3 Tips for running a Novice hockey practice using stations

Hi coaches thank you for your great energy and commitment coaching novice/squirt hockey.  With these simple tips you can manage high practice numbers with ease, and maximize ice time by having as many as 2-3 teams sharing the ice together.

• The images in this post show skating stations, puck skill stations, 1/2 ice tactic drill, and small area hockey games.  We often use this method with 1/2 ice practice.
• With full ice available, we typically use one area for goalie training while we run 5 or 6 skating stations, followed by puck skill stations, followed by a series of small area games that help teach the tactics and decision making required in hockey.
• You fill find a combination of the above strategies that work for you while planning your practices.

3 Tips for running a novice hockey practice using stations:

Skating and skill stations

1) Focus on 2-3 key teaching points per drill:

• The lead coach should assign key teaching points, and offer suggestions to tweak the drill to make it run even better.  I know that some of it will be obvious to you based on your own coaching experience, so please never take it personally.
• Better that we over-communicate on the important keys to implementation and teaching!
• Of course if I have given you something that is just not working with the group, feel free to simplify, add a progression, or ask for help!

2) Pay attention to work to rest ratio:

• Some stations have every player moving and no lines.  This is by design.  If they are tiring, take a quick 20-30 second break, teach them something, and get them moving again.
• Other skill stations have a line, and you may have 6-8 players at your station. Keep in mind a work to rest ratio of 1:3. So if you have 6 players, and we want them to go every 3rd time, then 2 should be moving at all times.  Don’t wait for player 1 to finish before sending player 2, otherwise they are only going every 6th time, and in a 5 minute drill, that isn’t enough.
• We are hoping for 4-6 reps each in a 5 minute drills.

Team tactic drills

3) Let’s minimize wasted time at the start of practice:

•  Please group your teams into groups of about 6 players by ability and give them a funny or memorable name.   That way we can send the ‘alligators’ to drill 1, the ‘pixies’ to drill 2, etc.
• By floating from station to station, I, as the lead coach, can manage small tweaks to groups as we go a long, and as kids advance quicker than others we can modify the groups.   This is a great way of making sure key teaching points are relevant to the entire group, and all players feel both successful, and challenged within their peer groups.
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  An example of a Small Area Game

  We are slightly less concerned with this during the small area game portion of practice as long as the level is close.