Create better learners first. Then focus on the drills and practices.

How to we improve our players best in the limited time we have with them? How do we squeeze the most out and set them up for growth?

Starting at the core, hockey development is really just a learning race. The players that learn the fastest become to the best players. There are million coaches in the world attempting to make their players better.

My advice, create better learners first. Then focus on the drills and practices.

A great practice cannot overcome poor learners. The best coaches understand they are only as good as their players. Red Gendron of the University of Maine said it best. To paraphrase: 90% of the time, the team that gets off the bus with the better players usually wins.

Therefore, we can agree that a large part of coaching is teaching young people how to learn better and acquire skills faster. Let’s explore a few key ways to do that.

Feel learning

The best athletes in the world learn and process the game through feel. Tiger Woods is a classic example. When he goes to play on the course, it’s all by feel.

Feel learning is something that has taken off in the niche pockets of coaching, but has been around forever informally. You have likely already seen it and haven’t noticed its powerful role in accelerated learning. The next time you explain a skills drill, pay attention to the players in line motioning what they are about to do. They are trying to get the feel for what the repetition will feel like when they go through the drill and get a few repetitions. Without a doubt, those players are going to be some of the fastest learners on the team.

In American football, teams will do a walk-through of plays before a game. This is the same concept. While not going through a physical repetition at full speed and contact, it allows for players to gain understanding of the details and how the repetition will feel when they do go to execute it.

When introducing a concept or new movement pattern a “feel-through” is a great first step. This can also be naturally paired with visualization. Having players visualize a situation and then adding the muscle movement is a powerful way for players to pick up the feel for the movements required during the situation. It’s a perfect way to maximize learning from each mental repetition.

Back of the practice line motioning is a great way to pick out promising learners. Pointing this out to other players and getting them onboard is a great way to turbocharge their learning curve. Encourage the use of a movement “feel-throughs.”

When learning, players need to understand what it feels like. And at first it will feel uncomfortable.

Learning how to watch hockey

Watching hockey is a great way to become a better player. It’s why so many players at higher levels spend time watching video every day or every week.

As coaches we must understand where the current generation consumes the game. This generation no longer just turns on the TV to Hockey Night in Canada, but consumes the game on their phones and tablets. Many young players now watch highlights on YouTube and Instagram. They are missing the details of the game that make player effective in situations all over the ice, specifically the ones that rarely are shown on highlights.

There are many ways to watch hockey in order to study the game. The ‘Great One’, Wayne Gretzky used to watch Hockey Night in Canada with a picture of a rink in his hands and trace the path of the puck across the rink as the game was played. He’d then look to see where the puck was at most often. This purposeful study allowed Gretzky to have great anticipation skills.

Here are some tips when watching hockey:

Take your eyes off the puck

While the puck is the most important object in ice hockey, it’s not the best way to study hockey for greater understanding. 95%+ of the game is played without the puck and should be studied as such. When you go to the game, it’s hard not go get mesmerized by the puck and follow it. It’s even more difficult when watching the game at home on TV. In order for things to happen, players without the puck have to make the plays possible.

Watch specific players and follow them around

Youth players or even adult league players have their favourite players that they look up to and want to emulate. That natural role model can be someone they learn from to improve. A great way to start that journey is to have them focus on their favourite player beyond just highlights. Watching entire shifts makes their favourite player’s habits come to life. Things such as stopping and starting, their skating routes, and other details like stick positioning really stand out Highlights can help, but great habits happen long before the highlight reel starts and after it ends.

Eddie Olczyk said it best, “Watch how players play without the puck. That would be my greatest advice to any young player who is learning and wanting to get better.”

Players should watch themselves

I remember the first time I saw myself on film and was appalled by my game. For me, puck management was poor and it really showed. From my own experience as a player and now as a coach, I cannot stress enough how important it is for players to watch their own shifts. When a player watches themselves for the first time it’s key for coaches to avoid pointing out issues and flaws. They will pick up on the big things right away.

Once players have familiarity with their game coaches can start to assist in the learning process. Whether that be point out areas to focus on or sitting with the player and asking questions. Encourage the players to take notes and think critically about their shifts and start their journey to becoming true students of the game.

Asking questions

Asking questions is a great way to expand the mental capacity of players. A questions list for players could look like this:

• What else could they have done?
• Why did they do that?
• What do you notice when defenders go back to retrieve pucks? How does their teammates help?
• What does the defenseman without the puck do in each situation?
• What patterns emerge?
• What can you take from these clips to add to your game?
• How would I have handled that situation? How could it have been better?

Purposeful practice

The 10,000-hour rule has been referenced everywhere. The theory being that it takes 10,000 hours to become a true expert at something. Research has shown this just isn’t true. What is true, those who use their time purposefully make the biggest strides and go the farthest.

If watching practices of professional athletes, it’s great for young athletes to see just how those players about getting better. There is a level of detail they go through within the drills. It’s not the drill or repetitions. It’s what the focus is on the repetitions.

Players that understand that it isn’t the drill that matters, but what you get out of the drill that does matter. Those are the players who learn faster and go further.

Understanding when the big steps happen

At this point we’ve gone through how to be better, quicker learners. Yet there is one key piece that player who have goals in hockey need to understand and internalize. It’s not enough to just show up to the rink and play. To play at the highest level, it’s all about the preparation and work done away from the rink that matters.

Easiest way to get this through to a player is to explain that all of the players in the world have a set amount of ice time, they all get coaching, and they all say they want to be great players. That is the constant. Then why do some player surpass others? The simple answer is that they get ahead when people aren’t watching.

Even on their own roster, if a player wants a bigger role or make a bigger impact, the extra work away from the team is where they will give themselves the best shot at jumping players on the lineup card. In order to go far and to get ahead of teammates who have the same everything, the time spent when no one is watching is the critical time to gain a competitive advantage on teammates.

A favourite story from Sidney Crosby’s parents is that Sidney destroyed their old washing machine. Crosby would shoot pucks every day to improve his shot. Now that old washing machine is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

While having the best practice is a great step, a great practice cannot overcome players who are poor learners. Creating better learners enhances a players learning curve. They are able to pick up skills and concepts much faster to quickly progress past other players on their own team and other teams.