Improving at sport in general is all about developing good habits and tendencies, and hockey is certainly no exception.
Hockey is played at such an incredibly high speed compared to other sports because of the skates and the surface which it’s played on, and with the puck being passed and shot around so fast and so often, it’s a sport that involves thousands of split-second decisions each and every game.
This means that good tendencies and habits are going to lead to better decisions in those tight windows more often, and those can begin to be developed at a very young age.
Each and every drill in practice for children is an opportunity to hammer home those tendencies and proper decisions, so that when the time comes in the game and those situations present themselves, there’s no thinking involved, but simply acting.
You’ll have seen this exact scenario before and know exactly what to do – whether it’s dumping the puck in, pinching in the offensive zone, chipping the puck up and out off the glass, or really any other game situation that can arise in hockey.
Everything starts to feel natural if you spend the time and effort to learn and perfect your skills.
