Reply To: 2014 Booklets of ABC Drills and Games

[Tom Molloy]

D – Games to Teach the Game

This is the most important section of these booklets with practice ideas. Sometimes coaches forget that we are practicing a game and the best way to practice something is to actually do it.

I remember taking French in school and we did much the same thing as most coaches do in practice. We learned words and phrases but never spoke to anyone. Conversational French was not a practice method. When we do nothing but drills in practice it is the same thing. You learn 'part-part' but never the whole. In this country they talk about 'whole-part-whole learning' and then develop national programs where they think it means learn the whole drill, then part of the drill and back to the whole drill. The mistake is the 'game is the whole' the drills are the parts.

I am going on a vacation to Paris in May and unfortunately my three years of learning with the 'part-part' method has resulted in me only understanding some words and phrases but I have zero ability to speak French. That is what happens to most of our players. They have skills but not a very good idea of how to use them effectively.

These games use the entire rink or various parts of the rink. Lots of modified rules are used so the players have to perform the skills under game pressure and transition between the four game playing roles 1-with puck, 2-support puck, 3-chek puck carrier, 4-cover away from the puck and the three game situations 0-loose puck, 1-offense, 2-defense. Full ice and small area games are used. There are video examples from youth, to European pro to NHL.

Some of the games repeat but the rules are a little different or else the video is of NHL or International players playing the game and then the same game with youth players.

The two themes of the ABC's of International Hockey are:

"Enjoy the Game"

"The Game is the Greatest Coach"

Attachments

• D – ABC Games July 2014.pdf (16 MB)

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'