Coach Greg Revak has been a very controversial contributor to The Coaches Site - in a good way. Revak is the author behind such banger articles as Why You Should Stop Using “Bag Skates” as a Coaching Tool, Why angling is the most underrated skill in hockey, The 2 Worst Questions in Hockey Coaching and The Problem with Point Shots, According to Analytics.

We love a writer who goes against coaching norms and really gets coaches thinking. We love TCS Live presenters who do that as well, so naturally we gave Revak the stage at TCS Live 2023 and he did not disappoint. 

Revak, a Certified Level 4 USA Hockey Coach who shares his wisdom and observations on the Hockey IQ Podcast and Newsletter,  open by discussing the skills of coaching: observing, explaining, demonstrating, checking for understanding and questioning. He moves on to practice environments giving tips and tricks to enhance the effectiveness of the learning environment, before providing an idea of where hockey is headed and hockey coaches can get ahead of it.

“’What did you see’ is the best question in hockey because it allows us to understand our players.”

This 16-minute presentation is as digestible as they come and is highly recommended for green rookie and seasoned veteran coaches alike.

Noteworthy timestamps:

• 0:10 It’s Not What to Coach…It’s How to Coach
• 1:30 Part 1: Skills of Coaching
• 1:50 Observation
• 3:00 Explanation
• 4:30 Demonstration
• 6:10 Checking for Understanding
• 7:15 Question Asking
• 8:55 Part 2: Practice Environment
• 9:00 Sorting Chaos + Making Reads
• 10:40 Constraints: Incentives, Not Requirements
• 11:55 No Whiteboard
• 12:45 Technical…Room to Experiment
• 14:10 When to Step In vs Step Back
• 15:00 Further Ideas to Explore