Watching Team USA’s Brianna Decker stay poised under pressure in the 2 PWHPA Dream Gap Tour games this past weekend was a thing of beauty. Having poise with the puck is all about gaining and maintaining possession with control and creativity.

Here are 4 quick clips highlighting Decker’s ability to stay poised under pressure:

In these clips, Decker shows poise by:

Building A Wall & An Escape Route – by putting her body in the space she creates between her opponent and the puck.

Opening Up To The Play Whenever Possible – her ability to use her inside edges to stay square to the play is world-class.

Giving False Information – she is able to create time and space for herself by using a variety of fakes to keep her opponent guessing, which allows her to set-up her real move.

Being Patient – you can really see this in the final 3 clips where she bypasses a few options to sustain possession and look for the best possible opportunity.

And she does this all while keeping her head up, her feet moving and scanning the ice. Awesome.

We work on POISE at all of our skills sessions by teaching these key concepts and the skills that are required to execute them in a game situation. For more information on upcoming camps, click here: Total Female Hockey Camps

Work Hard. Dream BIG. Stay Poised.

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Director & Founder, Total Female Hockey