We’ve all sent our players for a hard lap or two in between drills before a quick water break. But that time between drills could be better used to sprinkle in some extra conditioning, and maybe even some extra skill work, if you have them skate it with a puck to work on some dangles or passing with a partner.

I wanted to share 4 other short drills with you that I use to spice up practices with players of all ages and levels. Some are more conditioning focused, while some are more battle focused.  Adding these super quick drills in between your longer drills will help you add intensity and variety into your practice plan.

Drill #1 - Over Line Stick Battles

This drill is always a player favorite!

How To Run The Drill:

Make sure players are matched up by relative size and spaced out from other pairs (and the boards). Players should have a strong hockey stance and ability to dig in with their inside edges before using this drill. It’s also important to tell them not to let go of a stick on purpose as that can lead to injury. Players start on the whistle and try to pull each other over the line. That rep is complete when one player wins or when the coach blows the next whistle. You can easily vary their start position to add some balance work - on one knee, both knees, stomach, and you can even add a log roll before they get up and start competing.

Drill #2 - Partner Heel-To-Heel Tag

Once your players have a little bit of experience with the heel-to-heel technique, this is a great drill to have them practice it in a fun & competitive situation. This can be done as regular tag as well, with both players skating forwards and using tight turns and stops & starts to evade and tag. If you don’t feel comfortable demonstrating this one, find two players who can or just show them this video!

How To Run The Drill:

Players put their sticks on the ice with the butt-ends touching. Make sure pairs are spaced out far away from other groups as well as the boards. Players start at opposite ends of the stick and identify who will be the tagger and who is being chased. On the coach’s whistle, players perform heel to heel moves to evade and tag. The tagger cannot reach over the sticks to tag their partner - they must catch up to them to tag them. That rep is complete when one player wins or when the coach blows the next whistle.

Drill #3 - Army Crawl

Unlike the the Over The Line Stick Battles, this one is NOT a player favorite - although any parents watching in the stands will love it! It’s a great way to work on core and upper body strength as well as mental toughness. Sometimes I use this drill and Heel Pull (see below) as a conditioning consequence after a group losses a small area game. The winning team might only have to go halfway across the ice while the losing team has to go wall to wall.

How To Run The Drill:

Players get into the top of a push-up position while holding their stick with their wrists straight - make sure they are not on the palms of their hands. The goal is stay straight as a board and keep your body in a straight line while alternating moving each hand forward to crawl across the ice. This is not as easy as the player in the video makes it look - expect that they might struggle in the beginning. Remind them that the drill isn’t called Baby Crawl and that they can only have their gloves and their skates touching the ice. Some players prefer to be up on their toe caps while others are more on their inside edges - I’m fine with either version as long as their legs stay straight.

Drill #4 - Heel Pull

This drill is closely related to the Army Crawl. At first glance, your players will think it is a lot easier, but it’s more difficult than they think it will be.

How To Run The Drill:

Players start the drill sitting on the ice with their legs bent and stick touching their shinpads. They reach their legs out straight and use the heels of the skate blades to bend their legs and pull themselves forward.

As a coach, I like to have some consistency from practice to practice so my players may do the same drills – with slight variations – for a few weeks in a row. This helps to build confidence and consistency in execution. Using these short “drills between drills” allows you to switch it up a bit and keep it feeling fresh without making big changes to your practice plan.

Enjoy and feel free to share with any friends, teammates or coaches that might be interested in using these to bring a little more magic into their practices this season and beyond.