(Transcribed from How to Play Hockey: Our Minor Hockey Coaching Course.)
This video defines and expands on the idea of switching, which is an exchange of defensive responsibilities between two players. And it relies on a great deal of verbal and visual communication.
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Example #1
One case where it’s really common is when an attacking FWD is pressured and held up at the blue line by our strong side D1 and forced to chip the puck in zone…
- We don’t want the D1 turning and going to battle that attacking FWD for the chipped puck.
- The sagging or weak side D2 can anticipate it and sprint and get there early and we have D2 recover back to the net front, communicating with D2 on play options, and whos forechecking.
- They have F1 attacking the chipped puck and our D2. As well they will usually have an F2 coming in for support of that initial attack.
- Now we need to sort it out again and make sure the defense is sound, that we each have a player. But we’ve been able to maintain an aggressive attack from the initial chip in and not lose our positioning in the process.
Example #2
In the last video I talked about a switching play between the strongside W and D1 on a switch or cross by the opposing team’s strong side D1 and F1 along the wall. Another common area where the defense have to make a decision of whether they will switch or not is a two-on-two.
- We have our D1 and D2 playing a two-on-two attack back into our defensive zone, coming through the neutral zone far away from our goalie.
- Our D1 is man-on-man with the opposing puck carrier F1, and our D2 is man-on-man with the secondary attacking F2.
- If the attacking F1 and F2 switch we may have time and space for our D1 to stay on his/her man and for D2 to swing in behind without getting in the way of D1 and creating a switch.
- Because puck carrier is coming across, east to west, we want our D1 to maintain strong pressure coming across with him/her in front of our D2.
- Now we want our D2 to sag and drop in behind as the attacking F2 criss crosses in behind the attacking F1 west to east.
However, this is much harder to do with limited time and space in your defensive zone so a lot of teams would say if there’s a crossing of the offensive players, lets say down low and in tight than our D1 and D2 would communicate and call “Switch! Switch! Switch!” and now the opposing player our D1 was covering becomes D2’s new responsibility and vice versa.
So let me recap that the further away from your own net it is, the easier it is to stay on your original man in that man-on-man situation with plays such as the one we just spoke on. As we get closer to our own goal and shooting threats become more real then we may decide to call a “switch” so that the D can stay in their own lanes. Again, it’s a matter of reading the situation and making a decision and going with it. Because if leaving a player that’s left alone creates an amazing scoring opportunity then that D probably should have gone.
It requires some general rules, but it requires communication both verbally and visually and making a decision based on the play as it unfolds. No sense in switching just to keep your own lane if by staying in your own lane you give up a clean shot and goal. Switching is quite technical, it happens all over the ice and it’s an exchange of defensive responsibilities based on verbal and visual communication, make the best decision you can at that time and commit to it 100% so you don’t leave your partner guessing.
It’s much easier to react to a 100% definitive decision than it is to be caught in the middle wondering, “Are we going to switch or aren’t we?”
See you in the next video!
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