Transition Games Videos

[Tom Molloy]

Pops, I agree with you. Whenever I give a clinic I ask the coaches to come on the ice and do the drills and games to experience how they mesh together and how physically and mentally demanding they are. Every time when we meet after they say they loved it and don't know why that way to practice isn't promoted from on high.

I live in Calgary where the CHA is and they know who I am but I am never invited to do anything with them. There is a huge conference on the state of the game in Canada and internationally going on in Toronto and you tell me who else has coached youth hockey and actually stayed with coaches from Finland, Norway, Czech Republic, Canada, USA, Austria, Mexico and Korea. That being said all I can say is "at least they are trying and in another ten years they will figure out what soccer did a long time ago. "The Game is the Greatest Coach." It is just too bad that thousands of kid's who would otherwise love practice and stay in the game will quit because they can have more fun in front of the screen at home.

Mother Theresa said something like "you can't make everyone happy but you can love one person at a time." I guess this site is here to show a better way to practice to "one coach at a time" and hope they spread the work to coaches they know. Maybe your idea will work.

Last year about this time some hacker destroyed this site and Dwight redid it and made it harder for some ???xxx___::<< to destroy. I spent a zillion hours uploading the videos etc. again and today I realized that there was no diagram for the most fundamenttal of all transition games which is a Continuous 1-1 to continuous 3-2. There are a couple of videos that had no explanation or diagram. Today I did the diagram for the continuous 1-1 from the U20 team in Jihlava and will diagram the 2-1 and 3-2 in the next few days. There are also videos from some of my womens team and the 85 born team when they were 12. (2 NHL, 1 Hobey Baker winner and 2 European pro's of the 13 skaters)

I can't believe I overlooked that.

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

[Tom Molloy]

Thanks for the diagrams Koutsi97. These are good transitions using half ice. They especially focus and getting the puck to the Big Ice on transition.

I found it difficult when Hockey Canada started using the International symbols in the early nineties but instead of using triangles for defensive players they use them for defensemen. This method is easy to understand on drills but it makes it makes it difficult with continuous games that flow one end to the other. My old drills from coaches like Buka, Verner Persson all had triangles as defensive players.

I try to use the circles for the team that starts on offense and triangles for the defending team and label inside if it is important for understanding. The diagrams you posted are easy to understand. Neither is right or wrong; just different ways to try and accomplish the same thing.

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

[Petri Vaisanen]

My pleasure, I haven't used all of these (yet) on ice. The half-ice 1-2 worked better than I expected, we stressed that the D1 gives pressure to the F1 from in-to-out and the D2 closes the defensive blue line and "finishes" F1 by checking him "away" from the puck. The full-ice 2-1 and 3-2 we have using with these 97's for years already 😉.

The symbols on the diagrams are at least used here in Finland, these games are from Finnish Ice Hockey Association, so the symbols are what they are. The circle is used as an offensive player and triangle as a defensive player (not forward nor d-man). I think that is the difference and this should be used when teaching the roles (1/2/3/4).

[Kai K]

Hey,

You never draw your team as circle or "zero".

Seriously speaking. Koutsi97, the transition drills are from the Erkka Westerlund's drill book he made when he was FIHA's Head Of Coaching. It's great book full of excellent transition drills.

Kai

Kai

[Tom Molloy]

The key is that the drills and games Koutsi97 is sending are understandable and they are.

Transition is something we don't do very much in North America. Erkka was in Calgary for 6 months in 94 and did a booklet for HC on transition. He also did a video using the then Men's National Team, which doesn't exist anymore. This booklet was never promoted and I don't think the other people in HC really understood transition games. The year before Slavamir Lener was here and did another booklet and video that has also been forgotten. Everyone seems to only want to teach drills and not hockey. Both these booklets are far more advanced than anything that has come out of the skills programs they have been making the last few years. (they are good but are only drills with many unrelated games)

I met Erkka in 93 while doing a clinic Finland with Juhani and Jursinov, who was then coaching TPS. I helped him a little with the english by re-reading the material and making comments when he was here. Erkka and Jursi were how I got introduced to transition games . I watched TPS practice in 93 and Jursi had me as a guest coach a few times when I was there just before Christmas. I did some practices on checking for him.

So I thank Koutsi97 for sharing these lost ideas.

I have taken the concept of transition games and tried to create game like situations but I allow them to go on naturally instead of blowing the whistle. My teams always have reversable jerseys and I post who is white and who is dark before practice and divide the D and F's. We keep score in the games to practice competing.

Again, I may be right or I may be wrong but it is what I do and I have found it very effective the last 16 years. Much better than my drills practices used to be.

So in my experience since meeting Juhani Whalsten in 1985 where I learned how to use space more efficiently and how to use games for individual skill development and team play concepts and then meeting Erkka and Jursinov in 93 and hearing and seeing transition games for the first time it was only logical to me that games and transition games are essential to effective practice. I also incorporated them in my PE teaching in the schools and I don't know how I would have been able to run effective classes because in my last 13 years in the gym I always had double classes with groups of 48-60 students.

Instead of coaches going from one drill to the other with an explanation in between that results in 7-12 minutes of activity each hour the coaches should be using games;
a. for warm up,
b. after skill drills the skill should be done in game situations,
c. if team play is taught the team play worked on should be in game situation,
d. any time you do a smaller situation like a 1-1 or 2-1 then after the instruction drill the same situation should be worked on using a transiton game. e. most practices should end with a shootout or contest.

Also sometimes practices should just be tournaments using modified games and transition games.

So coaches don't have to throw out their drills, they just have to include game situations within practice.

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

[Kai K]

Yes it's great that Koutsi97 is posting them because i've lost my copy of the drills. And as said they are quality drills.

I'll really like the Themed practice idea. and you can start the theme from your off-ice warm up. e.g. defensive zone break out.
1. off-ice, you train break out with handball, player can jog through it. first line jog through the break out pattern and then does some dynamic warm up and then returns to do another round. (here you get 15 min aerobic work out too)

2. on-ice
a) 5-0 break out, concentrate on quality passing,low speed
b) skill drill, passing timing recieving
c) transition / game situation continious
d) game, competition, scoring/goalie drill
e) themed game passing timing recieving
f) full ice themed game or srimmage

I really like use continious one puck drills and all so let the player to finish the play(to break out or to score)

Kai

Kai

[DMan]

Thanks to all for the drills and info. A few thoughts from south of the (Canadian) border…..

I just got back from a USA Hockey Coaches clinic, and their "new" LTADM program is indeed emphasizing small area and cross-ice games. I know Hockey Canada has a similar program, and that it was developed by looking at why countries like Finland are producing so many more skilled players. On the whole it looks like a great step forward.

Some of the coaches in the bigger metropolitan areas have already started implementing the program at the lowest levels, and they said there was some resistance (to not playing full-ice) on the part of the players parents. Some coaches mentioned switching back and forth between cross-ice and full-ice games on weekends, and in the end the kids really liked the cross-ice format better.

I do think there will be some resistance to this program as it unfolds,mainly with parents of players. I also really got the sense that the coaches higher up in the ranks have bought into it full force and are committed to making it work. It should be interesting to see how it all pans out.

DMan

ps. I got some new cross-ice game ideas from the clinic….will post them when I can figure out how to make diagrams.

Thanks again.

[Tom Molloy]

Dman, that is great to hear. I met Kevin McGloughin and other USA hockey people and know they want to implement an approach that uses far more games but they have a lot of trouble getting the coaches to buy into what they are saying. On the other hand without the support of the national organizations coaches will never adopt this approach. So it is great that they are focusing on using games in the clinics.

As I said before it is slowly changing but it is sad that for 25 years this has been promoted but met nothing but resistence and so many kid's had bad experiences at practice. But that was then and this is now and hopefully the idea gets legs and they can go from cross ice and small area games to using the ice many ways for games and using transition games to teach players how to play.

Today I did a first for me. I was playing at noon and didn't pay attention that the game got to 5 and we switched ends. We changed on the go and out D had the puck so I broke for a pass and he gave it to me. I broke in alone and scored and couldn't figure out why the goalie didn't move. The consolation is that we won that game 5-1 and I got their only goal.

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

[Pops Ryan]

Tom – I don't know why the other team had such a hard time scoring against your goalie….apparently you didn't have any problem doing so. ( Hope you laughed )

Kia – Is there a way for anyone to get their hands on the Westerlund book or the manual that he made years ago while in Canada? By the way, I appreciate the diagrams that you have been contributing to the web site recently. They make sense and I think the guys are going to like them.

DMan – it is good to know that the sleeping giant (USA Hockey) is becoming receptive to ideas other than their own. Naturally there is going to be resistance to change at the local rinks; coaches are going from what they think they know over to what they definitely don't know. As for parents….what can we say? The kids that I coach are anywhere from 19 to 21 years old and most of the parents still have believe that their sons are much better than they actually are. To me, the best part of coaching is the emotional sort of team-building that goes on along with the bonding that happens amongst all individuals in the locker room. The bonding is a big goal of mine…but, while it is a nice thing when it happens, pleasing all the parents is not at the top of the list.

[Tom Molloy]

Pops I have the booklet beside me now. I think Hockey Canada still markets it. Title Transtion: From Game to Practice by Erkka Westerlund. The video is the best one I have seen them produce. I have it but can't post it because it is HC property. It was on VHS and I don't know if they have it on dvd. Let me know if you can order it from their website or not. USA hockey usually sells the HC material as well and it may also be there.

I don't know if I get a plus or minus.

Osmo from Finland just came online with Skype and he got a contract for a pro player I was working with 1 on 1; so I will see what he has to say. Hope it all worked out. He wants to know about another player I mentioned.

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

[Petri Vaisanen]

Kai K wrote:
Hey,

You never draw your team as circle or "zero".

Seriously speaking. Koutsi97, the transition drills are from the Erkka Westerlund's drill book he made when he was FIHA's Head Of Coaching. It's great book full of excellent transition drills.

Kai

That's true Kai, I usually use X's on drills and then first letter of colors (B-black, W-white, …) on games/game situations. When d-man and forward need to be used in drill or in game situation then P and H are used (D and F in english?). We also use equal number of black and white jerseys in every practice, and usually done before we hit the ice, and within those colors there are also equal number of D's anf F's.

And true, these are from that book, we have used those directly or modified them but those descriptions are in finnish, so it's no use to send them all directly to here? I'll try to translate and put still few of those here, my english is not the best, please Tom modify those Key Points and Descriptions if needed. I have just put there that coach CAN stop these games after 20 or 30s if needed but I also prefer not to stop by blowing the whistle. We have also taken the practice to play games / do game situations straight after warm-up and left the skating type of drills to the end of the practice.

[Kai K]

I'didn' know that you can find it in finnish. I have the english version.

Kai

Kai

[Pops Ryan]

Hockey Canada does have "Transition from Practice to Game' by Erkka Westerlund. It is a video along with the book and it lists for $20.. Even with the shipping and handling charges that sounds like a really good deal. However, iIt takes 2-3 weeks before you actually receive anything; so if anyone feels like posting a little bit of Westerlund's work I would very much appreciate it.

[DMan]

Hi All,

Here is a link to the USA Hockey new SAG book that was given out at the coaches clinic.
http://usahockey.cachefly.net/Coaching/Manuals/SmallAreaGamesBook.pdf
I'm glad they're offering it for free.

Pops-I agree that pleasing parents is not job #1, but our organization is pretty much run by active parents….without a lot of hockey experience. I think they'll be resistant to what looks to be radical change unless they are informed and educated on the reson behind the change. Hopefully USAH can help here. One thing I like about the new ADM model is placing your more experienced coaches at the younger levels rather than at the HS / Midget, so that they can focus on skill development. I hate to see parents following their kid up through the ranks just to make sure he gets ice time. Enough of the parent rant though….they do make our program work and they do volunteer boat loads of time. The vast majority want their kids to have fun and stay in the sport to stay out of trouble, and I think your focus on team building is spot on.

Here's another link if anyone cares to read more on USAH ADM.
http://www.admkids.com/
It looks like they are populating the site with new materials all the time.

DMan

[Pops Ryan]

DMan –

First of all, thank you for the ebook. There are a few concepts in here that are very appealing…one in particular is the Mid Ice Breakout on page 44. With only minor tinkering, like sliding one of the nets back to its normal location, it can become a forecheck focused game as well. After a few minutes of that, slide the other net back and …presto…a 5 v 5 that evolved from a breakout focus into a forecheck focus into a breakout against pressure vs forecheck with pressure focus. If that 5 v 5 states that you must attack wide & you must dump it in ( to keep the forecheck vs breakout mode ) then I think that we may have 20 minutes of practice time well spent. There were a couple of Goalie things that looked good as well. The one that has a goaltender directing his rebounds into a targeted area (another net) probably works well at a number of age groups.

Secondly, it is good to know that the Mothership (USA Hockey) has such publications. The coaches only need to figure out what precedes some of these SAG's so that it all transitions well and then we need to give some thought as to what would come next. Take as an example, the Mid Zone 3 on 3 on page 41. If that started with a 1 v 1 using 4 Jokers, evolved into the 3 v 3 with dedicated support players as shown in the book, and then became a "Two Touch Maximum" 3 v 3 while rotating support players, we could keep everyone in 'read & react' mode for a pretty good chunk of time. Thanks again, DMan. I enjoyed reading your submittal.

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