Players have short attention spans, so you need to be efficient.

As Team Canada’s Video Coach at two previous World Junior Championships, it was important for Tyler Dietrich to be efficient. Most hockey players don’t have the attention span to sit through hours of video presentations when all they’re thinking of is jumping on the ice and competing against the world’s best. To put it a different way, if you start with a fresh garden hungry for nutrients, how do you turn that into a bountiful harvest you can enjoy for years to come?

It’s not just your players, either. It’s your staff and everyone in your organization. For Dietrich, who has also worked as Assistant Coach and is now Director of Operations with Hockey Canada, sharpening your tools and using your resources is an important key to start with when you’re preparing your players. Dietrich previously spent his post-playing career leading programs in Hungary, in addition to his work on the international stage at the Spengler Cup, Karjala Cup, World Juniors, and World Championships.

How do you use your experience properly to relate to your players? How does it apply? How do you get your players to buy in? It’s important to ask these questions when you start the process, because those answers will dictate how you approach the season and prepare your players. Watch as Dietrich explains it all.