Reply To: Coaching philosophy

Rookie Coach,

Nice to hear you are open-minded and your brain is evolving! With more time, you will come to the 'light side' and escape the clutches of the 'dark side' (old school, repetitive, traditional drills that have little relativity to 'the game'.) Reminds me of the definition of insanity, "Doing the same thing and expecting different results."

I had a four hour meeting with an NHL coach two weeks ago. (I bought him a copy of Tom's book for his 50th birthday.) We have known each other for twenty years and he has seen my own personal 'coaching evolution' occur after I had the good fortune to meet "The Colombian" in 2003 – my friend John.

This NHL coach and I have met several times each year to discuss philosophy. He has always been somewhat skeptical of my approach – about the game being the best teacher – and playing so many 1 vs. 1 games, incorporating elements of transition wherever possible; trying to make the old 'drills' into competitive, measurable, game-like scenarios – after all, to play the game, we need to 'play' the game!

I hate the word 'drills' now and shy away from doing anything that isn't game like. Bye bye horseshoe! See ya flow drills! Everything is focused on letting the player experience the game-like situation and make decisions. They will figure out what works and what doesn't. By holding them accountable, their learning is accelerated. Plus this builds intensity and enjoyment into the sessions… not to mention improved fitness because of the competitive nature of the games / activities / scenarios!

Below are his comments:
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Dean,

Very enlightening meeting yesterday. I was thinking about your philosophy and belief in the way the game is played: one vs one with transition. I have often felt this to be the case and with your passion for the "activities" in the way of teaching the concepts of hockey, both offensively and defensively, bring more clarity to my thinking. Unfortunately I have been 'dumbed down' over the past number of years to believing what has become a generalized thought process in the National Hockey League.

When _____ coached he would often say defensively to the players: either no one has the puck; we have the puck; or they have the puck. He was quite cerebral in this regard, but _____ make players better from a development perspective. At the elite level as my experience tells me, a lot of players have the ability – as adults – to internalize what they see without a lot of on ice rehearsal or activities. I am sure that your activities would be better received, with more excitement and enjoyment than the mundane and very uninspired practices at this level.

Have a good day

Dean