There is a hunger from players and parents to use this prevalent teaching tool to improve and get better.

Virtual coaching is the present and the future. If you haven’t embraced it yet, you’re falling behind. While in-rink coaching is extremely valuable, the best coaches understand there is unbelievable value to leaving the rink and working with players virtually.

The current crop of players all grew up with iPads and tablets in their hands and are used to working with technology. They are used to this kind of teaching and thrive in that environment. There is a hunger from players and parents to use this prevalent teaching tool to improve and get better.

Traditional practices offer difficulty when it comes to personalizing practice to each individual. Virtual/video work allows for a more personalized experience. For example, you can now pull LiveBarn footage and send that to players with teaching points.

Another example would be technique work. How does that work?

• Players are able to upload a video of themselves
• I then analyze and add commentary
• Once done, I send back the commentary and video for the player to digest and train
• Repeat the cycle

This is a highly personal coaching process that players absolutely love.

Benefits

1. Cost-effective

Virtual coaching is cost-effective for both the player and the coach. Virtual coaching doesn’t require ice time and can work on all aspects from on-ice to off-ice skills. This could be for mental training, strength & conditioning, technique, etc.

A personal example would be having players send videos of themselves shooting in their driveway. No ice time and just requires a dropbox for video uploads.

2. Freedom and Flexibility of Time

No longer do a student and teacher need to be at the same place at the same time on the earth.

For example, I have European clients while I live in North America. Their games are in the afternoon or mid-day for me. I pull their games off of InStat or other video platforms before dinner time. While they are sleeping, I’m able to watch, analyze, and have a package ready (Video, micro-stats, and commentary) for them and sitting in their inbox before they wake in the morning.

3. Tracking Progress & Continuing Year-Round

With everything on video or in writing, progress is extremely easy to track.

I have videos from when I first started working with a player. Now they are away at college, they send updated videos and we continue to fine-tune their technique. For a specific example, we were working on skating. I showed the player the progress from the first lesson and compared it to where the player was at the end of summer. That’s actionable proof and a quick confidence boost that their hard work is paying off.

4. Non-Location Bound (Beyond the Shire)

You can reach out beyond just your town to find the best person for you.

The best coach for players may not live in the same town, same providence/state, or even country. The internet allows players and coaches to go beyond their town and into the wider world to find the best fit for them. There are players now that I work with that were seeking a coach that just wasn’t available in their area. While I still have local clients, the majority are now out of a day’s drive of where I live.

Wrapping Up

There are many ways to go about this. Whether you’re a college coach working with players in the summer or a house coach helping little Johnny and little Sarah work on basic technique, virtual coaching is for you. A local youth organization in Columbus even incentivizes coaches to send video clips to players from practice and games.

There are so many benefits and efficiencies that can be gained by coaching virtually. It’s a large reason why I started the Hockey IQ Newsletter and Hockey IQ Podcast. Heck, I’ve gained more clients via Twitter DM than anywhere else!

If you aren’t doing some level of virtual work… you’re falling behind.

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