Look out for these with your teams at training camp.

September is back-to-hockey month for many minor hockey, high school and collegiate teams.

As a coach, are you ready?

Not only will you be relied upon to coordinate logistics and communicate safety procedures during this unprecedented time, but there remains the traditional responsibilities of a coach during training camp season: player evaluation and selection.

Whether you are heading a Peewee AAA team, a high school varsity team, or an NCAA Division 1 program, the first weeks of the hockey season are the most critical time to mould a group of young people into what hopefully will be a winning team.

With anywhere from 20 to 50 players to scout in a given tryout, it is a challenge for even the most experienced and accomplished coaches to quickly gain an understanding of each individual player. Some may be new to the program. Others may have added elements to their skillsets during a productive offseason or may have perhaps trained incorrectly and now find their development in stagnation.

So how can a coach get the most information possible from a player just by watching him or her perform two or three drills? Here are three technical details to watch for.

1. Poor upper-body posture

What to look for

Elite offensive players such as Mat Barzal (illustrated above) would not be able to fully leverage their speed and skill without having sound posture.

With the puck on his stick, Barzal’s upper body is only slightly tilted to the front, allowing him to turn his head and identify passing options. His left (upper) elbow is strong and away from his trunk, helping his hands remain stable when stickhandling or cutting back to dodge a bodycheck. His right (lower) arm is relaxed and bent, providing him with good puck feel and extra range of motion.

Players with pronounced forward leans, top elbows tucked into their bodies, and stiff lower arms not only look awkward when handing the puck, but are also more likely to make lower-quality plays under pressure.

How to correct

Identifying sub-optimal mechanics may only take a minute, but most players will need a clear individualized development plan, deployed over the course of several months to make significant progress.

For younger players showing deficiencies in their upper-body posture, first ask them to push a puck down the ice using only the forehand side of their stick blade. Observe their upper-body lean, their top elbow positioning and their lower-arm tension. You may need to tell the player to:

1. Hold the puck outside your dominant foot (right foot for righties and left foot for lefties)
2. Keep your hands up and in front (as to get the top elbow away from the body)
3. Look through your hands and toward the other side of the rink (in order to get the eyes up and the rest of the body down)

2. Poor puck protection habits

What to look for

With a player’s upper-body posture in order, the next thing to look for is whether s/he habitually positions the puck out of the reach of defenders when holding the puck.

High-level defenders are adept to using stick checks to disrupt possession at steal pucks away. Intelligent young players quickly learn that keeping the puck out of reach is the surest way to maintain possession.

Sidney Crosby (above) is at his best when he is able to attract a defender and get him on his back. Thanks to a strong protection posture, Crosby maintains exclusive access to the puck at 11 o’clock on an imaginary clock face. Meanwhile the defenceman’s body is at 7 o’clock and his stick is out of range at 5 o’clock.

From this position Crosby is aware of any change in the defenceman’s position and adjusts the puck’s location accordingly to keep it out of reach. Then he can easily attack the net himself or cut back and find a lane to an open teammate.

How to correct

There are a few solutions for young players who habitually expose the puck.

1. Improve their ability to get onto their inside edges (as Crosby does above in an opposite weight shift)
2. Incorporate more partner work drills, in which players have to roll off actual players while carrying the puck, rather than have them skate around cones
3. Encourage players to read the situation first (“Where is the defender?”) then provide an answer (“I will place the puck six hour away.”) rather than guess and hope

3. Movement asymmetry

Elite defenceman Roman Josi’s biggest strength is his ability to move in all four directions. He is not the fastest NHLer, but his ability to get off the line early allows him to get to break up plays, then jump into the rush more efficiently than any of his peers.

Conversely, many young players show a clear preference for pivoting, crossing over, or stopping in one direction. Others have a hitch in their forward stride when pushing off a specific leg.

Unidentified and uncorrected, these movement issues can lead to injuries, but also to a chronic inability to apply certain tactical concepts.

For example it would be very difficult for a young defenceman to effectively execute a man-on-man defensive-zone scheme if he/she is unable to pivot left. One player taking the long way around each time his/her check turned in the opposite direction would soon lead to a team-wide defensive breakdown.

How to correct

Video analysis is the best way to identify asymmetries. By recording practice reps and reviewing footage with the player and his/her parents, everyone can immediately get on the same page and acknowledge the improvement opportunity.

Certain preferences for crossing over or stopping in a specific direction are merely self-reinforcing habits. Other asymmetries stem from flexibility or strength deficiencies that need to be addressed with off-ice exercises.