Training & Drills

Blast Motion Allows Players of All Ages to Swing Like the Pros

“Shoot pucks in different areas — close to your feet, away from you, receiving it and shooting it or one-timing it,” Hastings said. “You can do that with balls, you can do that with pucks.” For most hockey players, it’s now the offseason. That means our youngsters should be taking a break from the ice […]

“If you’re leaning forward, you’ve taken some of what you weigh off of your hips and skates, so you’re already compromising how much speed you can generate.” Ice skating is a specialized form of movement compared to other sports. Hockey players need to learn the biomechanics involved in producing speed and power on skates, which […]

The bane of volunteer youth coaching is the contrived hoops and barriers that discourage otherwise willing adults from participating Sports has been a lifelong passion of mine, the initial source of hope when I arrived in the United States at the age of 6 from South Korea. In those first few months, when I couldn’t […]

When setters use these techniques, hitters are able to get their feet to the ball and take their eyes off the set, which improves their court vision and helps them put the ball down. Micah Christenson Setter, U.S. Men’s Indoor National Team “The most important job of a setter is to set a hittable ball. […]

Another tip is don’t jump too close to the net because it is harder to penetrate over the net. Plus you have a better chance of touching the net. The blocker has a strategic role in beach that can be broken up into a few different segments. Think of playing defense as having two defenders, […]

“The kids who are more advanced are getting more challenged, and the lower end kids are still getting challenged but are getting more confidence as well.” Considering players in Mite/8U programs are often hopping on the ice for the first time, learning basic skills, interacting with their high school heroes and initially falling in love […]

One of the questions many new youth baseball coaches have is, how do I handle aggressive parents? This is a great question, and it’s one that deserves a lot of thoughts. Congratulations on making the decision to become a youth baseball coach! You’ve entered a really challenging and rewarding field, and the next few years […]

The main objective of angling is to take away an opponent’s good ice and force them to bad ice. Taking the proper angle includes having your own goal in mind. Blink and you might miss a crucial part of the action. Hockey today is played faster than ever and critical to the pace is how […]

The best goal scorers in the NHL don’t have their one move that they go to – they can see a goalie and where their weaknesses are. The level of offensive skills in hockey has increased dramatically – but the goaltending has improved, too. So how can we as coaches give our players an edge […]