece, you will see or think or another way to tweak it (or someone else will!) Enjoy the process!

About half the skaters were there. Only 2 from the advanced group and 8 from the younger plus a goalie with each group. Many have left for warmer spring break weather with their families.

I will paste the video links to the games and shootout. Remember about 4 of these kid's don't play on any teams and 3 just started playing in September.

- Ten minutes of individual skills that the players want to work on. Some shoot, some pass, some play 1-1 or 2-2. I go around and give ideas on technique.

-10 min. we worked on the saucer snap pass while the goalies worked with their coach. I demoed how you can pass within the stickhandling by snapping it from the heel towards the middle with the top hand moving like when you throw a frissbee. We just did short passes over the blue or red line with partners. Most players have trouble with this and dip the inside shoulder trying to lift the puck tooo much. It is the most effective pass to clear the sticks in the passing lane and land flat. I demonstrated it many times to give them a picture and moved around helping them.

-10 minutes- Chris the goalie coach ran the big horseshoe. First 5 min was with shots from the top of the circle and the next 5 min. was with dekes. 2.5 min. each side.

-15 min. D1 full ice game of 5-5. Rule: a. that there must be at least one pass in each zone (puck support and on ice vision) b. after you score the entire team must score until you can score again,(so the older kid's must look around and younger ones support) c. scoring team get the puck and go the other way while the other team must touch the red line before checking. (one goalie is a first year goalie)

http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=2011032414361323


-12 min. D1 full ice 5-5. New Rule: you can only have the puck for 2". Other rules the same. This makes it critical that you get close support.

http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20110324143851598

During these games I blow the whistle and everyone stops and I comment on things like creating offensive 2 on 1's, giving close support, calling for the puck, protecting the puck, skating to open ice with the puck, etc. I do this every 3 or 4 minutes. This is trying to teach them how to use the skills effectively and how to Play the Game.

-8 minutes - 2 shot shootout. Shoot on each goalie. Zero goals = 2 laps, One goal = one lap, 2 goals = 0 laps.
http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/mediagallery/media.php?f=0&sort=0&s=20110324144209198

The players then pic up 3 or 4 pucks each and put them in the puck bag. (takes about 30 seconds; they use them; they pick them up)