MAKING YOUR PRACTICE
MORE GAME LIKE – NO
SLEEPWALKING
Jamie Rice
USA Hockey Level 4
11 years youth hockey (boys LTP-Bantam, girls LTP-U10)
27 years college hockey (AC Colby, Dartmouth, Brown, Northeastern/HEAD
Babson 2004 – present)
18 years USA Hockey/Mass Hockey
Dr Martin Toms @drmartintoms · May 16
U9: why are we dribbling
around cones?
Coach: it's important to do
that
U9: when are we playing a
team of cones then?
Coach: .... #Brilliant!
For the Golden State Warriors,
Practice Makes Perfect Silliness
Scott Cacciola, New York Times May 30th 2015
“I told Steve, if someone came in and watched the way you
practice, it would be embarrassing for you as a coach,” said
Bruce Fraser, one of his assistants.
Yes, the Warriors typically turn the first five to 10 minutes of
every practice into something that looks more like middle-school
recess.
Players cite those first few minutes of practice as surprisingly
important to their success this season.
“The whole atmosphere of our team is very relaxed. It’s only
basketball, so why not have fun.” Festus Ezeli
“I am not governed by fear of
what other people say.”
Chip Kelly
“(The critics) all come out, they
all come out screaming.”
Paul Westhead
Ability to Skate, Pass,
Receive, Protect, Possess,
Retrieve and Shoot the Puck
Competitiveness, Passion,
Coachable and Emotionally
Consistent
THE GOAL OF
PRACTICE
Positional Play:
Basic Concepts, Defending
the Puck, Hockey Sense, Role
of Play within the Game
Understanding of Concepts:
Puck Support, Spacing,
Timing, Defensive Support,
Situational Hockey
THE GAME OF HOCKEY/YOUTH PLAYER
WHAT ARE THE SKILLS THEY NEED
Skills-Skating,
Play w/ a puck
1 v. 1
35%
System Play
15%
1 v. 1 Win the
Puck
30%
Make a
Play/Team Play
20%
WHAT IS PRACTICE
“Words are signals, and the signal the word
“practice” sends is “THIS WILL
PROBABLY BE BORING.” “Practice”
tells a story of dutifulness, obligation, of
putting in the required hours. It is vague,
devoid of spark or specificity…”
Daniel Coyle http://thetalentcode.com/2012/11/19the-one-word-you-should-avoid-using/
Thoughts on Practice
•
ü
•
ü
•
ü
•
ü
Engagement and Enjoyment
Creating a practice (and game) environment where the players are excited
and eager to participate. The “I can’t wait to go to ___” experience.
Skills
Players should be active and performing their “skills” as much as possible
(without disrupting your drill). It is impossible to get EE if players are
standing and waiting “their turn”. How much will a player perform an
actual skill in your game?
Conceptual Understanding of Principles
TGFU playing “the game” they learn, develop and become better…Not
“you stand here”.
Coaching, not Over Coaching
Allowing for mistakes, failure, and teachable moments. Positive and
encouraging. Players can “figure it out on their own” if allowed to. You
can coach more in a game than a drill.
“They (coaches) succeeded because they are tapping into the second element of the
talent code: IGNITION. They re creating and sustaining motivation; they are teaching
love.” Daniel Coyle, THE TALENT CODE, PG. 175
MOM, WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE
Your enthusiasm is contagious
Make it so the kids cannot wait to go.
If they are late on the ice, they are “missing out!”
You have three minutes to “capture” their
attention and create engagement
50 minute hours allow a short window, do not let
it slam on your fingers
SKATING, PUCKS AND STANDING
AROUND
PLAN YOUR WORK – WORK YOUR PLAN
2.
3.
4.
THE NIGHT, DAY, WEEK OR MONTH BEFORE
YOU DO NOT NEED 100 DIFFERENT DRILLS TO MOTIVATE
AND IMPROVE KIDS, YOU NEED 15 GOOD ONES
WHAT KID REALLY NEEDS TO STRETCH?
HOCKEY REQUIRES PUCKS
WE BEMOAN HOW LITTLE KIDS “PLAY”, YET WE DRILL THEM
5.
TO DEATH
WHO WENT/GOES TO THE POND TO STAND IN LINE?
1.
“You see that practice has the ability to PROFOUNDLY change peoples
levels of talent, peoples level of skill.” Daniel Coyle speaking to US Soccer,
April 20, 2011
THE GAME METHOD OF TEACHING
WHOLE-PART-PART-WHOLE
Parents are pleased when they can see what they think are “valuable
drills”, yet how many times in a game will a kid skate around all 5
circles consecutively in a game?
The COURAGE to relinquish the appearance of control.
Hockey is a GAME not a series of drills PLAY THE GAME
1. Small Games with variables and controls
2. Competition is ELEMENTAL to hockey
3. Every time they play they learn and improve
Our Kids Learn Differently and Science Supports New and Varied
Learning Methods
COACHING IS NOT BLOWING A
WHISTLE
Meaningful Interactions
Small POWERFUL words
They don’t mean to make mistakes
See it through their eyes
They want to get better, the want to have fun
NO SARCASM, DEROGITORY WORDS, OR
BELITTLING
IF THEY DO A DRILL WRONG, IT IS PROBABLY YOUR
FAULT
THE GAME TEACHES BEST
Since hockey is a continuous, dynamic invasion game, it is
imperative that players develop their ‘Hockey IQ’ to better
enable them to read and react to the ever-changing
circumstances. It is extremely difficult, bordering on
impossible, to acquire such knowledge while performing
technical drills within a closed, patterned training
environment common to traditional practices. Hockey drills
are useful for those who are still acquiring skills or who want
to fine-tune them, but in order to best prepare players to be
tactically and strategically aware, they must play in gamelike situations. The decisions they make, rightly or wrongly,
will provide immediate, ongoing feedback to the player.
Game Sense Can Be Taught! Dean Holden, M.Ed (Coaching), Chartered Professional Coach
WHERE DO WE BEGIN
TAG AND KEEP A WAY
v THIS CAN BE DONE LONGER, WITH GREATER BENEFIT, UNDER
v
v
v
v
MORE COMPETITIVE AND GAME LIKE ENVIRONMENTS
IT TEACHES SPEED AND COMPETITIVENESS
IT IS INHERENTLY FUN
YOU CAN DO IT WITH 1-20 KIDS, AND IN SMALL AREAS
WHAT BETTER WAY TO WORK ON SKATING THAN TO SKATE
COMPETITIVELY
THE GAME IS SKATING AND EITHER POSSESSING OR GETTING THE
PUCK BACK, ELEMENTALLY AT THE 1 V. 1 LEVEL
60% OF THE GAME IS THIS
GAMING YOUR PRACTICE
DRILLS GAMES YOU CAN PLAY EVERY
DAY
1 v. 1 (#’s +)
Passing
2 v. 1/3 v. 2
Advantages
Hockey Sense
Beaney
Beaney 2 v. 2
Hanger
Coach Support
Games
3 v. 3 EN
Touchdown
Touchdown 2
or more multi
goal
Back Door
Player Support
Games
Either Net One
Time Scoring
Only
Fish In The
Pond
FINN and Mini
FINN
Rover
Odd Number
Games
Levels
Tag & Keep A
Way
USA
Always
Offense
Use Players as
much as
possible
Always
Offense
ASK YOURSELF
It may sound like a silly question, but “Why do we
practice?” To see our players ‘perfectly’ execute a drill
pattern without pressure or with token pressure? Or do
we prepare to compete at game speed and intensity,
under pressure and game unpredictability, with the
scoreboard on and the clock ticking down, with playing
rules enforced and ultimately, a ‘win’ or a ‘loss’ at the
end of the time?
Game Sense Can Be Taught! Dean Holden, M.Ed (Coaching), Chartered Professional Coach
IN SHORT, IT LETS THE KIDS ‘PLAY’ THE GAME AND LEARN WHILE HAVING FUN!
WE ALL “KNOW” WHAT THEY CANNOT DO…WHY
DON’T WE CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE WE
SEE WHAT THEY CAN DO, AND SEE WHAT THEY
MAY BECOME?
DRIVING RANGE VS PLAYING GOLF (MINI/PITCH &
PUTT/PAR 3)
PLAYING 21, HORSE, KNOCKOUT
STREET HOCKEY RIP
THE BOOM OF BACKYARD RINKS
GOLF SWING, THROWING MOTION, SKATING STRIDE,
RUNNING POSTURE…THERE ARE NO “COOKIE CUTTER”
Why you should make your practices
GAMES ?
• What are we evaluating? What are we practicing? Do
we want kids who can drill, or kids who can PLAY…
• Engagement, excitement, difficulties, challenges,
creating IQ, making it hard can make it fun
• Variations, constraints, specific parameters, isolating
aspects of the game
• Tapping into the competitive soul…applying pressure
• Creating an environment to increase the
desire/importance to win
• You might see and get something you didn’t expect
CreativePotentialWithinEachChild
PostedbyDeanHoldenatFebruary19th,
2016
byahockeyworld.net,17February2016
Horst Wein, first coach to be awarded the title of FIH Master Coach, was born in
Hanover, Germany in 1941. The world of hockey and sports mourns the loss of this
legendary coach, who recently died on Sunday 14 February in Barcelona, Spain. In this
article, we would like to share some of his teaching as we remember him as one of the
greatest coaches in hockey.
1) DECLARE WAR AGAINST THE 11 VS. 11 GAME
In the “big game” on a regular field, the young player is generally
condemned to become passive, participating very seldom in plays where
he can exhibit his creative skills.
2) MORE GAMES AND LESS ANALYTICAL EXERCISES
Children should be exposed to more game plays (global method) and
less practice with the analytical method. The practice should happen in
the game.
3) LET THE KIDS PLAY
We should give children the opportunity to explore and to discover
through “playing”, to infect them with the creativity shown by their
teammates and opponents and without having the coach interceding
frequently.
5) YOU MUST ENJOY THE GAME TO BE CREATIVE
When the children play, they should have fun and be keen on the
game. If the young player does not identify himself with the proposed
game that the coach has designed, the creative capability will remain
asleep.
6) LET THE PLAYERS CREATE GAMES AND RULES
Frequent rule changes, introduced by surprise during the practise of
the game, force the players who want to win to adapt to the rule
changes, using their creativity.
7) DARE TO TAKE RISKS AND TO IMPROVISE
The young players, especially those of 7 to 12 years, should not be
pressured by their coach to quickly pass the ball in order to allow a
better team-play and winning. They should frequently have the
opportunity to “be in love with the ball”, to dare to improvise their
play and take risks, without fearing the possible consequences of
having committed a mistake or to have lost the possession of the ball.
8) TRAIN THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE OF THE BRAIN
Instead of the coach being the main character in the teaching and learning process, he
should often transfer responsibility to his young pupils and ask them, through systematic
questioning, to solve most of the situations that he presents. A true master in teaching
never gives the answers to the problems, but helps his pupils to find and discover them
on their own, guiding them to correct results.
9) CREATIVE COACHES = CREATIVE PLAYERS
Any flash of creative behavour in a player should be recognised by the coach who should
do everything to encourage his players to be different and to look out for original
solutions to the problems inherent in the game.
10) THE ENVIRONMENT AS AN ENEMY OF CREATIVITY
The environment of the young player is an enemy of his creativity. Nowadays most of
our young talent grows in an atmosphere which is noticeably hostile towards creativity.
Their familiar and scholastic surroundings, especially between the ages of 7 and 14
years, are characterized generally by a “intentional direction” of learning (with strict
norms), which is limiting personal initiative, independence, originality and the value of
trying to do things in different ways. Basically: “instead of presenting fishes to the
children, the students, or the players, the parents, teachers and coaches should
teach them how to fish.”
JAMIE RICE
[email protected]
781-239-5981
TWITTER @RICER18
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