Reply To: 2011 Spring Teams

[hockeygod]

TomM wrote:
Looking through the old bulletin board I came across a letter I wrote to Court Dunn who uses the ABC method in Penn and gets a lot of resistance because he uses so many games in practice. He has a middle school team and his school is very small. They regularly beat JV high school teams.

I wrote this to give him some moral support and I put links to hockeydb that give info about the 85ers I coached in 97 and 98 spring hockey and where they ended up playing. 2 NHLers, one Hobey Baker winner.

There is a lot of resistance to using games in practice and as the saying goes; "The proof is in the RESULTS"

Tom,

I liked the letter you wrote. Certainly a strong group of motivated players and no doubt, their success was directly linked to you as their coach and your style of coaching! Well-done! This letter provides longitudinal proof (in hindsight) that the coaching methodology works very well!
——————————————–
Dean, there is also another angle to look at it. Using games in practice does not destroy a players chance of playing at high levels. Some parents are terrified that if their child uses a lighter puck, plays cross ice, doesn't stand in line 80% of the time at practice waiting for their turn to touch the puck for a few seconds, then they will never make it.

The biggest benefit of the ABC method is that players enjoy practice and develop a love for the game as a life time sport. I say this because I am heading to play hockey in about ten minutes and the physical and social benefits of playing all your life are even more important than success in that short window of time we are at our physical prime.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."