I received a great response after sending out last week’s message about the “5 Mistakes That Drive Coaches Crazy”, so I decided I would add to the list.  This is for all you coaches out there who are frustrated by these mistakes and for you players who want to stay on your coaches’ good side for the rest of the  season.  There’s no room for these mistakes especially with holiday tournaments  and playoffs just around the corner.

 

1.  NOT Stopping and Starting

This drives EVERY coach crazy.  I must yell out “stop and start” at least 10 times in every single practice and game.  And yet no matter how many times I yell it, players still commit this cardinal sin over and over again.

 

It’s true that doing a tight turn or making a big circle is not nearly as tiring, or as hard on your legs, as stopping and starting.  But circling means that you are turning your back to the play and giving your opponent more space and time.  This is especially dangerous in the defensive zone where losing your player for a second can lead directly to the puck ending up in the back of your net. But it  is also critical out in the neutral zone and the offensive zone.  An effective forecheck and penalty kill also rely heavily on your ability to stop and start  effectively.  It is hard and it is tiring – but you have to do it.

 

This is especially critical if you want to play at the university level.   An inability, or unwillingness, of a player to stop and start sets off alarm bells for scouts.  Stopping and starting shows that you are defensively responsible and are willing to work a little harder than a player who takes the easy way out and circles.  These are two qualities that don’t show up on the score sheet, but are things that elite coaches are always looking for.

 

 

2.  Giving Up On A Play

 

This might even be worse than not stopping and starting.  Watching a player give up on a play drives me crazy.  It is one of the biggest things that separates the elite players from the rest.  You see when you make a mistake and stop moving your feet (or even worse, shrug your shoulders or bang your stick), you eliminate your ability to recover and get back into the play.

 

When I watch the best young players here in Toronto, I always notice how they never give up on a play.  They are the forwards who don’t just back-check to the centre line and coast into their zone – they skate as hard as they can all the way back into their own zone, even if they think there is no way they are actually going to catch the player from the other team.  They are the defensemen who chase down the opposing team’s forward when she has a breakaway and makes that spectacular diving play to stop them, knocking the puck off their stick just as they go to shoot.   They are the goalies who make that last-ditch effort to dive across the net when they are completely out of the play and happen to save the puck with the knob of their stick right before it crosses the goal-line.  That’s what it means to NEVER give up on a play.

 

That level of effort and hustle isn’t something that can be taught – it’s just something you do because of that small chance that you might be able  to recover and do something spectacular.

 

3.  Trying To Be Too Fancy

 

OK – I have to admit, out of all the mistakes I’ve mentioned, this is probably the one that makes me the most mad.   I watch so many games where I see girls try to be spectacular instead of keeping things simple.  My two biggest pet peeves in this regard are the slap-shot and the toe-drag.

 

Let me first say, that I have no problem with slap-shots or toe-drags – when they are used at the right time.  It makes me cringe every single time I see a player do a toe-drag right at the blue-line and turn over the puck, instead of taking an extra stride or two to gain the zone.  I hate seeing a defenseman fire a “boomer” off the opponents shin-pads on the power-play, when a simple wrist shot from the point would have done the trick.  Fancy moves are fine – but you’ve got to do them at the right time and be able to execute them at full speed.

 

I always tell my players that it doesn’t say on the score sheet what the goal looked like – it just says “Goal”.  It’s nice to score a pretty one every once in a while, but every coach would agree that they just want the puck in the back of the net.

 

 

 

Like I said last week, these mistakes aren’t huge by themselves – but they add up over the course of the game and the season.  Keep things simple and focus on the “little” details to have a great second half of the season.

 

Keep Working Hard and Dreaming BIG.

 

Your friend and coach,

 

Kim

 

PS – Speaking of fancy moves, if you want to take your shooting and stickhandling to the next level over the holiday season, you can use the Total Female Hockey Elite Stickhandling & Shooting Video Series. I created these off-ice instructional videos to help you make all your shots (including the slap-shot and wrist-shot) as well as your moves (including the dreaded toe-drag) more effective. Now is a great time to revisit these critical individual skills – with big tournaments and the playoffs just around the corner.

 

Click on the link below to get started:

 

https://totalfemalehockey.com/products/elite_shooting_stickhandling/

 

It makes a great holiday gift – especially if you are getting a new stick and need to break it in quickly over the holidays.

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Director, Total Female Hockey
Girls Hockey Director, PEAC School For Elite Athletes