MaximumHockey.com Home

More Hockey Specific Drills 

Youth Hockey Tips

Coming Out of the Corners

Good hockey habits

Good habits make good hockey players.University of Alaska Fairbanks head hockey coach Guy Gadowsky says that the following are hockey habits he emphasizes at the Division I college level.Most of these habits apply to all the levels.The sooner a player develops these habits the deeper they will root and the more consistent they will be.When college and pro scouts and coaches evaluate players they evaluate the consistency of many of these habits.

General Habits

These hockey habits apply generally for all aspects of play:

1)Take What is Given.Be aware of and take advantage of opportunities given to you.If you are given a shot, passing lane, dump in, hit, time or open ice, then take it.Do not miss the opportunities that are given to you.They are free.See that they are there and take them.

2)Head Up.Keep your head up.You must see the play and read it.You must see the opportunities given to you so that you can take what is given.Keep your head up or you will be hit and hurt.

3)Talk.Talk to your teammates.Hockey is a team sport.Players must talk if they are going to work together.Talk on both offense and defense.

4)Hard off.Skate hard when coming off for a change up.Quick hard changes keep offensive and defensive pressure on the opposition.Coming off hard is an easy ways to set and keep the tempo high.

5)Never Retaliate.Retaliation will cost the team a penalty.Referees often see the retaliation but often miss the first penalty.Do not let the opposition see that they have gotten to you.Keep your emotions under control.Instigate, do not retaliate.

6)Only Captains Talk To Referee.Unless you are a captain carrying out you duties do not talk to the referee.Nothing good will come of it.Direct all communications through the coach and captain.This will buy time and show that the team is intelligent and disciplined.Keep your emotions under control.

7)Show Positive Emotion.Emotion is good and should be shown when it is positive.Emotion is powerful.Positive emotion will generate positive results.Negative emotions will generate negative results.Be emotional but keep it positive.

Defensive Habits Playing The Puck Carrier

These hockey habits apply when playing the man with the puck:

1)5 on 5 Stick and Pin. When playing at even strength, hit your man and pin him, keeping him from returning to the play.Always beat your man back into the play.

2)4 on 5 Stick And Move.When playing a man down, hit your man and move on, quickly getting back into the play.Do not get tied up with your man, giving the opposition more ice and your team less defensive coverage.

3)Numbers Hard At.When forechecking and the puck carrier’s back is to you, numbers showing, go at him hard, quickly taking away time and space.

4)Crest Control Angle.When forechecking and the puck carrier is facing you, crest showing control him by angling towards the boards.Make him go where you want him to go.Take away time and space in a controlled manner.

Defensive Habits Away From The Puck Carrier

These hockey habits apply when playing away from the puck carrier:

1)Head on Swivel.Keep you head on a swivel, always turning your head, looking around, and seeing and reading the play.

2)Stick In Passing Lane.Keep your stick in the passing lane, taking away the passing lane and ready to intercept passes.

3)One Hand On Stick. Keep one hand on your stick (in passing lane) presenting a bigger profile and keeping one hand free for making contact with your check.

4)Back check Through Middle To House. Backcheck through the middle of the ice all the way to the front of the net, the house.Pick up trailers, help out in front.This allows defensemen to pursue, maintain defensive pressure, and perhaps make a quick transition.

5)Never Caught Flatfooted.Never get caught flatfooted.Stay on your toes with a wide stance and a good knee bend so that you are able to react quickly in any direction.

Offensive Habits With The Puck

These hockey habits apply when playing with the puck:

1)Take What’s Given Deep.Take what is given, but you must get the puck deep, at least behind the defensemen.Getting the puck behind the defensemen forces the defensemen to retreat further, prevents getting caught in transition and sets up offensive pressure deep in the opposition’s zone.

2)Take What’s Given Out.Take what is given, but you must get the puck out of the defensive zone.Getting the puck out of the zone puts an end to offensive pressure.At worst there may be an icing or the opposition regroups, at best offensive opportunities may develop from the neutral zone.

3)Keep Dumps Away From Goalie. Keep dump ins away from the goalie so that the goalie cannot control the puck.Dump ins away from the net may draw the goalie far out of the net and he could get caught if there is a breakdown.

4)Keep On Boards If No Play.Keep the puck along the boards if there is no certain play.This applies in all zones.Dangerous offensive opportunities can be given to the oppositions up the middle.

Offensive Habits Playing Without The Puck.

These hockey habits apply when playing without the puck:

1)Give Good Targets. Keep your stick on the ice and give good passing targets in an open passing lane.Move to open passing lanes.Make it easy to get you the puck.

2)Support Puck Carrier. Support the puck carrier by moving to open passing lanes, following in the open space created by the puck carrier’s movement or going at and isolating defenders so that the puck carrier has more space to move to.Passing lanes, open ice, and defender positions are constantly changing, therefore supporting players must be constantly looking, reading, and moving.

3)Never Offside. Never go offside, especially on an odd man rush.Read the play, stay under control, and stay onside if it means stopping.

Defensemen Retrieving Dump-ins

These hockey habits apply when defensemen are retrieving dump-ins:

1)Back Hard. Go back for the puck hard, top speed, stride do not glide.By going back hard you create precious time and space for yourself that you will need when you get to the puck.

2)Shoulder Check.Check over you shoulder and read the play behind you as you go back for the puck.You must know where your passing options are, where the forechecking pressure is coming from, and where the open ice is so you can make your decisions before you get to the puck.

3)Use Deception.Do not telegraph your decision.Use deception to control the opposition, keep the passing lanes open and create space and time to make your play.A simple body lean or head fake is often enough.

4)Move Puck Quickly.Move the puck up quickly, before the forecheck sets up.The first opportunity is often the best opportunity to get the puck out of the defensive zone.

Puck Handling And Puck Protection

Below are a few pictures with descriptions of the types of activities to use as part of your dry-land conditioning program.

Hockey Strength Training

Improve Agility

One important component of agility is the athlete’s ability to read and react. The following drills aim to improve the athlete’s efficiency in reading what is happening (seeing where a person or an object is going to move) and reacting to that movement by making a counter-movement. All of these read and react drills involve several athletes or a group of athletes and a coach.

Read & React Drills
Reaction balls. Using a reaction ball (a multi-sided object that bounces unpredictably when dropped or thrown), set up a game of bouncing the reaction ball between two players, off a wall, or with a coach as a warm-up for athletic activity. Allow two bounces for the athlete to catch the ball. The athlete must move very quickly in reaction to the ball’s unpredictable bounce.

Hacky sack. Athletes stand in a circle and attempt to keep the sack in the air as long as possible. You can allow athletes to use both hands and feet, just feet, or just hands. This is a great warm-up for sports, and also works to improve agility and proprioception, especially in the lower body.

Reaction belts. The reaction belt is attached to two athletes with a Velcro™ section holding the athletes together. The drill involves the first athlete trying to move away from the other, and the second athlete trying to counter-move toward the first athlete so the Velcro™ does not break apart. The drill continues until the Velcro™ breaks.

Shadow drills. This idea can be used in a variety of ways, from follow the leader type drills to copying action movements. One athlete is instructed to follow another athlete and copy his or her movements and skills. This is a great drill for teams as it allows weaker athletes to train with faster athletes to improve agility and quickness.

Rule the circle. Inside a large circle, two athletes hold onto one stick and compete to see which one can either knock the other off balance or take the stick away. Variations to this drill involve pushing or wrestling each other in the circle to knock the other person out, sumo style. This is a great drill for contact sports as it develops balance, agility, and strength along with reaction ability.

Medicine balls. While medicine balls are primarily used to improve core strength and balance, they can also assist with reaction training. A coach can throw the medballs to an athlete in an unpredictable pattern or two athletes can throw medballs back and forth, each trying to get the ball past the other.

Bouncing balls. Using a tennis ball, racquet ball, or another similar type of ball, bounce one or two balls between two or more athletes. Balls can be thrown at the athletes, bounced on the ground, or bounced off of a wall.

Fun Games. Activities like tag, dodge ball, monkey-in-the-middle, and keep-away teach athletes to read and react with games they already know how to play and enjoyed as younger kids. These drills can also be used as a warmup or cooldown from the bulk of the workout.

Quickness Drills

Quickness drills are designed around short bursts of movement in various directions to improve the ability to move the feet and develop first-step quickness. These drills can be done either for a set distance or as read and react type drills where players change direction after a whistle from the coach.

Back-to-front runs. Running backward to forward, or forward to backward helps an athlete improve his or her stopping ability and quickness to change direction. This drill is best done with a coach dictating the change of direction.

Side shuffles. Moving sideways, the athlete shuffles from one foot to the other. This builds medial and lateral strength in the upper leg, coordination, flexibility, and quick feet.

Grapevine. While moving sideways, have the athlete cross one foot over in front, and then behind the other. This drill is good for building coordination and footwork.

Outside edges. The athlete moves forward by crossing one foot in front of the other, then moves the foot that was just crossed over the first foot. This forces the athlete to always land and move on the outside edge of the foot. The result is development of the hip in terms of strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance.

Line drills. On any type of playing surface with lines (basketball court, tennis court, hockey rink) have players sprint between lines moving in all directions (forward, backward, sideways, crossovers, etc.) with the coach signaling changes.

Iron Cross. This hockey drill involves running or skating in a cross type pattern within a small circle. This idea is to get the feet moving and learn to cross over and push off from both sides of either foot.

Partner Leg Throws

A great exercise to work your oblique and abdominal muscles. These muscles are very important for an athlete to help with rotational movements. In regards to hockey these are the same muscles that will help with skating technique, checking and shooting power.

To perform, lay on your back with your partner standing over your head. Leaving your back and shoulders flat on the floor raise your legs so that your feet are over your head. Your partner will grab your feet and push them in any direction he/she wishes. This may be straight down or off to either side at a 45* angle. Your job is to stop your legs from hitting the ground and bring them back up to the starting position as quickly as possible. Make sure legs are as straight as possible. Inhale on the way up and exhale as your partner pushes down.  This is not a good exercise if you have low back problems.

Exercise to help develop explosive power

Box jumps will help to develop explosive power of the lower extremities. When performing be sure to land soft at the top. Make sure you walk down to the ground and do not jump back to the ground. Perform in sets of 6 or less and make sure you have adequate rest prior to performing another set.

Maximum Hockey.com is not responsible for the operation or content of this website or any linked websites.