Coaches Guide Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability
Introduction This coaching guide was developed with the intent of helping both first time and experienced coaches make the most of their upcoming season in Red Circle. The Red Circle Hockey Development Committee has dedicated and invested a significant amount of time and resources over the years evolving player development so that it meets or exceeds expectations with both players and parents. This approach includes a number of different strategies such as partnering with Total Package Hockey (TPH) and Taylor Made Goalie Development. These partnerships have been specifically established to help bring additional opportunities for player development beyond standard practices. Here is a high level overview of the Red Circle player development plan for the upcoming season and how coaches and partners will support. As a coach, you will have one practice and one game per week. Each practice will consist of a combined 20 min full ice warm up, which is then followed by a 30 min half ice dedicated team practice. There will be 3 planned TPH sessions throughout the season for your team. These are 3 dedicated practices run by TPH but supported by you. The primary goal is to work on fundamentals with your team while providing you and your coaches with new plans to use in your future practices. There is no cost to these sessions. Red Circle has also planned additional pay as you go TPH skill sessions throughout the season. These are aimed at developing skating, shooting and positional play. They will be communicated by Hockey Development to each of the divisions throughout the season. These are considered optional and require individual player registration which will include a small fee. Goalie clinics will also be held throughout the season and communicated by Hockey Development. Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 2
Red Circle Player Development Pyramid Systems Team & Individual Tactics Skating & Puck Control Foundational The above pyramid is meant to provide guidance on how player development should occur throughout the various hockey divisions within Red Circle. This view demonstrates the importance of focusing on basic fundamentals in early divisions which then transitions on to more strategic and specialized development later on in their hockey journey. Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 3
Coaching Best Practices Once you have been approved to coach a team, it's important to establish some structure within your team and with your parents to ensure you have a successful season. Here are some things you'll want to consider. Communication to parents and kids is the number one factor in having a successful season. With the above said, communicate the rules to all of your parents at the beginning of the season when you introduce yourself. You can do this through the league toolbox site by sending a link to parents registered in the system. Always ensure you have a practice plan ready each week Make sure you have enough on ice to help run your practice. There are many times, such as March break, Christmas, etc. where communication fails between coaches and teams have shown up where no coaches are on the ice. Please make sure this doesn't happen. How much help do you have for practices? It's recommended you have at least 3 parents on the ice to help run practice, but having a couple extra is even better as it will provide more one-on-one support for the players. Ideally you want to shoot for having your assistants run drills while you can focus on providing feedback to players. If you have enough on-ice help, try to dedicate at least one coach to assist your goalies. Is your police check complete? It should be by the start of the season. If it's not, you will run the risk of not being allowed on the bench or ice with your team. The same is expected for your assistant coaches if they plan on being on the bench. Do you have practice gear? Cones, pucks, etc.? These are not provided by the league, so make sure you have this in place before your first practice. Jersey's can be a pain to look after. Ask a parent to look after these for the season or get a few people involved, but find a way to save yourself from having to lug them to the rink each week with everything else. Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 4
Effective Communication Before, During & After Games This is one of the most often overlooked skills that will determine how successful a coach is with their players during a season. Below are some ideas you can follow to create a positive experience when you're at the rink. Before Games Ask the players what they believe will be some of the key successes for the game involve them in the game plan versus just telling them Share reminders of the activities you worked on in your last practice or game ask your players if they remember the drills Alternatively, you could also ask your captain and/or alternate captains to help deliver the pregame plans each week to help teach leadership During Games Yelling at players from the bench during a game to correct individual behaviour is discouraged. If you see something that could be corrected, wait until they get back to the bench and share feedback with them directly. Try to keep any yelling from the bench specific to team play i.e. line changes, pulling a goalie, offside, etc. Post Games Take some notes during the game that you can share feedback with players afterwards. Or you could ask your assistant coaches to do the same and have them share this as well so it s full coaching effort. If it's a loss, it can always be easy to focus on the negatives. Try to keep your feedback balanced when a loss happens and make sure you share positives with your players as well. Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 5
Best Practices for Your Practices When using stations try to split the kids by talent level so that you can make the stations the right challenge for each skater, if you have a stronger group you can put in more pylons for stick handling drills, with the weaker players, use fewer pylons more spaced out. For the skating warm up, try to coordinate with the other coach who will run the warmup skating session. Too often we see teams skating around the rink aimlessly for 5 minutes or more while the coaches wait for someone else to start. Ideally you drills should start about one to two minutes into practice. During your half ice practice, really focus on fundamentals, especially at younger ages. Try to ensure that players get as many puck touches as possible. Building a foundation around skating, passing, stick handling and shooting is critical. Repeating drills is important and helps build skill. Once players master a drill, add in some additional layers to it that focus on other skill elements. You have to walk before you can run. Avoid complex passing drills early in the season and with younger divisions. You will be better off to start with stationary passes, then adding different layers of movement but ensure that they are still passing with correct fundamentals. Remember it is very hard to hear on the ice with two teams out there, so explain the drill, demonstrate the drill and once they begin the drill, expect that they will make mistakes. Try to avoid getting frustrated and leverage you other coaches to talk to the kids next in the line making sure they know what they are going to do when it's their turn. You may have to demonstrate again. That is why repeating drills is important. If you try to introduce new drills every week, you'll lose practice time and it may not be as enjoyable for everyone. Remember, it's a long season, so don't try to fix everything in October, remember that you have over 20 weeks to work on the fundamentals and that there is no trophy for the best record in October or November Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 6
Quick Tips For Making The Most Of Your Practice Time Keep your kids moving as much as possible for the entire hour Use your entire ice by splitting up drills into 2 or 3 stations Rotate kids through each station to give them equal opportunity to try each drill Stations will help avoid kids standing around or in line ups which can cause distraction or interrupt practice Ask an assistant coach to run each station or drill, share plans with them before practice and ask for their input Always have a set plan for the first 20 minute warm up. Here are some basic drills you can start with Full rink loop forwards fast and slow blowing whistle Switch to backwards rink loop fast and slow blowing whistle Move kids to end boards to then do end to end drills each 2X Start with blue line stops and have them alternate the side they stop on so they work both edges One knee down at the blue line, then switch and do other knee Up downs (Superman). Ask kids to drop to the ice on their stomach at the center line and see how fast they can get up while in motion Skate the faceoff circles to work on inside and outside edges Ask rink staff for extra nets, they will provide 4 in total for the entire rink. This is useful for running stations or having multiple drills running at once. Communicate your plans to your team before you go on the ice to save you time delivering instruction on the ice. Repeat the same drills a couple weeks in a row to save time delivering instruction while allowing you to work on fundamentals. Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 7
Goalie Development It is next to impossible to have a great team without a great goalie. A great goalie can be a major factor in lifting an average team to that of great status. Here is a quick summary of best practices you can use to help your goalies develop over the course of the season. Dynamic shooting. Your practice plans should incorporate players shooting from different locations on the ice. Shots from the wing, or shots that make the goalie move across their crease. Try to avoid ending your drills with shots from the same location. Working on rebounds. It s important to find ways in practices to help your goalies become efficient with the puck, either clearing rebounds, or making sure they are covering up as quickly as possible. Make sure your practice plans incorporate some form of practice rebound control. Space out practice shooting. It s important to give the goalies time to play out each play. Have your on ice help dictate pace so drills don t end up in rapid fire. If you see this happening, slow the pace down with a whistle. Warming up goalies. One helpful reminder before each game to your team is to share the importance of helping your goalie get ready for the game versus taking shots that could injure them. You want your goalie to feel the puck, get confident, and get ready to play. For younger divisions, identify one or two players to take shots versus the entire team warming the goalie up. Assign a goalie coach. At the beginning of the season, ask your parents if there is anyone that might be interested in volunteering each week to work with your goalie. An added bonus is finding someone with previous experience. Ask them as well for tips or ideas that you can incorporate into your practice plans. Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 8
Additional Help If there is anything in this guide that wasn't covered, or if you need additional ideas for practices feel free to reach out to the Hockey Development Committee using the contact us form on the Red Circle website. Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 9
Skating Plans Mite/Tyke/Novice/Atom Basic skating drill utilizing edge control and speed. Help young defence learn to pivot using their heels to direct themselves. Stay away from creating snow at pivots as this will decrease overall speed. Run drill from one side then switch to the other. Enjoy. Quick start from goal line, quick feet around top of the near circle, quick feet around bottom of far circle, accelerate to top speed through red line. Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 10
Stickhandling Plans Mite/Tyke/Novice/Atom Station 1: Player stick handles between each pylon. Soft Hands concept applies here as the player quickly takes to puck back and forth in between pylons. Pylons 1-2 feet apart Station 2: Chaos Drill. Players each have a puck, stay within the face off circle and stick handle around each other. Station 3: Players line up just off to right of pylon. On the first go-around each player extends his/her stick and drags puck back and forth through the pylon. On the way back, player lines up to left of pylon and does the same drill but uses his/her back-hand to maneuver through pylon. Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 11
Passing Plans Mite/Tyke/Novice/Atom Players line up in corner. Quick V Start with puck towards 1st pylon, tight turn around pylon, skate towards 2nd pylon, do board pass, forehand or backhand depending on shot side, skate forward to grab puck, skate full speed towards high pylon, tight turn around pylon and proceed to shoot on net. Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 12
Offensive Plans Mite/Tyke/Novice/Atom Players skate out of each corner on the whistle and around the cones. first player to the puck tries to score, while the other tries to defend from behind. players should work on positioning their body between the defensive player and the puck. they should also work on puck protection and quick shots. Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 13
Transition Plans Peewee/Bantam/Midget/Juvenile The coach starts the 2v2 from a faceoff in the middle of the zone. If the O's win the puck then O3 activates quickly to make the attack 3v2. if they score or the puck is cleared or frozen, the coach will put a new puck in play. Once the X's win the puck, O3 must drop out of the drill and X3 activates to create a 3v2 for his team. X's defend 1 net and O's defend the other OPTION : the offensive team can score on either net Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 14
Zone Plans Peewee/Bantam/Midget/Juvenile 1) Players compete 3 on 3 2) When a change of possession occurs, players must pass out to coaches before they can attack the net Notes: Coaches can be substituted with extra D to keep more skaters involved. To keep the drill competitive, you can have the group that scores stay in every time. This gives them incentive to try harder. Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 15
Simple Breakout Peewee/Bantam/Midget/Juvenile Red Breakout: D picks up puck and proceeds to carry it through the quiet zone (behind the net), with X forcing on the inside of the D's shoulder. Once the D feels that pressure on his inside shoulder, he will make a quick turn along the boards, then has two options to pass to: 1. Make a quick pass to the F1 along the boards to breakout. 2. Make a quick pass to the C1 breaking out in the middle. Blue Breakout: D picks up puck and proceeds to carry it through the quiet zone (behind the net), with X forcing directly behind the D. The D proceeds to carry the puck to the other side and make a quick pass to the F2 along the boards, who then proceeds to carry the puck out. Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 16
Backcheck Peewee/Bantam/Midget/Juvenile x1 and o1 start drill by playing 1 v1 in circle. On coaches whistle, player with puck takes off around cone towards the net for a shot, while player without the puck back checks. On same whistle x2 and o2 move into circle to play 1 v 1 with a puck the coach placed in circle. Source: https://www.hockeyshare.com Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 17
Practice Plan Template Notes Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 18
Practice Plan Template Notes Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 19
Practice Plan Template Notes Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 20
Practice Plan Template Notes Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 21
Practice Plan Template Notes Equal Opportunity Regardless of Ability 22