On-ice Hockey Vision

It’s a funny thing, in that some subjects necessary to playing our game well seldom get talked about in hockey circles.  That’s why I spend so much time seeing what coaches in other sports are doing, and that’s why I got psyched to find some pretty good help for our hockey players’ vision…  

Okay, I hope we can agree on something here, in that most transition sports — like hockey, basketball, soccer and lacrosse — have a lot of similarities.  Of course, the big thing is that play continues in a transition game, as either a puck or ball switches hands.  In other words, on a turn-over, one team goes from being on the attack to suddenly being on defense.  Along that same line of thinking, it should make sense that ball possession or puck possession is big-time important.

It should also necessarily follow, then, that vision is important in each of those games, as a player moves with either a ball or a puck.  So again, members shouldn’t be surprised that a video series on a basketball point guard’s vision would jump right out at me.  

Ya, the basketball point guard.  Every time I watch a b-ball game, the point guard position reminds me of a hockey playmaker, and such a player also reminds me a lot of the guy I like running my powerplay.  

No matter, all of these players need great vision, moving with the ball or puck as they survey the area ahead for enemy players and open teammates.   So, it’s the same thing in our game as it is in basketball or soccer or lacrosse, huh?  

In our sport, on-ice hockey vision is key to advancing the puck up-ice and towards the enemy goal, as well as weighing our options once we near the goal.

One aside here…  Members might know that I argue a lot with those who have gotten locked into saying that, “Hockey players have to keep their heads up as they carry the puck.”  What I say instead, is that, “Hockey players must keep their eyes up as they move with the puck.”  The distinction shouldn’t be a biggie, if two coaches are talking, but I much prefer to emphasize the eyes as I help players with their puckhandling skills. 

Okay, I’m not going to say much more in reference to the video up top, and I’m even going to suggest that coaches, parents and players follow the links to catch more videos in that series.  My feeling is that the basketball coach’s approach to ball control is going to help my members a lot with their on-ice hockey vision. 

Now, just envision a big smile from me, because this old coach loves that Stephen began his presentation with a little philosophy.  I’ve mentioned that elsewhere within this site, because the physical side of sport doesn’t progress much unless there’s a strong philosophy already in place.

As for my one other piece of advice, I’d say that the most important thing could leave members with right now is a mental picture of something…  I  mean, whether it be a basketball point guard or one of our hockey players, please envision a player moving with a ball or puck, scanning the area ahead, moving, scanning, moving, scanning…  No player can survive with tunnel vision, but he instead needs to be able to take in a wide field, and constantly assess the safest way to advance the ball or puck.

Oh, by the way…  Where I had earlier mentioned my thing about moving and puckhandling with the eyes up, take a look at the guy below.  He may have been momentarily caught at an instant where he’d just glanced down, but if he keeps moving in that way, there’s a good chance he’s hospital bound. 

Oh, and just to show how much I believe eye training is important to our game, here’s one of my goaltenders from several years back training in The MOTION Lab.  He’s actually dealing with three problems at once — and doing a good job at it:  wearing an eye-patch, juggling, and bouncing on a mini-trampoline…

Lastly, if you have some time, I strongly suggest that you plug “Point Guard Vision Vol.” into the YouTube.com search box after you watch the original video.  That should bring up a ton of other, very much related videos by Stephen Bardo.

Enjoy.