FOR THIS SKILL

TRY THIS STICK DRILL

HOW TO DO IT

WHY IT WORKS

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

Balance and Alignment

“Drop, Spin, and Catch”

Stand with your stick in front of you, butt end down.  Let go and spin once to the right and try to catch your stick before it hits the ice.  Then try it to the left.  If you’re REALLY good you might be able to spin all the way around to the right and  left and catch it before it hits!

If you break at the waist or drop a hip or a shoulder it will take you so long to turn around that you won’t catch the stick.  As you straighten your body to catch the stick in time alignment improves.  

Lateral Movement

“Team Circle Stick Catch”

Players stand on a circle with their sticks butt end down. On the coach’s signal each skater lets go of their stick and tries to catch the stick belonging to the player on their right before it drops.  As soon as ALL of the skaters catch the sticks and none drop the skaters will get a chance to go to the left and attempt to catch their own stick in one move!  The sooner none of the sticks fall the easier it is for the players to catch their own sticks on the last move!

Skaters have to react very fast to the signal and move laterally quickly in order to catch their teammate’s stick.  Too slow and the stick crashes to the ice.  Because it’s a team effort peers add positive pressure and extra motivation.

Quick Feet

“Cross and Touch”

Lay your stick on the ice and stand with your feet side by side, both on the right side of the stick. Take the right foot and cross over the left foot and the stick, then bring the left foot over and set it down on the outside.  Now take the left foot and cross over the right foot and the stick and set it down.  Repeat as fast as possible.   Once you’ve got it, count while someone times you and see how many times you can cross and touch in 30 seconds. 

As the number of cross and touches in 30 seconds increases what you’ll find is that you are keeping your upper body still while your lower body moves, kicking in those fine motor skills, developing a balanced upper body and faster feet.

Forward Power

“Mow the Lawn”

This is a twist on the more common ‘chariot pull’ drill. One player sits in front of a standing player while both face down ice.  The guy sitting in front holds a stick blade in each hand and the guy in back holds the butt ends of each stick.  The guy in back skates as hard as he can from one end of the rink to the other.

It’s one thing to pull someone; it’s something else entirely to push them!  This drill requires a lot of power and what I like is that it forces the skater to lead with the chest, the most powerful position for forward speed!

Fast Stops

“Stop in a Box”

Use hockey sticks to make 3 sides of a box that is just big enough to stop in, with the open side facing a line of players.  The skaters skate toward the open end of the box at full speed.  They come to a complete stop inside the box and then immediately execute a fast start and head back toward the line, all without hitting the cones.   Skaters should practice stopping in the box in each direction.

The skaters will learn to stop and start on each side without using unnecessary space.  This drill tightens up the forward stop/start transition, making it much faster.

Flexibility and Balance

“Cirque du
No-way!”

Hold your stick with two hands in front of you.  Walk over it and between your hands without letting go of the stick.  Now step back over it again without letting go.

This is a fun cool down exercise.  It stretches the body, particularly the lower back, hamstrings, and quads.  But don’t cheat and let go of the stick or you’ll lose the effect!