Sunday, April 26, 2009 - Hockey Coach to Coach Newsletter

In This Issue Issue #3 - April 2009 Understanding the Players you are about to Teach PATTERN & CREATIVE PLAYERS   Absolutely the Best Deal in Hockey  One Year Membership to Hockey Coach to Coach  For a Limited Time Only $39.95   7 DAY  TRIAL OFFER 100% Guaranteed       Whether you're just starting out as a coach or well advanced you'll find Hockey Coach to Coach invaluable! Coach Information         Earn extra MONEY for your Hockey Association Equip your coaches properly and have confident coaches    Know that all the players in your association are being developed.   Take the pressure off of busy volunteer coaches   Your association can now see and chart out its future and direction in player development Parents will have confidence in what your association is accomplishing Having all the coaching material necessary to coach an entire year of hockey will encourage new volunteer coaches to sign up   Association Information          Goaltender Curriculum The Hockey Coach To Coach Goaltender Program Practice Curriculum follows a continuous progression for goaltenders at all levels to journey through over the course of the hockey season. Coaches from Novice to Bantam can explore the many options that are available in this 26-lesson unit. Goaltender Information Do you have a question? Do you want to become a great coach? Visit our web site at  www.hockeycoachtocoach.com          One Year Membership to Hockey Coach to Coach  For a Limited Time Only $39.95   7 DAY  TRIAL OFFER My Personal “100% Satisfaction” Guarantee I’m 100% confident you will be extraordinarily happy with Hockey Coach to Coach and if you are not 100% happy, I will refund you the entire amount within ONE YEAR of purchase. If for any reason, you feel the techniques are not working for you, just ask me for a refund.  No hassle, no fuss (and we’ll part as friends). That’s my promise to you, Coach Sam   PATTERN & CREATIVE PLAYERS After years of working with many different types of characters and personalities in individuals in sports and in teaching environments, I found it key to dividing players into two distinct groups for learning the sport of hockey, “Pattern Players” and “Creative Players”.  Let me explain.  While you’re at the drill board, on ice, explaining and drawing out a drill the “Pattern Players” look on feeling very intimidated. They don’t have any idea what you’re doing drawing all those lines and your explanation is so quick, then you dismiss everyone to line up and actually DO the drill you just scribbled on the board. What you don’t know is they lost you just after you started speaking. The “Pattern Players” will almost always do whatever is necessary to be the last ones in line for every drill. They have a specific way of learning and understanding. They need to understand the “PATTERN” prior to executing the task. So, what they will do is stand at the back of the line, still intimidated, watching their teammates go through the drill, player after player, until it’s their turn. This ususally works, however, if the players in front of them are also “Pattern Players” who knows how they will execute the drill. This can then cause even more confusion for the player. The Coaches reaction to the “Pattern Player” is usually: “What are you doing?”  “Didn’t you pay attention at the drill board?”  “Go do a lap and listen next time!”  “What is the matter with that kid!”  “What are you thinking?!?!”, etc., etc. This type of reaction from the players Coach or Assistant Coach adds even more distress and intimidation!!!  Now the “Creative Players” are watching every stroke of the marker on the drill board.  They follow virtually every move you make and every statement of explanation. Not only are they listening but they are processing this information and adding to it thinking they can improve on it or try to add various other things to the drill. Their execution of the drill can be just as disrupting as the “Pattern Player” who doesn’t get it.  The “Creative Players” are usually the first in line to do the drills, almost every time. They will race to be first. At first most would conclude that the “Pattern Players” are not as intelligent as the “Creative Players”. This is NOT TRUE. They simpily have a different way of learning. Once, as Coaches, we understand that we can then impart the information and knowledge to both groups of players. Let’s break it down here so you can get a real grasp of the teaching techniques needed. You need to know that the Pattern Player gets lost with all those lines on the board and your quick conversation. They are staring at you but don’t get it. Does that mean that you stop using the drill board??? No, of course not. The drill board will be a tool that you will use for the Pattern Players too and if you use it properly they will learn not to be intimidated by it.  For you, the Coach, learning this process is huge in the teaching curve. So let’s say you are teaching your team a simple break out play using both forwards and defensemen. You need to see yourself at the drill board with all the players gathered around you watching down on their knees. You and the board are the players’ focal point. You begin speaking and drawing your explanation of a drill, like a “Static Breakout”. “Ok we’re going to do a simple static breakout. I would like a line of forwards at the far blue line and two defensemen at the centre red line at each side of the circle facing the forwards.  Pucks will be at the boards at centre ice.  The other forwards need to be at the blue line standing as close as they can to the boards ready to line up next.  The extra defensemen need to line up against the boards at the centre red line ready to start the next group. The two goalies can each be in a goal and take three break outs and or shots and then switch ends. The Coach will start the drill by blowing his whistle and shooting a puck into the defensive end. The Coach will either dump the puck into either corner, rim it or shoot on net. If the puck is rimmed the goalie must set up the puck. If there is a shot on net the goalie needs to control the shot and then set up the puck for the defensemen.  So, for the sake of explanation, the puck is dumped into the left corner.  Remember now, you will be drawing forwards and defence lining up, where the pucks are, where the coach is, where the goalies are, where the extra players are, where the puck is dumped in as well as the rest of your explanation........By this time you have lost the "Pattern Player".  You carry on finish the drill,  OK DOES EVERYBODY UNDERSTAND THAT!  OK EVERYONE GET IN LINE AND LET’S DO THIS!!! Wholly Crow!!!!!!!!! That is just a simple static break out with not many variations.  Imagine adding a re-group or a re-group with a dump in the opposite end, adding two more D to then break out and go back 5 on 2 or, or, or, or!!  Wow!! The Pattern Players are in shock. Why? Because they want to learn and they want to please the coach. They are lost.  What happens if the first two players are pattern players in the drill???  IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND AS COACH THAT PATTERN PLAYERS ARE JUST AS INTELLIGENT AS CREATIVE PLAYERS.  THEY JUST NEED DIFFERENT INSTRUCTION AND A DIFFERENT TEACHING FORMAT. IN FACT ONCE YOU TEACH A PATTERN PLAYER, HIS CONSISTANCEY IS MUCH HIGHER THAN THAT OF A CREATIVE PLAYER.  THE CREATIVE PLAYER IS ALWAYS TRYING OUT NEW THINGS AND CHANGING THINGS.  THE PATTERN PLAYER DOES EXACTLY WHAT YOU ASK.  BOTH PLAYERS ARE VITAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THE TEAM.     THE SOLUTION So, what do you do as a Coach? When you explain a drill with a lot of information and lines and dots. As I say, the Creative Players are ready to go do it!  For the Pattern Players you need to change your Coaching - learning teaching system.  I have 3 suggestions: 1).  MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DIFFERENT COLOUR MARKERS.  This works for both groups in learning.  For example: the D are BLUE.  The Left Winger is GREEN.  The Centre is RED.  The Right Winger is BLACK.  Now as you draw your drill out all players are relating to who they are as individuals in your specific drill.  The Left Winger will seriously focus on the GREEN pattern line that he is to skate, where he goes, when he goes and where he ends up.  All the players will get used to the colour system which simplifies drill board instruction.  2). AFTER EXPLAINING THE ENTIRE DRILL, ERASE THE BOARD AND DRAW INDIVIDUAL PLAYER PATTERNS.  When you quickly review what each player does, one at a time, ask players, what do they do?, Where do they go?  When should they accelerate? Etc., etc. This way you are hearing the players paraphrase what to do, when to do it and most importantly WHY!!! This way you are including both types of players. Normally in a practise you will only have Creative players answering the questions. Ask specific players. Have them come up to the board and point to where they go, or give them the marker and let them finish drawing the pattern, etc.  2). USE ASSISTANT COACHES TO RUN THE DRILL FOR THE PLAYERS TO SEE BEFORE THEY DO IT, while their doing it explain it to the players. You can take the Left Wingers and say, “Watch Coach Bob”. The Right Wingers watch Coach Scott. Centre men watch Coach Jim.  Defensemen watch Coach John and Coach Ray. This way each player can relate to and SEE the pattern they need to skate.  Then you need to ensure that they understand WHEN they do it in a game and most importantly WHY?  The Pattern Player needs a different break down teaching method to GET IT.  This type of teaching doesn’t affect the learning of the Creative Player at all. The difference is that your entire team will understand what is going on instead of just part of the team. It will make a big difference in your team but most importantly in the KIDS learning. The fear and intimidation will turn into excitement and fun. The more you learn and understand the better you are at the game. There will be no more fear of the Coach or of going to practises.  You will have a Team of Players that can’t wait to get to the rink.  IT SHOULDN’T MATTER WHETHER YOU ARE A “PATTERN PLAYER” OR A “CREATIVE PLAYER”.  IF YOU HAVE A COACH THAT UNDERSTANDS THE METHOD OF CONVEYING HIS THOUGHTS, IDEAS, DRILLS, SYSTEMS, TECHNIQUES TO  ALL PLAYERS EVERYONE WILL SUCCEED AND DEVELOP.      How do I identify “Pattern” & “Creative” players?? You don’t really need to immediately assess the different players like it’s some type of emergency. You can indentify the players from the beginning and throughout the season by: - Watching players execute the drills. - Talking with the players one on one. - Having players paraphrase information back to you. - Being attentive to who answers questions at the drill board and who doesn’t. - Being attentive to drill line ups and where players position themselves in the line. - Responses during your practices at the drill board or just during practices. Again, don’t rush it. You’ll find out who is who very quickly.  Once you do identify the players it is so very important to remember that ALL players can learn. They are all kids.  They just need to be taught so they can understand.  So many times coaches TAG the “Pattern” players as NOT VERY SMART PLAYERS. This couldn’t be more incorrect.  When the creative player listens and learns a drill they will add to it, take things out, shorten it, quite frequently attempt to make it easier, etc. When a “Pattern” player learns a drill they will do it just like they learned it. They won’t add to it or take away from it they will just do it over and over again the same way. You will find the “Pattern” player will actually execute the drill BETTER and more CONSISTANTLY than the “Creative” player will. An example of how important both are to you’re team is a "Creative Player: like WAYNE GRETZKY and how he fit with a pattern player like YARI KURRI. Both made each other work extremely well. You can see how each player is unique and different in your line up. You can now position the two  types of players appropriately in their lines.  For example a PATTERN LEFT WINGER with a CREATIVE CENTER..... Now you’re coaching.  GOOD LUCK  Coach Sam $(Tracking) To no longer recieve this newsletter, simply reply to sales@hockeycoachtocoach.com with the word "remove" in the subject.  We respect your privacy and honor all opt-out requests.

Thursday, April 16, 2009 - Hockey Coach to Coach Newsletter

In This Issue Issue #1 - February 2009 Communicating Your Plan   Whether you're just starting out as a coach or well advanced you'll find Hockey Coach to Coach invaluable! Coach Information       Equip your coaches properly and have confident coaches    Know that all the players in your association are being developed.   Take the pressure off of busy volunteer coaches   Your association can now see and chart out its future and direction in player development   Parents will have confidence in what your association is accomplishing   Having all the coaching material necessary to coach an entire year of hockey will encourage new volunteer coaches to sign up Association Information     Goaltender Practice Curriculum The Hockey Coach To Coach Goaltender Program Practice Curriculum follows a continuous progression for goaltenders at all levels to journey through over the course of the hockey season. Coaches from Novice to Bantam can explore the many options that are available in this 26-lesson unit. Goaltender Information     Do you have a question? Do you want to become a great coach? Visit our web site at www.hockeycoachtocoach.com   The Big Question: ‘Why do you want to Coach???’ Oh yes, being a Head Coach.  Just think… I’ll be the leader!  I’ll be the one everyone looks to for information;  the one that makes the decisions on the bench; changing the lines; deciding who plays with who! Yep, it’ll be great. I’m the guy who runs the practices, the guy who runs the bench and the guy who maps out the yearly plan.  Now let see…off the ice, I’m the role model and the guy who deals with the parents…………….. Wait a minute!!!! What am I getting into? This is a real commitment… of time, energy, organization, communication, being an example,  WOW, I’d better think this over !! Communicating Your Plan   You are “everything” to the players and also to the majority of parents.  The kids come out every week expecting to be challenged, learn, try new skills and have fun.  The parents on the other hand come not knowing what to expect.  Some parents know the game and others do not.  Some have played the game. Others have not.  Just the same as players need direction, encouragement and a plan so do the parents. The parents are important supporters not just for the team, but for what is most important to them, their child!    Parents want their child to progress, learn the game and have fun.  First  you must have a plan for your team. You must clearly communicate it to your players and assistant coaches. Your parent group must also be properly informed as to what you wish to accomplish as a team.  As the year progresses some of your goals and plans may change for various reasons.  When that happens, keep the parents in the loop. A parent meeting is always a great way to communicate changes so they understand the new direction.  You can also provide an email update to the parents.  If you decided on email make sure you have someone proof read your communication. It is not only important to look professional but you want to ensure your ideas are clear and correctly understood. A second look at your email by someone like your manager or an assistant coach also ensures a cohesive approach to coaching.   Have individual plans for each player on the team.  Where are they now and what goals should be set throughout the season.  At the Novice/Mite and Atom/Squirt ages you may want your players learning various positions, left defense, right defense, right wing, left wing and centre, even trying out the goalie position is important.  The more information you can convey to your parent group about your plan for their player the more understanding and supportive they will be.  Of course there is also the parent who believes their player should only play CENTRE!!!!!!!!!!  We’ll leave that for another newsletter!!!   You will find that well informed parents will grow to have confidence in you. It also allows them to be more comfortable with the process and your team plan.   As far as the players are concerned, they are coming to the rink to learn and play HOCKEY!!!  The greater majority are there because they want to be. However, there are some players that are forced to participate.  As Coach you will have to deal with all kinds of different scenarios - both positive and negative. The best advice I can give here is to deal with each case individually and compassionately. In Summary, being a Coach is a privilege.  To be able to share in the lives of so many different players and knowing you’ve had an influence on their experience in hockey and in life is an honor.  The lessons they learn from you in Hockey they will take with them as they grow up.  Your teaching, guidance, belief in them and consistently being there as their Coach week after week, game after game, practice after practice will stick with them forever. Accordingly, make it a positive memorable experience for your players. Incredibly, you, yourself will learn a thing or two along the way.    Coach Sam This newsletter is written and produced by HockeyCoachToCoach.com . If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission of this newsletter, please email:  info@hockeycoachtocoach.com© Copyright 2009. HockeyCoachToCoach.com.  All rights reserved.     $(Tracking) To no longer recieve this newsletter, simply reply to sales@hockeycoachtocoach.com with the word "remove" in the subject.  We respect your privacy and honor all opt-out requests.

Thursday, April 16, 2009 - Hockey Coach to Coach Newsletter

In This Issue Issue #2 - March 2009 Goalie Friendly Practices   Whether you're just starting out as a coach or well advanced you'll find Hockey Coach to Coach invaluable! Coach Information     Equip your coaches properly and have confident coaches    Know that all the players in your association are being developed.   Take the pressure off of busy volunteer coaches   Your association can now see and chart out its future and direction in player development   Parents will have confidence in what your association is accomplishing   Having all the coaching material necessary to coach an entire year of hockey will encourage new volunteer coaches to sign up Association Information Goaltender Curriculum The Hockey Coach To Coach Goaltender Program Practice Curriculum follows a continuous progression for goaltenders at all levels to journey through over the course of the hockey season. Coaches from Novice to Bantam can explore the many options that are available in this 26-lesson unit. Goaltender Information Do you have a question? Do you want to become a great coach? Visit our web site at  www.hockeycoachtocoach.com     I have watched various coaches work with their goalies in practice. Below are some of the mistakes I have observed: 1) Intentional Blindness - I have seen too many coaches claim they know nothing about goaltending or coaching goalies and they will leave it at that. Maintaining this lack of knowledge about goaltending is surprising considering how integral a goalie is to the team’s success. Goaltending is not rocket science and today there are numerous educational resources and websites like Hockey Coach to Coach http://www.hockeycoachtocoach.com/ that can transform you into a goaltending expert in short order. The most important thing for a goaltender is for them to learn the concepts of a drill and proper technique for the particular skill they are practicing during the drill. Too often coaches will run drills at goaltenders where they will face a lot of rubber but if the goalie is practicing a bad habit it will be reinforced. Make sure when you do select a drill you want to use, that your goaltender understands the concept and that you know the key technical points. 2) Non Goalie Coach – A head coach will commonly maintain their intentional blindness by passing off their goalie’s development to an assistant coach who played a little goal has or has no goaltending experience whatsoever. The fact they played in high school or didn’t play is in itself not a problem UNLESS they try to teach the position on how they used to play or what they think the goalies should be doing.  Teaching using the “When I used to play goal or this is what I think a goalie should be doing…..” method makes as much sense as instructing a computer savvy teenager how to use MSDOS when he lives on WINDOWS XP.  The game and the goaltending position have changed dramatically even in the last few years. Unless he's updated his goalie knowledge, not having a goalie coach would be preferable to old school instruction.       The solutions to having great goalie development is to run Goalie Friendly Practices.  A) - Make sure your goalie coach knows the concepts and key technical points of all the goalie drills. B)  - Allow 5-10  minutes at the start of every practice for goalie-specific crease skating movements. The myth that the goalie should be the best skater on the team is WRONG!  The goalie must be the BEST GOALIE SKATER on the team. There is a difference. Doing crossovers, skating lines, suicides, laps etc. with the team won’t hurt your goalie but it won’t help them in the least.  Allowing your goalie to develop their skating in a manner specific to their position makes sense. A pro golfer wouldn’t try to improve their golf swing by spending an hour taking slap shots at a barn door. C) - Build gap into your drills. Allow more time between shots so your goalies can visually track pucks post-save and allow them time to address rebounds. Rapid fire drills and drills with poor gap only develop your goalie’s ability to kick out bad rebounds and lose sight of the puck in crucial moments. Make the shooters play rebounds (rebounds usually provide more scoring opportunities in games). This way your goalie can focus on each shot and become more accountable for the results. D) Make your shooters take game-like shots in practice. If the shooters pass back and forth in the slot 3 times or take slap shots from five feet away, they won't score in a game and the goalie won't be seeing game-like situations. E) Make your goalies accountable for effort and results in practice by regularly and randomly have a volunteer calculate a save percentage in practice. Showing attention to your goalies in the above manner will pay off with key saves, big wins, championships, and make you be a better coach.  Coach Dan     $(Tracking) To no longer recieve this newsletter, simply reply to sales@hockeycoachtocoach.com with the word "remove" in the subject.  We respect your privacy and honor all opt-out requests.