CHALLENGE! LET THEM (AND US) STRUGGLE!

By Coach Joyce Strong
September 13, 2008

In watching some practices so far this season it occurs to me that we often spend too much time working on skills that our players are already pretty good at doing while we AVOID skills that are challenging for them (and us). It is hard for us to watch them struggle. They roll their eyes at us and we have to work harder to engage them. But that is our job as coaches. And we, as coaches, won’t get better if we always do the same safe things that we are already pretty good at. We have to struggle too.

In order to learn to skate (or coach) BETTER, STRUGGLE is exactly what we all need to do. I don’t mean struggle to the point of frustration and giving up. I mean try something we’ve never done before and be bad at it and have it be okay. That is Step 1.

Get your players jumping, skating on one leg, doing BACKWARD+BACKWARD crossovers, open-hips skating, high-tempo crossovers and lots of stickhandling drills. Pressure all the edges of the skates! Stop on all edges. Do awkward agility drills to get your players off balance.

Skating and hockey starts in our heads. We have to learn to do many things at the same time. We have to challenge our minds as well as our bodies. We learn first with our brains… our eyes and all our senses take it in and then we process the information and then we get our bodies to do it. Too often I see skaters trying to do complicated drills without the advantage of FIRST WATCHING, analyzing and understanding the fine details of the maneuvers. The same with coaches. We have to first SEE and understand the purpose of all the parts of the drills.
So, please slow down first. Make your players be still and quiet while they watch and learn first in their heads… then let them try it. Once you know they have the idea correct in their heads then they can and should speed it up.

Take the time to explain the drills clearly while your players take a knee and listen and watch. It takes a little longer to explain things, but unless you take the time the drill won’t be worth doing.

And as coaches… watch other skilled coaches at work: observe, analyze and learn. Ask questions and don’t be afraid to try something new! We are also a team!

Here are the steps for trying something new… go slow first and let them speed it up when you see they have the idea correct in their heads.

Step 1
Explain it
Demonstrate it
Let them try it (they will struggle if the drill is challenging… let them struggle)

Step 2
Explain it again
Demonstrate it again
Try it again and offer small corrections and encouragement

Step 3
Repeat step 2