Defensive Shadow Drill [Video]
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.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-zpzNcl7mw
Teaching Key Points:
- Proper knee bend (stay low through entire drill)
- Get your feet moving quickly. Players must push themselves. If players fall, get up as quickly as possible
- Don’t let the defending player’s stick get out of position. Keep the top hand just off the hip and stick in front.
- Always face the offensive player (players should never turn their back on the offensive skater)
- This drill is extremely tiring – run it for a short duration (10-15 seconds is usually plenty) to keep the the tempo high
- The pivots, stopping, and turning in the drill tear the ice up pretty quick, move the cones as necessary to get “fresh” ice
Common Mistakes
- Falling on the transition forward to backward – this is typically caused by the heel of the skate digging into the ice while pivoting
- Defensive players turning their back on the offensive skater
- Lack of power from pushes – players need to keep their feet moving, but also need to generate powerful pushes to maximize the ice they cover with a single push
Great simple drill. These are simple to learn hard to master but effective when put into game situations.
Perhaps have a box so that fwd/backward shadowing can also occur.
Great drill. Can’t wait to use it with my kids. Thanks.