Game Intelligence / Decision Training

[hockeygod]

I consider John the Colombian a Master Coach – people compare him to Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer – but as a master of working with people; of building them up and helping them become the best they can be. I am grateful for the ongoing opportunities to learn from him. Below is a recent letter John shared with me (U16 girls), and his response. Beautiful stuff!

—– Original Message —–
From: Sarah H
Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 11:33 pm
Subject: Sarah excited that you were at practice tonight!
To: John C

Hi John,

I just wanted to let you know that Sarah came home from practice tonight so excited that she started crying! She told me that her excitement began the minute she spotted your car in the parking lot (something she has made a habit of looking for) & then had difficulty containing herself when she saw you at the practice.

It goes without saying that Sarah was DEVASTATED when ^^^^ spoke with the girls on the weekend and informed them that you might not be coaching them. She had a VERY rough night. Even though you were absent for only a couple of practices / tech sessions, she kept saying that she missed you "soooo much".

I was not kidding when I said that we did not have much choice in deciding where Sarah would play this year & although she had a chance to play on 2 tier 1 teams, she passed that up without blinking an eye in order to train with you & ****. Sarah has been gifted as a fairly good athlete in a few sports, but we have never seen a coach affect her in such a short time as you have and we pray that you will be able to continue to coach her in the future. Academically Sarah does OK, but soccer is definitely her passion!

If there is anything Chris or I could do to help in any way, please don't hesitate to ask!

Warmest Regards,

Nancy H

—– Original Message —–
From: JBC
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:29:11 -0700
To: Sarah H
Subject: Life and Soccer

Dear Nancy,

Thanks for your feedback, I want you to know that I also missed the girls a lot as I have become very attached to them due to their commitment, passion and love for soccer. My real hope is to have a lasting impact on Sarah and all the players on the team, as I said at the meeting; we all came together for a reason as destiny has an incredible way to do things.

What we will do together, what we will learn together, should be remembered as a legacy for times to come. It is my dream that these wonderful human beings will keep elevating themselves to greatness; the path of discovery starts within every one of us and soccer is just a tool that we can use on this wonderful journey. I want them to discover the beauties of hard work, discipline, dedication, respect, resilience towards themselves and others, so they create their own path and they can ignite others when time will come for them to pass this great legacy.

I'm very fortunate and privileged to coach these team and the same bond and respect that they are feeling goes my way, too. Your daughter is a very special and gifted player and if she unleashes that power inside her she will become great beyond measure.

My path, as you know, is to ignite this incredible force hiding inside all these wonderful young ladies so they can enjoy the game for what it is and to love it and play as long as they can do it. I can assure you that I will do my best to at least the end of the season.

You asked if you can do something for me? You have already done your part allowing me to coach your daughter, thanks for the opportunity.

God bless you and your family.

JBC
J-G97
Head Coach

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

[hockeygod]

Speaking of Gretzky, I would be fascinated to interview him about his early beginnings… and how his dad's influence helped him. I wonder if the backyard rink 'protected' him from stupid coaches? Perhaps this allowed his skills and Game Intelligence to develop without some adult know-it-all coach yelling at him; explicitly 'telling' him what to do?

Here is some more about Wayne:

"Born in Brantford, Ontario, Wayne Gretzky lived perhaps the most famous childhood of any athlete. When he was six years old, his father, Walter, built a rink in the family's backyard, and it was there that Wayne skated for hours on end, every day, practising his skating, shooting and stickhandling and learning everything about the game from his dad. "It was for self-preservation," Walter admitted. "I got sick of taking him to the park and sitting there for hours freezing to death." From the time he was six, he played many leagues above his age. He scored only one goal in his first year, when he was playing with ten-year-olds, but each season his skills increased dramatically and he soon set scoring records that seemed preposterous, notably a 378-goal season in his last year in pee wee in Brantford. As he progressed, he earned the nickname "the White Tornado" because he wore white hockey gloves and because of his speed and skill. Each year he played at a higher level, and each year he maintained his superiority.

When he was 14, he decided that the pressure of playing in his small hometown was too great and jealous players and parents made him unhappy. He decided to move to Toronto and there he played for the Toronto Nats. When he was 15, he played three games with the Peterborough Petes in the Ontario Hockey Association as an emergency call-up, and even then the Great One impressed scouts with his abilities despite his small stature and youth. The next year, 1977-78, was his only full season in the OHA, and he finished second to Bobby Smith in the scoring race while playing for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. It was there that he first adopted the number 99 when his favorite number 9 was already taken by fourth-year player Brian Gualazzi. Gretzky also represented Canada internationally for the first time in January 1978 at the World Junior Championship in Quebec City. As a 16-year-old, he led the whole tournament in scoring and was named the top center. Ironically, the coaching staff invited him to the team's training camp only because he was leading the league in scoring; they thought he was otherwise too small to even make the team. After missing a month of league play with the juniors, he returned to the OHA – and he was still leading in scoring.

In the fall of 1978, Gretzky joined the Indianapolis Racers after signing a personal services contract with Nelson Skalbania, the team's owner. Gretzky had wanted to join the NHL, but the league's draft age was 20 and Gretzky didn't think it would help to play three years in the OHA until he was drafted. Gretzky's stay in Indianapolis was short lived as the Racers, who folded after five seasons, and Skalbania sold Gretzky to the Edmonton Oilers. In Edmonton, under coach Glen Sather, he became the most dominant player in the history of the game. He set records, and his play was unlike anything the league had ever seen. He was surrounded by phenomenal talent in Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, and Grant Fuhr in goal, and as a team they set virtually every scoring record that currently stands.

When Gretzky first arrived in Edmonton, he stayed with coach Sather, who immediately promised him that he'd one day be captain of the team and win the Stanley Cup. Clearly, Sather knew how good Gretzky could be. In his first full NHL season, Gretzky tied Marcel Dionne for the scoring race but lost the Art Ross Trophy because Dionne had more goals. He couldn't win the Calder Trophy because the NHL had declared that players from the WHA weren't rookies, but he did win the Hart Trophy, the first time a first-year player was so honored.

The next year, 1980-81, he won his first of seven straight scoring titles and broke Bobby Orr's assists record with 109. The year after, he shattered Phil Esposito's record of 76 goals (a record many thought was unbreakable) by scoring 92 times, a record that itself will surely stand the test of time. En route, he also scored an incredible 50 goals in the first 39 games of the season, including five in the historic 39th game. He also registered 212 points, the first of four times he'd score more than 200, and to this day he's the only player to have done so even once (Mario Lemieux came closest when he scored 199 in 1988-89).

His style was unique and almost impenetrable. The area behind the opposition goal was dubbed "Gretzky's office" because it was from there that he made so many perfect passes for goals. He was equally known for using the trailing man on rushes rather than a man skating ahead of him. Gretzky would come in over the blue line and then curl, waiting for a defenseman, often Coffey, to join the rush and create a great scoring chance. When on the ice to kill penalties, Gretzky wasn't looking to ice the puck in a defensive role; he was looking to take the other team by surprise, to take advantage of their defenselessness to score shorthanded. The result was goals and more goals – the Oilers scoring 400 a season as a matter of routine – and Gretzky won the scoring race virtually every year in the 1980s.

As Gretzky went, so went the Oilers. They went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1983, only to lose horribly to the Islanders in four straight games. But the loss was a learning experience. The next year they made their first of four Cup wins over the next five years by defeating those same Islanders in five games. That ended the dynastic run of four straight Cup wins for the Long Islanders. The playoffs became a mirror of the regular season, as Edmonton routinely scored seven goals a game, Gretzky led the playoffs in scoring and the team kept on winning and winning. The culmination of these years came in 1988, and after the Oilers won the Cup, Gretzky huddled the team at center ice for an on-ice group portrait, the first of what has since become a tradition for every winning team at every level.

That spring of 1988 was also Gretzky's last moment in an Oilers sweater. He married Janet Jones in August, and just days later he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most stunning deals in NHL history. He, Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley went to the Kings for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, first-round draft choices in 1989, 1991 and 1993 and $15 million. In the ensuing days, charges and countercharges flew in Edmonton because of the magnitude of the deal and because it came just after the Oilers' successful season-ticket drive had concluded. Fans felt betrayed, and many blamed Janet Jones for forcing the trade. Others blamed Gretzky for asking for a trade, and most people vilified owner Peter Pocklington for selling his most valuable asset simply for a large sum of cash. But in the end the result was the same – Gretzky was headed for the United States, never to wear a sweater of a Canadian team again in the NHL.

The league was never to be the same either. Gretzky brought to L.A. a truly winning attitude and ability and the Forum was sold out every game for the first time in franchise history. Gretzky's relationship with owner Bruce McNall was close, and with John Candy the three bought the Toronto Argonauts football club. Gretzky and McNall also bought valuable baseball cards and horses and were as close in business as they were in hockey. On ice, he won more Art Ross and Hart trophies, and in 1993 he took the Kings to the finals for the first time after eliminating the Maple Leafs in game seven of the semifinals in his favorite building, Maple Leaf Gardens. The deciding game in Toronto was a 5-4 win for L.A. in which he scored a hat trick and which he called his finest NHL game ever. But in the finals the Kings were exhausted and the Great One's magic couldn't compensate. Montreal beat them in five games. After winning it four times with Edmonton, Gretzky was never again to get as close to the Cup.

Along the way in Los Angeles, Gretzky scored his 802nd goal to pass Gordie Howe as the all-time leading scorer as well as his 1,852nd point to pass Howe as all-time point-getter in the league. "The fact that the record was broken by someone who's such a great person takes away any sense of loss that I might have," Howe said.

Gretzky was traded to St. Louis to play with his friend Brett Hull and coach Mike Keenan, who had worked with Gretzky during Canada Cup competitions. He played only 18 games in St. Louis during the regular season, and after a disappointing showing in the playoffs, the Blues decided not to offer Gretzky a contract in the off-season. Instead, the Great One signed a three-year deal in the summer of 1996 to be with his oldest hockey friend, Mark Messier, and the New York Rangers. It seemed to be the perfect way to end a great career.

A year later, though, Messier became embroiled in a bitter contract negotiation with the Blueshirts and signed with the Vancouver Canucks. Gretzky was alone again – on Broadway, on a mediocre team, a situation he had never wanted. He didn't want to be the center of attention or the one on whom all the expectations were focused. He continued to be the team's leading scorer, but his supporting cast grew weaker and the Rangers missed the playoffs his last two years in the NHL. Time and again his perfect passes floated into open ice where no Ranger had anticipated the play or a pass would be badly missed on the awful Garden ice. Toward the end of the 1998-99 season, Gretzky announced his retirement, and his final two games, in Ottawa and New York, were emotionally difficult.

When he retired after the season, the NHL retired his number 99 to ensure no one else would ever wear it.

Gretzky played in the NHL's All-Star Game every year he was in the league and was the first player to be named game MVP with three different teams. Internationally, his record is unparalleled among NHL players. After the World Juniors in 1978, he played in the World Championship in 1982, suiting up for his first game for Canada just 24 hours after the Oilers had been eliminated from the 1982 playoffs. The proudest of all Canadians ever to wear the national red and white sweater, he also played in each Canada Cup in 1981, 1984, 1987 and 1991. Each time he led the tournament in scoring, and only in his first year, 1981, did the team fail to claim the title of world champion.

Gretzky also participated in the 1996 World Cup, the replacement tournament for the Canada Cup, where Canada placed second for the first time to the United States. But perhaps Gretzky's greatest international honor came in late 1997, when he was selected to represent Canada at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. He was able to realize a boyhood dream, as the NHL shut down so that all the pros could represent their countries at those Olympics. Team Canada placed a disappointing fourth after losing in the semifinals on a shootout to Dominik Hasek and the Czech Republic, a result that was controversial for coach Marc Crawford since he didn't select Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer, to take one of the five penalty shots for Canada.

Of course, as soon as he retired he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and in century-end polls he was consistently ranked the greatest hockey player of all time. Although the 1999-2000 season marked Gretzky's first year of retirement, he was hardly inactive. The Edmonton Oilers retired his number 99 at the start of the 1999-2000 season, and at the All-Star Game in Toronto in February 2000 his sweater was retired by the NHL in another special ceremony. Then, early in the summer, he became a minority owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, a move designed to help him get back in the game and one that also saved the franchise from moving because of ownership difficulties.

On June 2, 2000, Gretzky was introduced as the Managing Partner of the Phoenix Coyotes in charge of all hockey operations before officially beginning his role on February 15, 2001. During his time with the Phoenix hockey club, Gretzky was also named Head Coach of the Coyotes, accepting the coaching responsibilities in addition to his front office role.

In November of 2000, Gretzky was named Executive Director of Canada's 2002 Men's Olympic Hockey team. Duties included overseeing all hockey operations, and making the final decision on all personnel and player selections. He did indeed possess the Midas touch, turning all things to gold, Olympic Gold. However the road was anything but smooth. During the Salt Lake City Games, Gretzky challenged the media coverage and officiating, claiming it was "anti-Canadian". His rallying methods paved the way for Team Canada to claim the gold 5-2 over the USA, thus ending a 50-year Olympic drought for Canada's men's hockey teams.

Gretzky’s hockey career and endorsement deals have made him one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. His current corporate clients include Bigelow Tea, Breitling, Ford Canada, Pepsi Canada, Samsung Canada, McFarlane Toys and Upper Deck.

The restaurant in Toronto that bears his name, Wayne Gretzky’s, is now in its 17th year. And the Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp has enjoyed eight successful years in Arizona, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada.

On June 26, 2007, Gretzky announced the launch of Wayne Gretzky Estates Winery. Teaming up with winemakers who have won a number of international and domestic awards, Gretzky desired to celebrate Canadian winemaking while creating resources for the Wayne Gretzky Foundation. A portion of the net proceeds are donated to the Foundation.

The Wayne Gretzky Foundation is dedicated to helping disadvantaged youngsters throughout North America participate in hockey. The Foundation has held three successful hockey equipment drives in partnership with Ford Canada and raised over $300,000 at the annual Wayne Gretzky Foundation Golf Tournament.

In 2008, Gretzky hosted the inaugural Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic Presented by Samsung, an official stop on the PGA Nationwide Tour. The tournament, which was held in Clarksburg, Ontario at the Georgian Bay Club and The Raven Golf Club at Lora Bay, featured one of the tour’s largest purses – $800,099. Proceeds from the event went to the Wayne Gretzky Foundation.

Gretzky also gives his time to countless other charitable endeavors. He serves as Honorary Chairman of Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities in Canada, and is an Athlete Ambassador and Honorary Member of the Board of Trustees of Right to Play, an athlete driven humanitarian organization that uses sports to enhance child development in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the world. Gretzky also is a participant in “Hands That Shape Humanity,” a project for the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre.

For two decades, the ethereal Wayne Gretzky lifted hockey to new and dizzying heights while establishing himself as the greatest player of all time. He transcended hockey and was the most statistically dominant player in the history of North American team sports, an athlete who ranks with basketball’s Michael Jordan and soccer’s Pele as one of the greatest offensive forces in the history of any sport and a man whose name is mentioned in the same breath as Muhammad Ali as one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.

Gretzky and his wife Janet have five children: daughters Paulina and Emma and sons Ty, Trevor and Tristan.

Biography courtesy of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

http://www.gretzky.com/

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

[hockeygod]

Hmmmm…. either no one is reading this thread and the latest challenge; or they are too shy?? Hey, think of this blog as a bartender… you can tell your personal thoughts without fear of reprisal or judgement. We are here to support each other – "Professional Development' through introspection and discussion.

Come on people… it's never too late to post your philosophy! You can do it!

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

[hockeygod]

TomM wrote:
It is very difficult to teach players how to play away from the puck. Quick support, give a target, get open, make the easy play, go from offense to defense and defense to offense, 'attack so you can defend and defend so you can attack.'

Teaching Roles One, individual offensive skills, and Role Three, individual defensive skills is much easier because a player can work on these on their own. You need game situations to learn how to read the play and react to the cues to be effective in Game Playing Role Two, the offensive players without the puck and Game Playing Role Four, the defensive players away from the puck.

You can do drills to create some situations that mimic a real game but there is no decisions making. The players know it is a 2-1 or 3-3 etc., so they don't need to read the play and communicate with teammates.

It is important to play SAG and full ice games that create situations that require the players to support on offense and on defense after they have scanned the ice and read what the situation is and then make the appropriate decision.

Last night I worked on close support, facing the puck, giving a target, looking around before you get the puck by playing three full ice games.

Game One:
Full ice game of 8 on 8 with the rule that there must be at least on pass in each zone. We played for 7 minutes and I enforced the rule. The score ended up 0-0 so both teams skated across and back because neither team won.

Game Two:
Full ice game 8 vs 8 of Baggo and the rule of that is that you get 2 touches or one second with the puck. This game requires very quick decision making. Score was 1-0 and the losing team went across and back once.

Game Three:
Full ice game of 4-4 Baggo with 45" shifts, Pass back to the your goalie when the whistle goes to end the shift. The score was 2-1 and the losing team skated one across and back.

These games automatically cause the players to get their heads up, give and go, face the puck, give a target, give close support and a lot of other positive playing habits. Other by products of the games are fitness, fun and competitiveness.

Agreed! The best way to teach players 'how' to play away from the puck (roles 2 and 4) is to SHUT UP and let them play! (This also goes for 1 v 1 up to 5 v 5).

As coaches, we have tried to understand and explain the game by over-analyzing the game. Like a complete genetic code, we have broken it down into such small parts (individual strands of DNA), that when we reconstruct them, they no longer resemble the game. It becomes, at best, a mutated whole… like Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly!" A 2 v 1 or 3 v 2 'drill' does not completely, truly replicate the same situation within a game.

"The game is the best teacher!" Only by playing chaotic, unpredictable games will we truly prepare for the chaotic, unpredictable nature of the game! Patterns / predictable drills might look nice in practice when there isn't any pressure or any accountability (score kept / consequences), but they fall apart in a game! Pressure has a way of doing that… pressure that isn't replicated in traditional drill-oriented hockey practices.

I like how Tom identified what the needs of his players / team were, chose appropriate, purposeful 'games' to help reinforce the use of the individual skills and tactics / team tactics that were required, set the parameters of the 'games' and then 'policed' them… and he kept score!

It didn't sound like he 'told' them how and what to do – just provided the purpose of the games and the 'rules of engagement.' It was up to the players to interpret the rules (or ask questions) for clarification. This is an example of experiential discovery and implicit learning… the BEST way to create long-lasting change within each player! Yes, it might take longer to 'learn' things 'on their own', but you 'guide' them by asking 'leading' questions and by demonstrating patience.

DICTATOR COACHES THAT "TELL / YELL AT" THEIR PLAYERS WHAT TO DO ALL THE TIME ARE CREATING DEPENDENT ATHLETES – THIS IS EXPLICIT TEACHING. We should strive to create the opposite: independent thinkers. After all, we can't play the games FOR our athletes! We should be striving to structure the training environment so it accurately reflects the competitive (game) environment so the players feel like they have played in those competitive situations before (in practice) and are more comfortable doing so. Coaches – quit yelling "Stop / Pass / Shoot / Check" etc. (like lots of parents do) during the practice / game; Instead, calmly survey the situation and provide opportunities for guided discussion on the bench / in the room. "What did you see out there? Would you do anything differently next time? How would you change it? Can you try that next time and see how it works?"

Tom kept score and held the players accountable (reward / punishment system.) The players learned from their experiences. He probably debriefed them after each game… asking them what made them successful (or what challenged them / why did they struggle in ____? and how could you overcome these challenges next time… what specifically would you have to do?) and had them share these thoughts / learning with the group – using leading questions.

This is great coaching! This is why Tom is a successful coach; regardless of the scoreboard. He is creating smarter, better equipped players (and good people.) Hats off to you, Tom… "SIR"!

I suppose one could use these steps as a 'formula' to create excellent practices… Maybe I will put something together and post it later.
————————————
Dean, thanks for the kind words.

Juhani Tamminen is a well known Finnish coach who is famous for his great practices ( he played on a line with Juhani Wahlsten at the end of Juuso's career). Hockey Canada asked him to present at one of the international conferences that they USED to put on every second year. Tamminen drew arrows across ice, full ice, 1/3 ice and put up 1-1, 2-1, 2-2 up to 5-5. He said play games with rules in these areas of the ice in order to create great players.

The delegates were not impressed as they wanted all sorts of elaborate drill but Tammy told them that this is what he did in his famous practices. 'use games to teach the game.' (that is the problem with teachers; they love to give lectures) We play the top team in the league on Sat. and then go to the tournament at Notre Dame next week and are in their division. They were Canadian champs last year.

In my school skills class we had two cross ice games and a one goalie game going and played games like; all must touch the puck before scoring and after you score all must score before you can score again. We also played Baggo '2 touches or 1" with the puck and goals must come from one timer shots." The other game was all must touch the puck but you must make an escape move before you can shoot or pass.

Tonight one of my goalies was sick so I had to modify practice to use only one goalie. We did a 2-2 transition game with a regroup and a hinge and then added a second regroup. We also did an attack, defend, rest rotation to practice the pp and pk using one goale.
I gave the players a sermon on 'deep practice' and how it differs from just showing up and going through the motions.

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

[DaveM]

Dean – Great challenge / post. In the words of the Hanson bros, you got me "right in the mind" with the "know how much you care" quote…..I'm just starting to understand this through experience. Anyway, thanks for keeping things going. Busy times right now, but I'll try to post a response after our games this weekend.

Dave

[hockeygod]

Good stuff DaveM! Looking forward to hearing from you later.

Anyone else…? RK – you have been pretty quiet lately… and Kai?

Where are the usual suspects? 😉

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

[hockeygod]

I just received this tonight from Kevin Sullivan from the Rhode Island area. Kevin was an educator (retired), is active with USA Hockey and knows coaches all over the world. I feel privileged to have met him at the World Championships in Quebec City a few years ago (Tom introduced us) and I stay in touch with Kevin.

This article is 'bang on the money' given what I posted earlier today! Makes me want to meet Jack Blatherwick and talk hockey over a few pints of beer!

Enjoy the article… and THANK YOU Jack!

—–

Trial and error … then someday … trial and success

By Jack Blatherwick
Let’s Play Hockey Columnist

Bear with me hockey folks, while I insert a paragraph about round ball. To appreciate the genius of UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, we’d likely start with his record: 10 NCAA Championships, seven of those in consecutive years in which they won 38 straight playoff games.

In 40 years of coaching he had 885 wins for an .813 percentage. By comparison, Gopher basketball has had an excellent 120-year tradition, but never won an NCAA championship, appearing in the Final Four only once.

Why do I bring this up? As great as the Wooden record is, it doesn’t do justice to his skills as a coach. He is one of the greatest teachers in the history of sport, and every coach would be better after studying his approach.

Wooden was a strict disciplinarian; his teams repeated the most basic fundamentals every day; and yet, he encouraged creativity, and allowed players to learn by trial and error. “If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything,” he often said. “You’ll be no better at the end of the season.”

So, to bring this brief discussion back to the hockey arena, I’ll offer an opinion that might be worth no more than what you paid for this copy of Let’s Play Hockey … exactly nothing.

At every level of hockey, I believe coaches could learn Wooden’s valuable lesson. We have too much structure that prevents players from learning by trial and error. We call them ‘systems,’ these X’s and O’s designed to prevent mistakes and limit creativity.

“Chip it out. Dump it in. No turnovers. No long cross-rink passes. Get it deep. Third man high (even though sometimes you could get the puck if you never heard the rule). Finish checks after the opponent passes (now I’m really irritating the junior coaches). No, no, no. Keep it simple.”

In other words, “Don’t try to be a Bobby Orr or a Wayne Gretzky, a Pavel Datsyuk or a Sidney Crosby.”

No game requires quicker, more creative read-react decisions than hockey. Therefore, young minds must not be cluttered with rules that slow this process down. The word “no” can’t possibly contribute to the development of the brain to integrate all the visual cues with past experiences to make the best instantaneous decisions.

If we want to develop more Gretzky’s we all better listen to the words of Coach Wooden.

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

[RedWingFan]

I always find it interesting to read/hear the back stories on players. Sometimes they can tip the hand of how the player developed and give some insight to why they became what they became.

You have players who are always on the top teams and brought along to be the next best thing. Then you have players from remote places who go about their merry way with no fan fare as they continue to work their butts off to become elite (ie Claude Giroux played hockey in Hearst Ontario till his bantam year and then from there played lower Jr A since he was passed over in the Major Jr draft)

I feel that players are better off honing their skills for coaches/teams who care very little about wins and losses. Wooden is a great inspiration for me but I find it is easier to take on his methods in a low stress coaching enviroment than a high stress one.

[hockeygod]

RWF,

I also enjoy hearing about how others 'get to the top' of their profession. Are there any commonalities? What can I take away from there to make myself or my coaches / kids even better? That's why I post some articles on players – how they got there. I find lots on The Hockey News site.

Players from remote (smaller) places might have an edge in ice time and coaching, etc. There was a study recently done (can't remember or find it but I might have posted it on here somewhere!) and it said that the majority or pro athletes in almost all sports (Football, Hockey, Basketball, PGA, LPGA, etc… but there was one sport where this may or may not be the case – baseball?) come from a hometown of less than 500,000 people. Come to think of it, there are LOTS of places 500,000 or less, so maybe this is to be expected… there aren't many places over 500,000!

True development occurs when the big picture is kept in mind – performance over outcome (I will post an example of this below.). Even as a volunteer minor sport coach, people expect you to win… if you don't, you might not get 're-hired' back next year for another volunteer position! It's a sad statement… but true.

Wooden came from and coached in a different era. The 'X-Box athletes' are different today. I am not sure that even he could replicate this degree of success (especially championships in a row!); but I would like to think he would still be fairly successful. The old adage, "They don't care how much you know, till they know how much you care" still works today – I have lived it. I guarantee it!

I am thinking about starting a new thread regarding 'how' to coach… stay tuned. You and RK and DaveM have been inspiring my thoughts through your comments and questions.

Also, check out the "books for coaches to read thread". I will be posting two more that I am reading right now that I HIGHLY recommend. They are about how to treat people properly and how this positively impacts your coaching.

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

[Kai K]

My coaching philosophy. In Short 😳

Honesty
I want to be honest and open to my players.

LTPD, Coaches are there for the players, not the other way round.
I'm responsible for tools that player takes with him when he/ she moves on.
In my case where players are near puberty, are my practices good enough to give the base to build on? maybe results come after 5 years. Do you "give up" that win today because you're training hard for the LTPD and the future of the player?

Be hungry for knowledge, you can always learn more
Learn from other coaches, sports etc.
I'm Thankful for Tom for this greate site, (been here since 2002, more or less)
Thanks to Dean for introducing me to a TGFU and Game Sense approach.

Kai

[hockeygod]

TomM wrote:
Notre Dame Tournament Update:

We really couldn't have played much better but what happens is that when you are totally dominating a game the feeling is that you are up by about 5 goals and some carelessness creeps in and players lose a little intensity. I think we have all been in games you lose that you deserve to win and games that you win that you deserve to lose. After the first period I told my asst. coach that I had a bad feeling about the game. We played so hard in our first game of the day that we just weren't hungry enough on rebounds or walk ins to finish. When you have seen thousands of games you start to see patterns like a chess master when he looks at the chess board and recognize that something is amiss. I am to the point now that I can predict a goal about 3-5 seconds before because you see either the defense out of sync or the attackers creating something.

Their goalie had a great game and we didn't finish when we had many many chances. That is the problem with letting teams hang around even though the game is one sided. It is a real challenge for the goalie to keep focused when they are getting a shot every 5 or 6 minutes.

Tom,

I found your comment on being able to 'predict' a goal 3-5 seconds before it happens (as it happens) very interesting. In hindsight, I have had my share of those moments in the past too, but I never really attributed it to anything. I guess I just didn't think about or analyze them all that much. I just figured everybody feels them? When you likened them to the chess master who has played for thousands of hours and 'sees' things appearing on the board, it was a very interesting comparison and makes perfect sense to me! I wonder how many other people 'feel' this way? (Or the sense of relief when a 'sure thing' opportunity DOESN'T convert against you… or the feeling of OH CRAP I CAN'T BELIEVE WE MISSED THAT when your team DOESN'T convert!)

You comment on finishing… "…we didn't finish when we had many many chances." As a suggestion, using our Game Intelligence Model, we always keep score and then hold the kids (and goalies) accountable after the games. (Skaters or Teams compete against each other; goalies compete against each other). The winners get a drink; the losers do pushups and situps (numbers depend on how many 'teams' we are using… winner = 0; next best score = 5/5; 10/10; 15/15, etc.) Kids are naturally competitive and they really like playing these games – they always want to know the score! Holding kids accountable really increases their focus and desire / consistency to 'bear down' whenever they get scoring chances!

Although seemingly punitive in nature, it is to help train their fitness and we preface it this way. "You are getting better with every pushup and situp you do!" Sometimes, even the winners do some so they 'keep even' with the players who lose!

(Goalies – we might substitute 10 up / downs or pad stacks or sliding saves or crease patterns. Extra training to help make them better.) Everything we do is to help make the kids better. So similar to Bruce Brown's positive conditioning (intent is to get better) but with out own slant.

This leads me to what happened today. We did two sessions this morning where we played "The Time Machine" 3 v 3 (two games going x-ice at the same time) – one with 2000's, 2001's and 2002's (all Div 1-3 within the age categories) and one with Grade 7's (age? 1997's – all Div 3-7 within their age categories; so less skilled and a wider variety than our younger group). Each group requires 4 nets / goalies and we had 24 skaters – 8 teams of 3 players each – perfect! Once we gave them the parameters of the game and the "rules of engagement", you should have seen the focus and intensity of these kids! The kids are waiting impatiently for the scores at the end of the games!

It has taken years of experimentation (trial and error) but we have had incredible success with structuring the environment this way. (Smart Transitional Games – design and apply game-like, purposeful games; provide parameters; keep score; reinforce rules; accountability as to the scores; let the game teach the game; at the end, ask open-ended questions of the kids to see what they see / what they are learning (IMPLICIT LEARNING) – we don't TELL them… we want to create, encourage and nurture problem-solving, decision-training and independent athletes.)

Coaches who train the drill way or hybrid coaches struggle with our way; until they open their mind and give it a fair chance – several times. It has to become a habit to replace the old 'whole-part-whole' paradigm they have been taught – first as players and now as coaches.

Today's explicit coaches have a tendency to jump in and want to 'tell' / (yell) the kids how to do stuff… it takes practice to 'have patience', sit back, shut up while they are playing; and then use open-ended questions to guide kids to recognized the most important concept or two. It's tough when you are used to the current teaching model (developed as a byproduct of the Industrial Revolution – which in my opinion, and that of many others, is outdated! Watch Sir Ken Robinson's two presentations on http://www.Ted.com for more… or read Tony Wagner's "Global Achievement Gap"… we coaches / teaches need to adapt our training methodologies (or perish!) to reflect what the kids need… and want!

As for the "Time Machine" game description, amongst the hundreds of others, I am working on a book and when it is ready, I will let everyone know.

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

[hockeygod]

Kai K wrote:
My coaching philosophy. In Short 😳

Honesty
I want to be honest and open to my players.

LTPD, Coaches are there for the players, not the other way round.
I'm responsible for tools that player takes with him when he/ she moves on.
In my case where players are near puberty, are my practices good enough to give the base to build on? maybe results come after 5 years. Do you "give up" that win today because you're training hard for the LTPD and the future of the player?

Be hungry for knowledge, you can always learn more
Learn from other coaches, sports etc.
I'm Thankful for Tom for this greate site, (been here since 2002, more or less)
Thanks to Dean for introducing me to a TGFU and Game Sense approach.

Thanks for posting Kai!

"Players don't care how much you know… until they know you care!" That is true honesty!

Hmmm… new tagline!?

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Now, about that dead parrot…!"

– Michael Jordan… speaking to the Monty Python guys

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

[hockeygod]

Here is a great comment on the "Big Picture v Little Picture" … in response to RWF's post above:

Jim Thompson, a proponent of Positive Coaching, has described his favorite “Family Circus” comic strip. It is set in the middle of the night. Barfy, the family dog, is barking up a storm. The dad gets out of bed, irritated that he’s been awakened from a much-needed sleep. He yells at the dog, which hangs its head.

Then the cartoonist pans back so that we see a larger view. In the far corner of the yard, a burglar is retreating, unseen by the dad.

We, who see the “Big Picture”, know that the dog’s barking has protected the family from burglary. The dad, who sees only the “Little Picture”, is angry at the dog for disturbing him.

This cartoon can serve as a metaphor for youth sports. Youth coaches and parents can be overwhelmed by an enormous amount of Little Pictures filled with barking dogs. These Little Pictures often have a compelling power to obscure the Big Picture.

How our children do in any given sporting event is the Little Picture. Whether they win or lose, play well or badly, laugh or cry after the game – it’s all the Little Picture. Most will never play professionally – it’s just a game! What children take away from youth sports is to help them become successful and fulfilled in life is the Big Picture. Remaining physically active throughout life, learning to bounce back from difficulties with renewed determination, discovering how to support other people within a team and greater community context – this is the Big Picture.

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

[hockeygod]

Pavlovian Dogs, Whistles, Coaches and Players…

Yesterday, I asked the teacher responsible for running the session of Grade 7 kids to 'get rid of his whistle' during a warmup shooting drill – you know, the same static, stand around in lines and wait while another kid skates a pattern old-school boring hockey drill – then jump to attention when the coach blows his whistle – to signal to the next kid in line that it is finally his turn? (Can you detect my sarcasm yet?)

The teacher complied and guess what? The boring drill didn't fall apart. What do you think happened?

Here's more background: Before telling the teacher to get rid of the whistle, I told all the kids 'when' to go and that they had to make their own judgement 'when' to go.

After practice, I asked the teacher two questions.

1) "What did you (teacher) do when you quit worrying about controlling the drill with your whistle?"

2) "What did the kids do when you quit blowing your whistle? How did it affect the kids?"

Think about this on your own and feel free to post your own responses. Ask yourselves what you would do (as a coach) in this situation (Q # 1) and what would your players do (Q #2)? Better yet, try it and see for yourselves. There is no substitute for experience!

(I will answer later…)

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

[Kai K]

1) "What did you (teacher) do when you quit worrying about controlling the drill with your whistle?"

I think I would stop focusing on when to whiste and on what the kids were doing?

2) "What did the kids do when you quit blowing your whistle? How did it affect the kids?"

Kids allso would stop to focusing on the whistle, they would observe more what's going on when there is some visual mark to start?

I do some times use whistle in my drillsspecially when they are new to players. like to use drills that activates as many player as possible. So it's kind of safety issue at first. But when the drill is familiar to players, I lose the whistle.

Actually I've really cut down the amount of drills we do. I use few good passing drills where we can get much repetition. But other than that they are waste of time.

Kai

[Author]

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