Hello fellow coaches,

I have been coaching Pee Wee's and Bantams for the past 4 years, switching off every other year. I have been fortunate enough to get a boys high school coaching position here in the US. I have coached as high as U16 and have participated in some area bantam camps.

My job will be to take over the defense portion of the team, I have some ideas I am going to coach/teach, but I was wondering if any coaches out there can help me or pass along a little advice.

I was looking to have a talk about what kind of preparation it will take, making the jump from Bantams to high school. My idea of DZ coverage, defending the NZ - backchecking and steering to the outside, and forechecking either and aggressive FC or when leading more of a 1-1-3.....not a trap Tom

What about implementing a ton of contact? How much skill work should I continue with the team - we have 4 practices and 2 games a week.

Any help, advice, would be appreciated.

Iceman

Hi Tom,

Excellent, appreciate your advice. I would like to bring video into our program, the current staff does some video, but I was going to ask one of the managers/student coaches to video game and practices. Thoughts? I would like to go over technique, disect their play - pro's / con's?


Any help is appreciated and thank you,
Iceman

Iceman,

Aside from recording games and using clips as teaching points, consider recording some practices (or portions of practice) too.

You can focus on the overall picture / half of the ice / specific areas of the ice / players grouped by position / individual players / certain activities / certain habits.

I find the feedback can be used to show good examples of skills / work ethic (find the best ones and use these as your 'high marks'; then if you see certain players not working as hard / struggling with certain aspects of their game, show them their video so they can compare and contrast.

Coach - "Who competes the hardest on the team?"

Player - "Um... probably Brutus. He is always tough to play against and he never gives up!"

Coach - "So look at an example of how Brutus competes in this one on one game... now look at how you play. Do you notice any similarities or differences?"

Player - "Um... yeah. Lots of differences. He really battles and wins the majority of his games."

Coach - "Why is that?"

Player - "He works hard all the time."

Coach - "So is there any magic to what Brutus does? Hard work - can anybody choose to work hard?"

Player - "Yes, I suppose."

Coach - "You know, Brutus doesn't have the best stats on the team, but he is considered to be one of the better leaders due to his work ethic. That work ethic will open doors for him at higher levels of hockey; and in life. By working smart and hard consistently - things anybody can choose to do - he is successful. Do you want to be successful?"

Player - "Yes coach, I do!"

Coach - "So what do you need to do - consistently?"

Player - "I need to compete harder."

Coach - "So how can you demonstrate consistent smart work ethic to me and other people who make decisions about your career. Please give me some specific examples so I can help hold you accountable."

Player - (Ask them and keep guiding them until you hear what you need to hear!)

"Well I can try to be first to the puck, which means I will have to work on my feet, my footspeed and agility - primarily off ice in the offseason but on the ice as well. If I am not first to the puck, I need to continue to persevere to get it back and I can do that - with your help - by letting us play one on one games with a scoreboard and accountability..."

--

I have done this several times at different levels. The older players (more mature) seem to 'get it' better than younger ones. Video doesn't lie! It can have a powerful impact if used at key times. The more you use it - it will lose some impact - so use it for these purposes wisely. When they see themselves vs. an 'ideal' or better than them model, they have a tendency to pick things up - but this needs to be combined with ongoing encouragement and accountability during practices!