Reply To: Drills vs SAG – Finding right balance

[Tom Molloy]

Tim here is my suggestion. With only two practices a week you have to maximize your time. I would establish routines like the Finnish U17 team. Maximize the amount of passes and reps on team play and give your goalies work when you have full ice. They had the D working breakout options at one end. F in the middle doing lots of passing and the goalies at the far end. In 10 minutes they accomplished a lot. Rotate the D to the middle for passing and do forward drills after. Also develop a skating routine that uses all of the edges. There are examples of the one I used without a puck and then with a puck ending with a shot.

Use SAG games with modified rules that focus on the skills you are using. They are also old enough to use transition games. There are many full and one zone examples in the TD booklet I posted. Always finish with some sort of contest or shootout.

I would aim for 50% skill drills and 50% games and contests.
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Attachments

• B – Skills Warm up Finnish U17.pdf (292 KB)
• A200 Skating Warm-up for Edges and Balance with a Puck and Shot.pdf (74 KB)

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