Reply To: Body Checking in Youth Hockey

[RookieCoach]

Tom , Dean , Dave,

I have been coaching (helping) some young players at the Atom age level. These players are now moving up to Peewee and body checking will come into play this year.

Parents send their kids to body checking clinics so they can learn to give a hit and take a hit.

Or should we call them hitting clinics. . It is all about hitting , don't get me wrong players should learn proper technique s' , but what are we teaching them?

Young players don't understand stick on stick , body on body or how to contain a player and maintain defensive side positioning.
It's all about how hard they can hit , and usually they take themselves out of position.

I remember going over a video on this site Tom , where a coach has players paired off around the ice and one player skates back ( 7-10 ft )and forth while the other maintains stick on stick. The coach stopped the players for instruction , wanting the sticks on the ice ( pull in push out ) . Don't raise the stick up .

Tom you use a good drill similar to this only out of a corner . But on the whistle it's a 1-1.

Education on this topic is needed for all coaches, parents and players.
But talking about it is a start .

RK
———————————————————
RK, You are right on about the focus on hitting instead of checking. Good technique has got to be the focus and that is the reason I think that bad technique should result in a penalty. The 'game will teach the game' and coaches will be forced to teach proper technique.
I start with the stick on stick drill that Gene Reilly does in the video and then go to drills like the one along the boards. If you want your players and team to be successful it is critical they have good technique. The bonus is that you don't take penalties.
There is also a video on teaching body checking I did at the Edge school with Jeff Hill a few years before I went to Austria.
Tom