Why 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 a wealthy man if I put such a program up for sale. Fast forward to a few years ago, when a new hockey guru on the block asked me what I thought of the practice plans he was putting up for sale to youth coaches. “Not a good idea,” I told him, before explaining further… You see, even if we designed a plan after evaluating the players on Day One, they would not be the same players on any future day of practice. I mean, each day after, the coach might need to accelerate training on a couple of skills or tactics, the players may need to receive remedial help in other skill or tactical areas, and so forth. As a matter of fact, the entire team isn’t going to improve or have difficulties at the exact same rate, which gives us even more practice design challenges.
You might appreciate that the hockey guru in my story snickered at my thinking, and sold them anyway. You might also appreciate that I caught him teaching a lot of things that would be harmful to his followers. Oh, well…
Why do we need new drills? The above story should have answered that pretty clearly. However, here’s what I’m really getting at with this second cue card…
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in my posts, I would always sit down each night and do a total re-evaluation of my players. And, I’d use the outline I showed you in one of those posts to ponder my players’ development (or lack thereof), line by line. What I’d do wasn’t all that scientific, but more a matter of just asking myself a question as I moved down the list — as in, “Are my players ready to move on in their ________?” And, with that, I’d either give them a slightly advanced progression, I might stay the same for another practice, or I might have to search for a drill or two that helps them over a hump.
Oh, man, does the above graphic strike a chord with me! I don’t care what rink I’m visiting, I can almost always find the coach of a young team watching an advanced team’s practice, and telling someone nearby that he’s dying to try that drill with his kids. Ugh.
Sure, the advanced team is looking awesome, flying all around the ice and executing long, pin-point passes before firing on a net. The problem, though: a Squirt/Atom team isn’t going to connect on one of those long passes, the young players are going to be chasing stray pucks all over the rink, and that group will be lucky to get one shot on goal in a half-hour.
Did I exaggerate up there? Maybe, but not much.
And a similar scenario takes place as youth coaches scan the likes of YouTube and similar sites. Fat chance the guys in a given video have similar problems or needs to the surfing coach’s kids. So again, ugh.
From all I’ve said, is it any wonder I decided on “How to Easily Create 100’s of Drills” as my first webinar topic? Ya, I’m pretty passionate about that, and I like getting into things I’m passionate about.
PS — or an “Ooooops!” Although I have literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of drills salted away — either in my head or in notebooks, my team’s problem on a given night hardly ever fits a drill I’d previously used. And, that’s where the need to create new drills really comes in handy. So, just as an example… My last coaching gig had me being paid to coach a AAA Bantam team, and I recall that I’d invent an average of three to five new drills during most weeks. Honestly.
