Reply To: Favorite Small Area Games

[hockeygod]

Good comments… pick an area of focus (or principle or tactic, etc.) and use this as a theme for your practice. For example, emphasize scoring chances; therefore, perhaps provide a slight advantage to the players on offense (continual 2 vs. 1's / 3 on 2's, etc.) and reinforce shooting / positional cues off the rush. If defense is the focus, then design the activity to reflect that.

As a coach, have your staff alert to their responsibilities for each activity. Who provides feedback for getting shots through? Who keeps track of the number of scoring chances and goals, per team (make it into a competition.) If your A/C's 'know their role' it will immensely help you to achieve your practice objectives.

When you bring the kids in before / after the activities, ask them questions about how successful (or not) they were and why (or why not). This promotes the importance of your theme, keeps reminding everyone about the importance of the theme today (focus), and helps develop the players understanding of the game!

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