How Does This Drill Go? I Zoned Out.
When I watch a coach draw a drill on a hockey whiteboard, I normally zone out within seconds. I did it as a player, and I am guilty of doing it now as a coach! My father Bob Leslie, a professional coach my entire life, reminds me that even pro players have an attention span of about 30 seconds at the whiteboard. He coached me twice on professional teams (Basel, Switzerland, and the London Knights in England). I think he used me in his sample size when studying the length time his players could stay focused at the board, and found me right around the mean at 30 seconds. If pro players last 30 seconds, then how long can minor hockey players hang in there? If a coach liked to scribble all over the board making his point, by the time I zoned back in the whiteboard looked like a kindergarten art project. After a confusing drill description players often joke, “If anyone needs me I’ll be in the back of the line!” From there he has a good chance to see the drill in action before being called on to execute.
Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences:
Little did we realize as players that we were simply proving “Howard Gardner’s learning theory of Multiple Intelligences.” Every person learns in a variety of ways, and at different rates. But that is perhaps for another blog post. In short, to master a drill players will find it helpful to:
- Hear the instructions
- See it modeled on a hockey whiteboard
- See it demonstrated by a coach or teammate
- Kinesthetically (trying it themselves)
- Discuss it with a teammate/coach
- Internalize it and make sequential connections
Use International Hockey Whiteboard Symbols for Simplicity and Clarity:
The above video will help you as a coach with the first 2 ways of teaching listed above. Be concise, limit tangents, and be consistent! Coaches around the world use the shorthand described in this video to communicate with each other, and their players. Why invent your own? And as always, become a How to Play Hockey Member, to really learn how to get your point across.
