need drill ideas

[supremeslapshot]

I coach a 12-under club team in Phoenix, AZ. They have had
great success in the past as a 10-under team because of
their speed on odd-man rushes, but now in the 12-under league they have to learn the art of puck control, since the other teams play much more disciplined defense. I've
tried breakout drills, criss-cross drills, spin moves,etc.
for slowing down the rush. One of the problems is getting
the defense to jump up in the play as a trailer, or playing
deeper in the offensive zone. Even then the forwards forget
they have a point-man option. Plus, we have to practice on
a smaller 100x50 rink, which makes it tough to spread out.
What I'm looking for is drills to help the attacking forwards think laterally(north/south) and not just back and
forth(east/west). This would allow the defense to catch up
and get involved. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[rlrhky13]

e-mail me with your e-mail address and I can send you tons of roller and ice drills and a bunch of web pages that you can use.. [email protected] is my e-mail address.

[SpeedDemon]

Three words: Dump and chase.

Hah, but seriously. One thing you might want to evaluate is the tentativeness of your defense. In other words, are they making a breakout pass because they are forced to, or because they just want to get the puck off their own stick?

Once you figure that out, devise a breakout drill in which the defenseman is told to skate the puck up until half ice, then and only then making a pass to the offense. However, perhaps have the coaches provide the backchecking pressure, BUT insist the defense still find a way to make it to the center line without passing it.

Ideally, you would want to break out quickly and headman the puck. However, this will almost force your defensemen to gain more confidence in their puckhandling ability, and if nothing else, if they skate the puck up in a real game situation, they'll find themselves in the offensive zone contributing to the play.

To get the offense to utilize their pointmen, think of a power play setup. Many situations are created from puck movement down low. That's almost up to designing plays to break up man-to-man defensive system or causing a defense to collapse on the net. Only then can you open up the points. So this is done by developing a simple system which can have your forwards carry the puck deeper into the zone/corners, perhaps even circling around the back of the net, but immediately looking out the the point because almost inevitably this circling will attract both opposing forwards attention to the puckcarrier and the points will become free.

Just some suggestions.

[Titan55]

Try a drill that uses the Diomond formation. Have them pass the puck aroud, have defenders, and make them rotate the triangle. THe defence could end up in the corner, and if that happens your forwards should know what to do if a breakout happens and the other team is attacking. Everyone should know both ways.

[supremeslapshot]

Perhaps you could expand on that a little, I'm not sure I see what you're saying. These guys have a problem getting
out of position down low because they don't read and react
well to each others' movements, so we end up giving up alot
of odd-man rushes. A diamond would require alot of movement
by the wings, which I don't think this team is capable of
yet. Might be worth a try, though. Need more info :)

[Titan55]

Send me a Private Message about what you need your team to do more of...I have a lot of drills, and can help you out!

[morrisville75]

i know of alot of drills to

hockeycoach.com has alot

[Titan55]

LOL!!! You always have to get a quick little comment in, don;t you!

[morrisville75]

i know of many coachs using the drills on their teams

[Titan55]

Really, you know many coaches using these drills?
Why aren;t you on any of their teams man??

[morrisville75]

i am my ice hockey coach

[Titan55]

And is this an ice hockey forum? no!

[morrisville75]

i was just saying that my coach uses them

damn calm down

[SpeedDemon]

Titan, your posts are becoming just as irrelavent as you say his are. Why don't you just let it go?

SD

[Titan55]

Good idea SD, that was becoming pretty childish!
Thanks man!