| 5. Will players be taught other hockey skills aside from skating? |
| Yes. I
believe that skating cannot be taught in isolation. Excellent skating
technique means nothing to a hockey player unless he can apply that
technique in a game while shooting, passing, stickhandling and checking.
Accordingly, although we don’t teach directly the skill of shooting
etc., we train players to perform these skills while skating at top
speed. Players are constantly being taught to keep their feet moving
while shooting. Drills are used where players are forced to read the
ice before receiving and giving passes. At our skating schools players
are forced to bring their stickhandling, passing and shooting ability
up to their skating speed rather than players slowing their skating
speed down to accommodate the level of their other hockey skills.
Targets are placed in all nets when there is not a goaltender and players are constantly told to finish hard as if in a game situation always firing at a specific target. If we do notice, for example, players not leading their passes or slapping their passes without following through, we will work with them to correct this in the drills. |