The neutral zone is often an over-looked zone by many hockey coaches. It’s easy to focus on scoring goals or improving team defense. I’ve put together a few of my favorite drills to work on neutral zone regrouping. Hopefully some of you find the drills useful.
Developing defensemen can be a difficult task. The skill sets required to be a solid defenseman are unique and require years of practice. One of the biggest things to work on with defenders is lateral movement. Here are some drills I like to use to improve my defensemen’s footwork:
This week’s video from M2 Hockey and HockeyShare.com features a great drill to work on defensive player mobility, footwork, and quick reaction. The drill requires two players and 4 cones and only takes a minute to set up.
This week’s video expands on one of our most popular past videos. When we posted the original Defensive Escape Turns video, we got lots of positive feedback from the community, so we wanted to expand on the drill. The expansion of the drill adds two shots. While this addition may seem small, when incorporating them into this drill, you’ll quickly see how much more challenging the drill becomes.
This week’s video drill is a lot of fun. In this clip, we focus on explosive jumping and balance. While jumping itself doesn’t always have a direct use in games, the skills and techniques it works on play a vital role in skating ability.
This quick agility shooting drill works on quick moves and shot release, slap shots, and shooting against your body’s momentum. Visit www.m2hockey and www.hockeyshare.com for more tips and drills.
This power skating and edgework circuit is meant to be performed continuously and works on the fundamentals of hockey skating.
This week’s video features the Corner Create Space Drill which focuses on the following: 1) Puck Protection 2) Creating Space 3) Battling in the Corners…
The Corner Escape Drill works on escape moves, puck protection, acceleration from the corner, shooting in stride, and crashing the net.
Dot drill mats are great ways to develop quick feet in hockey players and other athletes.