A 60 Minute Seminar

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HELP

A CRASH COURSE - IN 60 MINUTES

INTRODUCTION	ATTITUDE	SHOOTING
PASSING	PUCKHANDLING	DEFENSE
SKATING	FAKING	OFFENSE
CONDITIONING	WINNING	CONCLUSION

In 60 minutes or less, you will get a quick course on hockey fundamentals. Click on each of the buttons in turn. These are the absolutely minumum tips to become an "Elite" player. Of course, to completely understand the underlying reasons and the hundreds of lesser tips, you will have to spend the time and wade through all the pictures and text of the complete CD. On this Demo disk, due to space limitations, only a few of the pictures contained on the full CD are available.

If there is one phrase that could sum up everything it could be stated as follows:
"The Name of the Game is Improvement."

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For details, additions, or suggestions contact: mail@hockeycorner.com THE HOCKEY CORNER
73 Roberts Cres.
Red Deer, Alberta
T4P 3K7 Canada
Copyright 1999 All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

It is our belief that great things happen when parents get involved in their children's activities, not only in hockey but in any pursuit they follow. When parents are aware of what kids are learning, they are better equipped to provide encouragement along the way. Kids come home from school or hockey school and you ask them what they learned and they say, "Not much!" I know my kids do! Hockey is first and foremost fun - it is still a game, but as one hockey player has said, "It is more fun to win than to lose."
In the following we will be covering what we consider the absolute essentials for a player to move up to the 'elite' level of hockey, so lets move on.
The Dream
To Play at a Higher Level?
The Desire to Improve Must Come First.....
For, Improvement is the Name of the Game.
ATTITUDE

Every coach in the world is looking for players with the right attitude. Unfortunately, it is not easily determined. A player's skill level can be watched, and defined with stats, but how do you picture or define a player's attitude? It starts with the desire to improve - to be better tomorrow than you are today. Players with the right attitude do not perform well once in a while, they have the desire and enthusiasm to perform well every time on the ice, striving to win the one-on-one battles that occur all over the ice. Some examples of good attitude follow:
-You will never reach perfection, but you can achieve continuous improvement.
-Coachable? What is coachable?
-Do you cheat when coach isn't looking? If he asks for 5 push-ups - do 6.
-Do you care about your teammates?
-Do you pout or sulk if you do not get enough ice time or do you work extra hard in practice to earn your ice-time?
-Jealousy over the ability of other players or teammates will destroy you. It takes energy that could be put to better use. In the final analysis, the competition is with yourself - to be better tomorrow than you are today.

SHOOTING

-Shots on the net and low - the law of averages is with you! You can't shoot too low! Mike Bossy used to pratice shooting for the center of the net and low, recognizing that in a game there is no time to aim. If you doubt the validity of this thought, watch any pre-game warm up. The shots that beat the goaltender are, more often than not, the low shots. Most if not all the high shots will ge gloved or deflected off the blocker to the side. The low shots that go in the net, he will try to give the impression that he wasn't even trying, but the truth of the matter is that he could not move his legs fast enough to stop them!

-If you miss the net, not only do you miss that opportunity but you miss the opportunity for a rebound where many goals are scored. As well, it is probable that a teammate has worked hard to give you the scoring chance - don't destroy his effort by missing the net.
-Position of hands on the stick - lower for more power, higher when handling the puck.
-Eyes on the target.

Once you master handling the puck without looking at it, you can look to one side and shoot to the other.
-Follow through after the shot - To keep the shot low, keep the follow through low.
-Quick release - surprise will beat a goaltender more often than hardness of shot. Quick release does not allow the goaltender to move out and cut down the angle.

-'Cranking' the shot - getting both arms into the action. When only one arm is projected into the shot, you are losing up to 50% of the available power.

Slap shots may be the hardest type of shot but the least accurate. Quickness and accuracy are just as important.

PUCKHANDLING

-The ability to handle the puck without looking at it is one of the most crucial skills. Handling the puck without even glancing at for a moment is the playmaker's most valuable tool.

While this skill is is vital for puckhandling, it improves all offensive skills - shooting, passing, faking, and even skating will improve when you can handle the puck without looking at it.
-Any chance you have, practice handling the puck without looking at it.
-The vision of a puckhandler - on the ice not in the stands.

-The Triple-Threat Position, ready to handle the puck and skate, shoot or pass, or to give a fake.

-Head slightly tilted - looking ahead.
-Low profile skating position

PASSING

-The 'slap' pass is inaccurate and indicates low threshold of panic. Not only that, it is likely to be a 'bouncing' puck at the receiving end and difficult to handle.
-The 'sweep' pass is the method of a playmaker.
-Pass is to the stick - not to the man. Unless.....

-A soft pass to an area where a teammate can recover the puck before his opponent.
-As in shooting, the follow-through determines direction of the puck. Look at the target as you follow through with the sweep..
-Check your passing motion - hands rotate under the stick, not over the stick.

-50% of passing opportunities are to your backhand side. It takes practice!!
-To practice without a partner, practice hitting the line markers on the boards. The more you practice hitting a target, the more you will come to realize that the sweep pass is more accurate than a slap pass.

FAKING

-Faking is a skill like any other and as such it must be practiced. Get in the habit of introducing fakes during every practice. Fake shot and pass, Fake pass and shoot, Fake shot and move to a better location and shoot.
-Fakes can be used all over the ice - on Offense or Defense
-The ability to give a fake at full speed is a rare skill.
-Too often players give a fake and delay to see the reaction. Once a fake is given - a twitch of the eye, a drop of the shoulder - a player must move with confidence and without delay in the desired path. Any delay defeats the purpose of the fake giving the opponent time to recover.
-Hesistation between fake and desired move will defeat the purpose of the fake.
-Faking is like any other skills - it must be practiced to be perfected.You may think it dumb to practice faking with no opponent, but it does not take much imagination to visualize an opponent in front of you when partaking in any drill. Introduce fakes as a matter of course visualizing an opponent. If you practice the fake moves in practice, they will be automatically available duirng the games. Without practice, they will not be executed at game time.

DEFENSE

-Defense is largely a matter of attitude. To play good defense, you must want to play good defense.
-It is not a matter of 'Play the puck OR Play the man', but rather, 'Play the puck' AND 'Play the man'.
-Perfect the poke check. It allows you to play the puck and still retain the ability to take out the man.

Ray Bourque is the master at the poke check - he waits for the precise moment and then darts his stick out like a snake's tongue. All he has to do is touch the puck to destroy the rush.
-There is a difference between using your stick to 'hook' an opponent and using your stick as a 'fence' to prevent your opponent from advancing.

-When attacking the puck carrier, attack at an angle, prevent the reverse and go for him.

Have you got your man?

This guy sure has!

SKATING

-"If you want to play pro, you have to play low." Study the successful players on TV or pictures and you will invariably find that they play in the low profile position - well bent over at the waist, knees flexed - with or without the puck. They automatically have a full step advantage of an opponent playing in the upright position.
-Cross-over strides are absolutely necessary if you want to develop any speed.

Now you know the reason for all those cross-over drills in practices.
-Arms and shoulders must flow into the stride.

-Knees must be flexed and used like a piston - don't be a stiff-legged skater.
-Stops must be precise - 6 inches not 6 feet.
Low profile
Knees well bent for balance.

WINNING & TEAMPLAY

The 'Competitive Edge' will only come when a team is prepared to do more than the opposition - more conditioning, more studying of the game, more practice of the fundamentals.
-The whole essence to teamplay is that one + one equals more than two. There is no "I" in "Team.
-The team that jumps on the loose pucks the fastest develops a decided advantage. When going for loose pucks, get your shoulder in front of your opponent as soon as possible.
-Winning, Team Play, and Attitude go hand in hand. With a good attitude, you will likely be a good 'team player.'
-Dumb retaliatory penalties to ease your frustration, is no way to be a team player. Sometimes you have to 'take it' and get on with more important matters.
-Why do NHL players play as long as possible? Have any of you been to Tim Horton's Donuts???? Tim Horton once said: "I would play this game even if they didn't pay me!" He simply loved the game.
Are you a loser if you don't win the cup?
........Only if you have not had fun and failed to improve!

CONDITIONING

-The 'Competitive Edge' will only come from doing more than your opponent.
-Don't wait for the coach or your parents to motivate you. Conditioning must be a personal objective.
-If the practises are taken seriously with a focus on continuous improvement, the games will become fun.
-Do you only practice what you can already do well? Successful players interested in improvement work on their weaknesses, not their strengths. Backhand shots/passes, faking, and precise passes to the stick are usually areas where a huge margin of improvement is possible.
If you cheat when the coach isn't looking, Who are you cheating?
If he asks for 10 pushups.....do 11!

OFFENSE

-Offense is largely a matter of a good foundation in the fundamentals covered in the previous sections.
-What team starts on Offense is determined 75 to 100 times a game at the face off. Nine times out of ten the referee drops the puck on the side of the dot closest to his feet. Not just the player taking the faceoff, but just as important, the other four skaters must anticipate the drop of the puck and must be ready to jump on it before the opponents.
First on the loose pucks!
Winning the face-offs!
Maintaining puck possession.

CONCLUSION

      During the past 60 minutes, we have attempted to give you the absolute minimum requirements to become an elite player. As you have noticed, we have somewhat been following a pre-planned script.
      What we have covered in this section is less than 1% of the total available on the CD - over 2000 hockey tips many with pictures or diagrams to illustrate. As well, the pictures (over 500) can be accessed directly in the Picture gallery as can the diagrams (over 100).
      A Question and Answer seminar can provide a lot of fun while learning from the tips - a good place for Father and child to test their hockey knowledge. If you are on the Internet, there is a section with over 500 links to the hockey world with links to players, teams, and other areas of interest for the hockey player. Another area includes Quotes (Over 1000) from the Sporting World. And finally, if you are interested there are short biographies of the authors. The CD has been over 20 years in the making.
      The CD if produced in book form would take over 20 books to include all the information contained on the CD. It is comprehensive with sections on coaching, and parenting a hockey player and will be useful to a player at any age for years to come. The Quotes section contains hundreds of quotes from the sporting world which will provide encouragement towards continuing improvement. If you are interested in more than recreation hockey, this encyclopedia of hockey tips contained on the CD will certainly help you reach your goals.
      Success in hockey is most often found when there is a good family support - Father/Child or Mother/Child or the total family. If you have this support and master all the points above, you are heading in the right direction for success in hockey.

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