Learn go-to skills to control and reduce space and time that must be mastered in practice.
As the third story in this series on checking skills, the emphasis moves from principles and foundation to hockey’s primary motive force, skating. Skating is the foundation of every hockey skill and to skate well is to check well.
A full and proficient skating skill set is critical to complete checking. To take away ice, control ice, the speed of attack, its pace and lastly, and to lessen the available time for the puck carrier, a player must have proficiency in their skating. Good skaters check well because they can effectively “shrink the ice” and apply checking pressure quickly. In the last article in this series, the importance of exceptional balance, an ideal and strong base of support and resilience in collisions or during body contact was conveyed. Similarly, or perhaps in combination with the above-noted antecedents, checkers must develop and demonstrate flawless stride and glide abilities in both forward and backward skating.
Also vital is the ability to move the feet quickly with optimal stride length. This repeated application of force into the ice elevates an average checking player to an outstanding defender. They get to the needed area of the ice quickly. We as coaches often call this “…good feet” and “…edge control” but, it is more a product of the athlete’s well-developed gross motor dexterity and their ability to weight and unweight the feet so that they are on the balls of the feet thereby controlling the body’s centre of mass. When the checker’s feet are aligned optimally and delivering power into the ice, the checking player establishes proximity – net side dominance – and assertive positioning on the ice, shrinking vulnerable areas and limiting attack options.
In terms of the modality of skating, checkers spend the most time on the ice in “reactive skating” when defending. This means that they attempt to adapt and match the attacking skater’s speed and direction. When matched the goals of delaying, diverting the attack and deflecting the threat from mid-ice off the rush are accomplished. Matched skating off of the entry of puck-carrying opponents into the defensive end signifies the need for a defenceman to use skills skating skills like heel-to-heel pivots and partial decelerations (half and single leg stops, snow plow and edging).
Defenders must apply full stops and rapid linear starts frequently. These are go-to skills to control and reduce space and time and must be mastered in practice. Gap control and a shortened distance between the puck carrier and the checker are observed when defenders use matched skating and technical/tactical skating.
Deflecting, angling and containing offensive pressure away from mid-ice and from high-risk areas of the offensive zone also requires players to use “scooting” and “surf skating” movements as well as more traditional pivots and turning techniques. The latter of which have become vital skill sets for modern defenders as they react to the ever-increasing and rapid linear and curvilinear accelerations of attacking forwards. Crossovers have, however, become less and less used by defenders due to the potential risk of tripping up or overcommitting to a well-executed high-speed fake.
Taking away ice and skating curved paths to the puck carrier to steer, contain and angle is considered paramount in defending. But, the importance of relative body and stick placement when defending is a close second. When steering, angling and containing the inside-out body position is complimented by a single hand stick on the ice placement that inhibits the skating path toward mid-ice. It is only when these essential skills are used in combination that the checker can apply backward skating technique parallel to the opponent, pivoting forward, or surfing in an arced path to limit the opponent’s progress up ice. Often this positioning and tactical skating itself places the opponent at a disadvantage. All progress is restricted or blocked and a turnover or takeaway results.
To practice checking’s essential skating skill sets, coaches have traditionally isolated each skill into rudimentary parts and rehearsed them individually. But, we know now that endless closed-ended drills suggest a slow and only moderately ineffective method of teaching. Open-ended practice with imposed and changing constraints that force pivots, tight turns, stops & starts in game-like situations are most efficient. Therefore, it is better to practice checking skill sets in rehearsals that use small area games (SAGS) and simulated competitive situations. Examples include tag games, chasing activities and 1 vs 1 mirroring at the beginner ages and stages. Then, as players progress progressions include situation-specific entries from mid-ice or low-corner simulated battle drills. Using this teaching method suggests more ideal and more efficient, complete skill acquisition and a more apparent application for the player (practice to game transfer, skill -tactic -strategy). As a coach, you can add teachables by adding more “what-if” scenarios and trials/reps with offensive cross and drops (2 vs 1, 3vs2) cycling and low and high switches. These offensive group tactics will challenge the more advanced defender to refine develop and test their defensive skating when outnumbered.
In the Neutral Zone (NZ), defensive skating often takes the form of back-checking where forwards are chasing the attack back and defenceman are holding ice position between the dots. Inside ice, mid-ice location skating in straight lines is what is required to pick up players on the weak side or to apply back pressure on the strong side. These linear, all-out skate applications typically emerge after there is a change in direction in the play and when the puck is turned over or taken away. It is here when effective checkers must choose the shortest distance between two points, a straight line skate. This type of linear acceleration off of a stop or tight turn can also be rehearsed in game-like simulations, and at practice and are sometimes described as back-checking drills.
Avoid generic stops & starts and/or line drills in practice. These drills reinforce poor habits like head-down skating and inconsequential on-ice awareness associations for the player. Instead, encourage heads-up, puck and player tracking cueing for “location of attack”, “…where’s the net” identification… and ” Who’s your check?!” type scenarios.
In the Offensive Zone, defending is known as Forechecking. In this tactical application of skating for checking, curved path skating require influential power turns (with varied radii), and a glide-skate-glide technique. Heads are up, sticks are down and active. A commonality in the best forechecking strategies is that F1 is a well-balanced, quick and agile skater with a good skating skill set. The player is able, through the application of their skating, to stay above the puck and limit and frustrates puck advancement.
Practice and prescribe skating skill trials in your sessions by zone and by location (open ice and along the boards). Remind, teach and provide specific instruction on these movements so that players can enjoy the success of working on their skating.
