Mixing FAST & PHYSICAL hockey with more POISE & SKILL is a recipe for success in the modern women’s game.

What does playing FASTER & MORE PHYSICAL mean more specifically?

PLAYING FAST
Success in the women’s game has been driven by SPEED for a long time. Without full body checking or the ability to “clutch & grab”, teams and players that can think fast and play even faster are often controlling the game.

But speed is much more than just how fast you skate down the ice.

Here’s what today’s players need in order to dominate with speed:

• Ability to change speeds & direction instantly: this allows you to dictate the pace of the game and keep your opponent guessing
• Make better decisions faster: you need to pre-scan the ice and be more aware both with and without the puck so you can think a play ahead and arrive in the right place at the right time.
  Move the puck faster: Sometimes you need to hold on to the little black thing but the ability to get the puck on and off your stick instantaneously when passing and shooting is absolutely a skill that separates great players from good players.

PLAYING PHYSICAL
Everyone in the women’s game knows that the lack of body checking doesn’t keep the game from being physical. Players are constantly making contact in open ice, along the walls and in front of the net, and we need to do a much better job of understanding how to use our physicality safely and effectively.

• Use your body to own space: Whether you have the puck or not, having a strong physical presence on offense and defense is critical to owning space. If you are going to battle in front of the net as a D or a forward, you’ve got to understand how to use positioning and points of leverage to gain and maintain your space.
• Build a wall between you and the opponent: When you’re racing and battling for the puck, you’ve got to get your body between the puck and the opponent (puck – you – bad guy). This is very hard to do at high speeds and under pressure. You’ve got to combine building that physical wall with scanning the ice before you gain possession so that you know how to escape pressure and make the next play. Building a wall is the key to being more safe and more effective out on the ice.

These are all skills we work on at all of our camps. Check out all the details for our upcoming PA Day Speed and Physicality camps below:

PA DAY SPEED CAMP: Friday November 18th at Scotiabank Pond
U9 Group: 10-11am (1 hour) Cost is $75, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
U11/U13 Group: 11-1230pm (1.5 hours), Cost is $110, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
U15/U18+ Group: 1230pm to 2pm (1.5 hours), Cost is $110, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

PA DAY PHYSICALITY CAMP: Friday December 2nd at Scotiabank Pond
U9 Group: 10-11am (1 hour) Cost is $75, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
U11 Group: 11-1230pm (1.5 hours), Cost is $110, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
U13/U15 Group: 1230pm to 2pm (1.5 hours), Cost is $110, CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Work Hard. Dream BIG.
Play Fast. Play Physical.

~ Coach Kim

PS: If you can’t make it to either of these PA Day Camps, we’ve got at least 5 more camps running throughout the season where we will help you take your speed, physicality and skill too the next level. You can check out our FULL Camp Schedule here: https://totalfemalehockey.com/camps/

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Director & Founder, Total Female Hockey