Nice to hear from a newbie!
1. Divide kids into teams.
2. Set up loose puck races - straight to the puck, turns, through pylons... whatever!
3. Hold kids accountable. If they get to the puck first (and get a shot on net; or skate the puck out of the zone; or make a good pass to a support player... etc. - you design the 'game' to meet your needs and specify the 'winning' conditions!), they win. Loser owes you pushups or whatever. You can do this individually per rep (have an AC supervise the losers to make sure the punishment gets done) or keep track of the total 'score' in the teams. After a certain amount of time, the losing team does pushups.
Good luck. Let us know how adding clearly, defined parameters to your games, along with accountability, helps!
1. Have players line up at blue line.
2. Shoot puck in and let them play 1 v 1 or 1 v 1 v 1 cross-ice.
3. You can get several 1 v 1 battles going at the same time, so there is less standing around.
Quote by: rcmat1. Have players line up at blue line.
2. Shoot puck in and let them play 1 v 1 or 1 v 1 v 1 cross-ice.
3. You can get several 1 v 1 battles going at the same time, so there is less standing around.
These suggestions are good. Remember you need to make sure these situations are realistic (gamelike = someone on offense, someone on defence, define the space / 'rules', accountability: keep score with the losers receiving a punishment - this also increases focus / intensity / competition.)
Ask the kids, "What makes you successful on Offence? On Defence?" Let them FIO and tell you and the rest of the players. The game will teach them... you just need to set up the conducive environment, help guide them (implicit, not explicit learning... so SHUT UP!) and make sure they play fairly within the rules... and hold them accountable.
Far too often, we let kids shoot at the net, turn away to go back in line... they need to infer if they did a good job or not (shooter and goalie)... Did they hit the net? Did they score? Did they play the rebound (Did the goalie steer the rebound into the corner / not give a rebound, etc.)?
Keeping score is the ultimate accountability. Then it is up to the coach to administer rewards and punishments (individually or by team - depends on how you set up your games).
This attention to detail separates the "Coach Whisperers" from everyone else.
Badisguy, to work on getting to the puck first you can use almost any game or transition game and add the rule that they 'dump the puck in' and then chase. Show them how to protect themselves going for loose pucks and work on protecting the puck with the body. I like to use a couple of drills to give them the feel of battling and then put loose puck battles into game situations.
I like the intrinsic motivation of wanting to succeed or win instead of extrinsic motivation. Not a big believer in punishing the losers (sorry Dean). We sometimes have them do things like a few push ups, pick up the pucks or skate the circles; but it is more for fun. Winning is a reward in itself and losing is the pits. If I have a team that is low in self motivation I may have more external consequences but I prefer to appeal to the need to get better so they and the team can succeed.
Quote by: TomMI like the intrinsic motivation of wanting to succeed or win instead of extrinsic motivation. Not a big believer in punishing the losers (sorry Dean). We sometimes have them do things like a few push ups, pick up the pucks or skate the circles; but it is more for fun. Winning is a reward in itself and losing is the pits. If I have a team that is low in self motivation I may have more external consequences but I prefer to appeal to the need to get better so they and the team can succeed.
Hey Tom, no offence taken! Everyone has their own philosophy and needs to be true to their own selves! I respect your philosophy and won't try to change you - or anyone who doesn't want to change! (I do think philosophy's can evolve over time and that is a natural thing.) I think it is good that you have a philosophy as many people don't even know what theirs is... I will make this the next topic for the Game Intelligence thread; after we solve the current issue at hand...!
I have tried similar drills, and the boy's race and and seem to grasp it in practice against there own team mates.
They have trouble converting it to games. I like the idea of racing with the coach.. I am seriously thinking of asking ask a second Bantam team if we can team up in practice so it's us against them We can run some of the race drills I have a real fear of most of my players losing and making the situation worse. I am trying to program for success..
thanks for all you suggestions..
I have found that in many instances the kids sit back because they know they will not get the puck if they are not closest to the puck.
They believe they have a better chance sitting back and intercepting a pass at the younger age groups.
I try to teach them that the chaser causes the errant pass and often is the recipient of a pass from the teammate who intercepts the pass. Just my .02.
What are some good Games or drills We can use to encourage getting to the puck before the opposition, I Coach both Atom and Bantam and Player on both team's seem to wait for the opposition to gain the puck and react. I am trying to teach that is is better if they can get to the puck first then they have a bit of control to what happens next.
thanks...