Hockey Drills Every Skater Must Know

Here are some basic hockey drills that every skater needs to know in order to improve their game.

Introduction

As a coach, it is your responsibility to help your players learn and execute the Basic Skills of hockey. These skills are necessary for every player, regardless of their position on the ice. In this guide, we will go over some of the most important drills that every skater must know in order to be successful on the ice.

Basic Skating drills

In order to become a better hockey player you need to work on your skating. Skating is the most important part of the game and if you can’t skate, you can’t play. Here are some basic Skating Drills that every skater must know in order to improve their game.

-Crossover skating: This drill is important for working on your agility and stride. To do this drill, start in a straight line and then crossover your feet, making sure to push off with your outside edge. Do this for 10 yards and then repeat going the other way.
-Backward skating: This drill is important for working on your backward skating and stopping. To do this drill, start by skating forward and then transition into backward skating. Make sure to keep your head up and stop at the end of the 10-yard line.
-Stopping: This drill is important for working on your stopping ability. To do this drill, skate forward and then transition into backward skating. Make sure to keep your head up and stop at the end of the 10-yard line.

Puck Control Drills

Puck Control is one of the most important skills for any hockey player and these three drills will help you hone your abilities on the ice.

1. The Figure 8
This drill is great for helping skaters develop proper Puck Control while also working on their edge work and body movement. To start, set up two cones or pucks in a figure eight pattern on the ice. Skate around the cones, making sure to keep your body low and your head up as you move. As you become more comfortable with the drill, try to do it with one hand behind your back or while carrying a second puck.

2. The Zig-Zag
This is another excellent drill for developing puck control and edge work. To set up, place five pucks in a zig-zag pattern on the ice, starting with a puck at the bottom left corner of the face-off circle and placing pucks at the top left, bottom right, and top right corners as well. Skate around the pucks in a zig-zag pattern, making sure to keep your body low and your head up as you move. As you become more comfortable with the drill, try to do it with one hand behind your back or while carrying a second puck.

3. The Stick Handling Circuit
This drill is great for working on a variety of stick handling skills at once. To set up, create a circuit on the ice using cones or pucks placed about two feet apart. Start by skating around the outside of the circuit while stick handling the puck around all of the cones or pucks. Once you make it all the way around, start working your way in towards the center of the circuit, stick handling around all of the cones or pucks as you go. As you become more comfortable with the drill, try to do it with one hand behind your back or while carrying a second puck.

Shooting Drills

Hockey is a sport that requires split-second decisions and precision movements. Because of this, Hockey Players need to continually practice and refine their skills. shooting drills are an important part of any hockey player’s practice routine, as they help to improve accuracy and aim.

There are a variety of shooting drills that players can do, either on their own or with a group. One popular shooting drill is known as the “Power play Drill.” This drill helps players to work on their wrist shots and one-timers. To do this drill, set up four cones in a square formation, with each cone about 20 feet apart. Then, place a puck in the middle of the square. The player will start at one cone, skate around the square, and take a shot at the puck from each corner.

Another common shooting drill is called the “Rapid Fire Drill.” This drill helps players to work on quick release shots. To set up this drill, place four pucks in a line about 15 feet from the goal line The player will start at the first puck and quickly shoot at the net, then skate to the next puck and take another shot. The goal is to take as many quick shots as possible within 30 seconds.

Drills like these are essential for helping players to improve their shooting accuracy and speed. By practicing regularly, hockey players can make sure that they are always ready for game-time situations.

Passing Drills

Good passing is one of the most important hockey skills a player can have. These drills will help skaters to develop good passing technique and become better playmakers on the ice.

1. Give-and-Go Drill: This drill is great for developing quick, accurate passes while on the move. Skaters start by lining up along the boards on one end of the rink. Player 1 starts with the puck and passes it to Player 2, who then returns the pass to Player 1 before skating to the end of the line. Player 1 then repeats the process with the next player in line, and so on, until all skaters have had a turn.

2. Figure 8 Passing Drill: This drill helps skaters to learn how to make sharp, precise passes while moving laterally across the ice. Skaters start by Divide into two lines at opposite ends of a face-off circle, with each line having one player at each side of the circle facing their partner across from them.. On the whistle, both lines start skating around their respective sides of the circle in opposite directions, passing the puck back and forth between them as they go. The object of this drill is to complete as many passes as possible without losing control of the puck or having it go offside.

3. One-Touch Passing Drill: This drill is great for developing quick wrist shots and one-touch passes.. Skaters start by dividing into two lines at opposite ends of the rink (one line at each goal line). Player 1 starts with the puck and skates in towards Player 2, who is stationed at the other goal line . As Player 1 approaches, he takes a Wrist Shot at goal, followed by a quick pass to Player 2, who then Dribbles back towards his own goal line before passing it back to Player 1.. The drill then repeats with Player 1 passing it toPlayer 3 in line behind him and so on until all skaters have had a turn..

Stickhandling Drills

If you want to improve your hockey stickhandling skills, then you need to ice drills that are specific to this area of the game. Stickhandling is one of the most important skills in hockey, and it is one of the hardest to master. These five Stickhandling Drills will help you to improve your control of the puck and make you a better Hockey Player

1. The Russian Five-Hole Drill: This drill is named after Alexander Ovechkin, who is one of the best stickhandlers in the world. To do this drill, set up five cones in a line, about two feet apart. Start at one end of the line and skate around each cone, making sure to keep your head up and your eyes on the puck. As you get better at this drill, you can increase the distance between the cones.

2. The Figure Eight Drill: This drill is great for improving your hand-eye coordination To do this drill, set up two cones about 10 feet apart from each other. Skate around one cone, then weave in and out of the other cone like you are tracing a figure eight. As you get better at this drill, you can increase the speed at which you skate around the cones.

3. The One-Touch Drill: This drill is great for practicing your passing skills as well as your stickhandling skills. To do this drill, set up two cones about 20 feet apart from each other. Skate around one cone and pass the puck back and forth between your sticks as you skate around the other cone. As you get better at this drill, you can increase the distance between the cones or add more cones to make it more challenging.

4. The Shooting Drill: This drill is great for practicing your shooting accuracy as well as your stickhandling skills. To do this drill, set up a row of five cones about 10 feet apart from each other and a goal at one end of the row of cones. Skate around each cone, making sure to keep your head up and your eyes on the puck, then shoot at the goal once you reach the end of the row of cones. As you get better at this drill, you can increase the distance between the cones or add more rows of cones to make it more challenging

Game Situation Drills

Hockey is a fast, intense sport that requires split-second decisions. That’s why game situation drills are so important for developing Hockey players By simulating game scenarios in practice, players can learn to make the right decisions under pressure.

Here are some essential game situation drills that every hockey player should know:

1. Breakout Drills
Breakout drills teach players how to move the puck out of their own end and transition into offense. These drills are important for developing a team’s transition game.

2. power play Drills
power play drills focus on Offense with an emphasis on puck movement and shooting. These drills are important for developing a team’s offensive capabilities.

3. Penalty Kill Drills
Penalty kill drills focus on Defense with an emphasis on puck movement and positioning. These drills are important for developing a team’s defensive capabilities.

4. Face-Off Drills
Face-off drills focus on the face-off, which is one of the most important plays in hockey. These drills are important for developing a team’s face-off skills.

Power Skating Drills

Power skating is one of the most important aspects of becoming a successful hockey player It separates the good players from the Great players Here are 10 power skating drills every skater must know.

1. One-Leg Balance Drill

This drill is great for improving balance and edge work. Start by standing on one leg in the middle of the ice. From there, skate forward and backward, making sure to keep your balance the entire time. After a few reps, switch to your other leg.

2. Backwards Crossover Drill

This drill is great for improving speed and agility. Start by skating backwards across the ice using crossovers. Make sure to keep your head up and your feet moving quickly. After a few reps, switch directions and skate forwards using crossovers.

3. Figure 8 Drill

This drill is great for improving puck control and edge work. Start by skating around the perimeter of the rink, making sure to keep your head up at all times. As you skate, make figure 8s with your puck (or an imaginary puck). After a few laps, switch directions and skate in the opposite direction.

4. Stick-Handling Obstacle Course

This drill is great for improving stick-handling skills and decision making under pressure. Set up cones or other obstacles in a line across the width of the rink (about 5-10 yards apart). Skate around the obstacle course as quickly as possible, making sure to stick-handle around each obstacle without losing control of the puck. After a few reps, increase the difficulty of the obstacle course by adding more obstacles or increasing the spacing between them.

5.”I” Drill

This drill is great for working on transitional skating (stopping and starting) and crossover technique. Start at one end of the rink and skate forwards to the blue line making an “I” formation with your skates (one skate over, one skate under). At the blue line stop abruptly and transition to skating backwards, again forming an “I” with your skates at all times.”

Conditioning Drills

Every skater, at every level, must be in excellent skating shape to be able to execute all of the necessary skills with proper technique Skaters need endurance to be able to skate for long periods of time, effectively shifting from forwards to backwards and side-to-side. They need speed and agility to make quick movements on the ice. And they need power to generate force and produce rapid acceleration. These essential skating qualities can be improved through specific skating drills that challenge every aspect of a skater’s conditioning.

Below are 5 essential skating drills that every skater, at any level, should be doing regularly to improve their skating conditioning.

1) Forward Stride Drills:Skaters should focus on having a strong and powerful forward stride. These types of drills will help challenge your endurance, as well as your speed and power.

2) Backward Skating Drills: Backward skating is an important skill for all hockey players especially defensemen. these types of drills will help improve your backwards skating speed and agility.

3) Lateral Skating Drills: Lateral movement is key for all hockey players as it allows you to quickly move from side-to-side on the ice. These types of drills will help improve your lateral speed and agility.

4) Acceleration Drills: Hockey is a game of quick starts and stops. Skaters need to be able to generate a lot of force quickly in order to accelerate rapidly on the ice. These types of drills will help improve your ability to produce force and accelerate quickly.

5) Crossover Drills: Crossover skating is a key skill for all Hockey players as it allows you to change directions quickly on the ice. These types of drills will help improve your crossover speed and agility.

Cool Down & Recovery

After a strenuous skating session, it is important to cool down and allow your body to recover. Here are some hockey drills that will help you do just that:

1. Figure 8s: Skate slowly in a figure 8 pattern for two minutes. This will help lower your heart rate and stretch out your muscles.

2. Crossovers: Cross one foot over the other as you skate forward for two minutes. This will help improve your balance and coordination.

3. Backward Skating: Skate backwards for two minutes. This will help stretch out your calf muscles and improve your backward skating technique.

4. Stork Stance: Stand on one leg with the other leg extended behind you, keeping your knee straight. Hold this position for 30 seconds before switching legs. This will help improve your balance and stability.