About “Hockey Sense”

I love it when hockey folks touch base with me in our ASK THE COACH section. Not only do I love talking hockey with good people, but I also love being tested or forced to solve problems…

Q: Michael G. has a tough one, if only because I think anyone’s answer is going to be a matter of opinion.  That said, Mike states that, “I see the words “hockey sense” in some articles I have recently read. One in an issue of USA Hockey, and another in a recent sports section of the Boston Globe. The phrase “hockey sense” seems to describe the ability of a player to read and react quicker to a play than the other players. My question to you is… Is “hockey sense” something you are born with or can a player develop it over time from strong coaching and game time situations?”

A: Let me say from the very start, that I think “hockey sense” is difficult to define.  As a matter of fact, I suspect two different observers could watch a given hockey player and have different feelings when it comes to that player’s “hockey sense”.

Still, I think most of us have a fairly good idea of what that phrase means (to us), even if we’re not likely to be able to put it into words.

Actually, two things I’ve written in the past initially come to mind here…

• In just answering Megan B.’s question — about “On-ice Hockey Vision“, I compared puck-skills with driving a car, and I went on to suggest that we’re not really comfortable with either skill until we’ve done it so many times that it’s almost become an involuntary action (and reaction).
• I long ago did a column for “Hockey/USA” in which I tackled the subject of “Seeing the Ice”.  In that, I tried to describe what I felt analysts or color commentators were really trying to say — about the likes of a Gretzky, a Drew Bledsole (he was the Patriots’ budding young quarterback then), and a number of other noted athletes.  Interestingly, when I suggested to a former LA King linemate of The Great One that Gretzky had more individual skills “on automatic” than we mere mortals, the former King answered, “Bingo!”

Now, those things mainly focus on physical skills.  And I DO believe that great individual skills play a part in a player demonstrating “hockey sense”.  (Although a lot of dads — the ones with kids who can’t skate or puckhandle a lick — try to convince me their young ones are really smart out there on the ice, I have a hard time believing those kids are ever going to get to show their smarts beyond youth hockey!)

Then — and once a player has his or her hockey skills pretty much on automatic, there’s obviously a mental component to that “hockey sense” thing.

For part of this, I’ll refer Mike and other members to the video series I created on “Critical Periods in Motor Learning”.  For, I truly believe that we humans learn (or don’t learn) many traits necessary to “sport sense” during infancy and just slightly beyond.  Picture, for example, a ball or puck moving and an athlete moving to intercept it.  Would you believe that some athletes find this simple tracking skill easier than others?  And, I’ll suggest that some other very basic — but very critical — human/sport skills (like balance, proprioception and hand/eye coordination) are either learned or not learned when the timing is right.  As I suggest in that video — and backed by some other very knowledgeable folks, the brain and all the signaling devices to the muscles have to be developed very early-on.

Next, there is the need for a player to “read” and “react” according to solid, time-tested hockey playing principles.

So, where do the influences come from that help one play with so-called “hockey sense”?  Well, when it comes to certain basic abilities, I’ll suggest that they’re a combination of genetics and environment (as in the things youngsters are exposed to during “Critical Periods in Motor Learning“).  Those who should know this stuff will also suggest that hockey players should dabble in other sports — because these not only make him or her more athletic, but other sports also challenge players to deal with new mental challenges (think about that one).  Of course, most players rely on a wise and artful coach to instill the necessary individual hockey skills and to teach solid playing principles.  Oh, ya, and I’ll suggest that knowledgeable parents can help in many ways.

Finally, Mike and other members might now understand why I’ve structured this site the way I have.  I mean, I couldn’t see the sense in helping a player to be better skilled while ignoring his or her abilities to “think the game”.  Nor could I see advising a player to be smarter without helping him or her attain the skill level necessary to executing all the X’s and O’s.  So, if you get my drift, I very much feel hockey training has to be approached in almost a holistic way.

Oh, as a PS (and a very important one):  Guess what.  After a lot of time dealing with some specialists, I launched a new category here at CoachChic.com.  The title of that new area?  “Mental Training”!  And, as a very early installment, I introduced something I developed long ago called my “Think ‘n Skate” program.  Ah, and is Michael ever going to love it!