Monday, December 03, 2012

Skating Evaluation Drill

     Have you ever began a season and wondered just how good a skating team you have?  Of the five basic technical skills of hockey (skating, shooting, passing, stickhandling, and checking), skating should be the skill you evaluate the most it should be the skill you work the hardest at.  My reasoning for this is simple:  If you can can skate well in hockey, it makes learning/performing all the other technical skills easy.  If you don't believe me, ask yourself how well you can check without excellent skating skills?

     The problem with evaluating skating is that there are very few drills out there that can give a quick look without taking up copious amounts of ice time.  If you've done evaluations, you know the frustration of having to evaluate 40 kids on a single sheet of ice, who sometimes may or may not have a jersey number, or a different coloured jersey depending on position.  The reality is that sometimes you may see a player skate for 10 seconds out of a 90 minute tryout.  

     The drill shown below is one of my favorites and one that I use for pee wee and up.  The older players will gripe about the simplicity of this drill, but they need to be reminded that part of any tryout is attitude and willingness to do drills the coach wants them to do.  It's not like you are making them run the gauntlet.  You just want to see what they are capable of.   You can also use this drill from time to time to evaluate the skating skills of your players at different times during the season.  The beauty is that you can use a stopwatch if you want to, but you will generally see great progress as the season moves on.  This is also a great drill to use to evaluate a players readiness to return to play after recovering from an injury.  This drill is taken from Hockey Canada's Skills Development manuals (an excellent resource for any coach!).

      I apologize for the crudeness of the drawing, but there is a glossary in the upper right corner to help you make sense of it all.
Magic X Skating Drill
 
      I usually place the cones a little closer together as to reduce time, space, and sometimes speed.  You can place the cones further apart as your players progress. One key teaching point I forgot to include above is, "heads up", as players in their pursuit of speed might keep their head down.

Progressions
     Yes Martha my dear, there are progressions to the this drill.  Add these variations to the drill to make the drill harder or to look for certain skating elements:
  • Two foot jumps over the cones (heads up on the middle cone)
  • Tight turns around each cone
  • Backwards through the cones
  • Use pucks to test skating and stickhandling
  • Ask your goalies to use shuffles and keep their stance through the cones
     I hope you enjoy using this drill.  I know I haven't put many drills on here, but from time to time I'll an old fave in here and you are welcome to give it a try.  I have to give a shout out to BC Hockey and Hockey Canada for providing the absolute best drill sheets out there!

Any comments gladly accepted.

Keep smiling and keep your stick on the ice!
Ben


More to the Portland Winter hawks story than meets the eye!

     Unless you have been living under a rock or consciously make an effort to ignore hockey totally, you are probably aware of the recent penalties handed out to the Portland Winter Hawks Junior hockey team.  It seems the Winter Hawks were playing against the league rules in recruiting and paying players to play in the Rose City.  Fair enough rules are rules and leagues put forth rules to ensure the safety of the players, and also the financial stability of the league.  However, the WHL set about to make an example of the Winter Hawks and put forth severe punishment that will see the Winter Hawks not only lose draft picks for the next 5 seasons, but also have to pay a huge fine of $200,000, which is a lot for any junior club.

    Now I understand that the league is looking out for its best interests and wants to have a level playing field, but I find it hard to believe that the league is looking out for the fans in this mess.  Why do you ask?  Well, when the league says that is wants a level playing field among all the team so small market teams can compete with the larger markets, why does it allow some teams the run their operations that would make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a free spending fool?  I'm not at liberty to say which teams they are, but I'm sure their fans would tell you the owner simply doesn't spend enough money to put a competitive team on the ice season in season out.  Why does the league allow organizations to run so cheaply that no decent player in their right mind would want to play for an organization that will not help them develop?  I'm not sure the WHL has a certain minimum level that teams must spend on players, but it perhaps would be a good idea to have one so some owners can't rely on the old tired excuse that they play in a small market.

     Now lets look at the case of Seth Jones.  If you were a highly touted prospect, where would you want to play?  Here are your choices, a team in larger market with a highly respected coach/GM known for developing prospects with a proven team track record of sending players to the next level.  Or, a team where the GM is a son in-law with eyes only on the bottom line trying to run a five star program on a half-star budget with a proven history of mediocrity?  Hmmmm, and this is merely an example of a player who has a little say in where they want to go.  How would you like to be drafted to one of these small markets with a cheapskate owner?  I know I wouldn't.

     Portland broke the rules and they deserve to be punished.  That much is clear.  How about changing the rules so that each franchise has to put forth a minimum amount of effort in trying to be successful?  If it really is about protecting the fans and ultimately the league, then it has to happen.


Keep smiling and keep your stick on the ice.