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Knowing What To Do Next
An alternate title for this piece is “Using Stations and Games to Teach”, but it might take me a little time to explain that switch-a-roo. Up front, one just has to know that the alternate title has to have a connection to USA Hockey and it’s ADM program. After all, who else would put so…
Read MoreBackground Hockey Prep
We can list and work on all of our game’s skills, and we can design the fanciest playing system in the world. Still, there’s so much more that goes into a successful season, including what I’ll refer to here as all the “background hockey prep”… Okay, so just what do I mean by background hockey…
Read MoreLearning By Doing
Over recent years, it seems tons of seminar speakers, the two North American hockey federations, and a host of do-gooder bloggers have believed that hockey players should put their gear away once their season has ended. As members will discover, I believe in that, too — at least partially, but I also believe the old adage, about learning…
Read MoreChallenging Hockey’s Status Quo
I have a new group member to thank for the inspiration here. Shortly after he joined our group, we connected in a Facebook Chat. And it was then that he mentioned a want to delve through these pages and “…back up a lot of my thoughts.” As he continued, “I think coaches just need some guidance and…
Read More3 Principles Atom Minor Hockey Coaches Should Follow
Okay, if anyone thinks they can’t learn something valuable in a discussion about young players, think again. And if we have some high school or Junior coaches as members here, I’m going to suggest this would prove a very worthwhile read for them. Now, Carol, a Twitter friend from long ago, and a Manager for…
Read MoreDrills to Build Puckhandling Skills
Interestingly, this question arrived in my inbox at a time when I really wanted to share a few special thoughts with my members in reference to puckhandling… Q: Susan, the mom of an 8-year old, says that her son is just starting out in a local house league program. And, while he seems to take to…
Read MoreHow Much Can We Copy From The Stars?
You’ll often catch me saying that my students and players have gained a lot from my studying star athletes. For example, when it comes to hockey stars, younger students benefited from my dissecting Denis Savard’s spinarama, and then teaching it in several very easy steps; while my studies of the great Ovechkin have surely helped…
Read MoreWhy Create New Drills?
Okay, the above graphic is one I’m also using elsewhere right now. But, let me tell you a little story behind that graphic… Throughout my years in the game, I’ve had countless youth coaches ask me if I’d design a lesson plan that they could use for their season ahead. Needless to say, I’d be…
Read More“Up The Boards, Johnny!”
This is obviously an older video, but it was inspired by my ongoing conversations with a sport psychologist many years. She was a coach and college professor, and she specialized in parent-athlete communications. And, we surely hit it off when I told her about my experiences in that area. Now, I’ve pretty much described the…
Read MoreWhat To Really Do During The Off-season
If you didn’t know by now, there is a lot of bad — or misguided — information out there, when it comes to off-season training advice. Most hockey seasons are winding down right now, so I thought this a good time to offer my two cents worth. Really, I have some great stuff planned…
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