Spruce Grove Minor Hockey Power-Skating for Oct 4/5, 2014
SPRUCE GROVE MINOR HOCKEY POWER-SKATING OCT 4/5, 2014
Learn to skate-
-Have all of the kids ready 15 minutes prior to the ice time to do off ice training.
Our objectives:
-Get all of the kids up and standing on the ice.
-We will focus on the basics of skating:
Gliding, balance, snow plow stop, bubbles
-We will play a big group game at the end.
Level 1
-Turns, scooter pushes, intro to backwards skating, stopping, sculling, hockey stance, two foot skiing, hand positioning on sticks
Level 2
-Tight turns, stride extension, scooter pushes, crossovers, sculling, intro to pivots, two foot skiing, passing, hockey stance, backwards scooter, possibly crossovers, two foot stop, hockey stance
Level 3
-Stride extension, hockey stance, scooter pushes, crossovers (forwards/backwards), pivots, two foot stop, eagles, Mohawks, passing, puck-handling.
Advanced-quick starts, Mohawks, edge-work, eagles. These will all be demonstrated if it’s felt the top group could perform these techniques.
As coaches what you are looking for in each of these power-skating drills:
Hockey Stance-Stand in a 45 degree angle, legs bent slightly, eyes forward. Stick on the ice in front of player, top hand is just underneath the knob of the top of the stick, lower hand gripped about halfway down the stick.
Bubbles/Sculling-Players will start with their knees bent, and heels touching together. They will then push out keeping both feet on the ice and try and bring them back to make their toes touch.
Two Foot Skiing-Feet and legs close together, knees bent. Moving hips from side to side, getting on the outside edge of inside foot and inside edge of outside foot. When going from one side to the other it is important when coming to the middle before changing feet to slightly unbend your knees. This is where you will get the movement in order to get your power to continue.
Turns-both feet flat on ice with the foot closest to the way you are turning slightly ahead of the other foot. Stick flat on ice, knees bent, shoulders turned inwards, and eyes turned towards the dot, pylon, or whatever they are turning towards.
Tight Turns-same as previously mentioned except hand positioning on the stick will alter. On forehand this inside hand gets tucked under the outside elbow. On the backhand the lower hand drops down allowing for the player to get lower to the ice; therefore making a tighter turn.
Scooter Pushes-Players will go around the circles with their inside foot flat on the ice and their outside foot will be doing all of the pushing. Again sticks on the ice, shoulders turned in, eyes looking at the dot in the center. It is important to have the inside knee bent to fully extend your outside leg stride.
Stride Extension-from your hockey stance position we will work on fully extending one leg out at a time. It is very important to have your knee bent, looking straight ahead, and to not straighten your leg after the stride. This will cause bobbing up and down and make the player lose their speed.
Pivots-Feet close together, knees bent, moving hips from one side to the other. The objective of a pivot is to move fluently from forwards to backwards and vice versa. We will be doing an exercise which will involve getting the kids twisting from side to side, up on the balls of their feet. In doing so it is important that they do not go up on their toes, or heels, but rather slightly up from the center of their feet.
Crossovers-Forwards-push with outside foot, and put this foot in front of inside foot. For advanced group we will focus on the second push from the inside foot. Toes pointing forwards, stick on ice, should/eyes towards the dot, knees bent for full extension of the push. Important to try and get players to try and fully crossover one foot in front of the other. Advance group will also concentrate on power pushes, meaning less crossovers with more power in the pushes.
Backwards-Important to have bent knees and a straight, or 45 degree back positioning. Head up, one hand on stick, reaching in with the inside foot(grab the ice).
Two Foot Stop-Have feet close together, both feet flat on ice, knees bent. Important to note the shifting of the hips, head, and shoulders to make a proper stop. Most players have problems with their back foot when stopping. We will do a drill that will work specifically with this common problem.
Passing-Players must cushion the pass when receiving the puck. When passing put weight on back leg and follow through transferring the weight to the front leg. Passes should be along the ice and your stick and eyes should follow through to the intended target. All players must have their sticks flat on the ice to give the passer a target to pass to.
Shooting-Similar to passing in regards to weight transfer from back leg to front. As well your follow through with stick and eyes to where you are trying to shoot. When shooting the follow through becomes much quicker and you snap your wrists and flip them over on the follow through. This giving more power as well as leverage to the shot.
Puck handling-There are several drills which we could do entailing puck-handling. Players must roll their wrists and cushion the puck from forehand to backhand. For more developed players they should try to keep their heads up so that they can see the puck out of the bottom of their eyes. Hand positioning becomes closer when doing toe drags or backhand pulls.