{"id":5371,"date":"2017-08-04T12:54:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T12:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/2017\/08\/04\/development-camps-put-coaching-theory-into-practice\/"},"modified":"2017-08-04T12:54:00","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T12:54:00","slug":"development-camps-put-coaching-theory-into-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/development-camps-put-coaching-theory-into-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Development Camps Put Coaching Theory into Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Original story posted ici<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are coaching practitioners and there are coaching theorists, but USA Hockey\u2019s Coaching Education Program staff is\u00a0both\u00a0by design.<\/p>\n

This is on full display during USA Hockey\u2019s summertime development camps, when several CEP instructors and coaches-in-chief shift from the classroom to the ice, leading station-based practices and camp games for the nation\u2019s top young players.<\/p>\n

One such coach-in-chief is Doug Dietz from the Central District. His territory includes Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Wisconsin, but last week he was in New York, coaching Team Black at USA Hockey\u2019s Boys Select 16 Player Development Camp.<\/p>\n

For Dietz, the camps are a great time to put coaching theory to the test. The transition, he said, is designed to be seamless.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really comes naturally as a camp coach and as the district coach-in-chief,\u201d said Dietz. \u201cWhat you\u2019re trying to teach youth coaches in the clinics, you implement naturally as a coach here at the development camps.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turns out, those clinical best practices are proven winners in practical application, too, built on American Development Model principles and designed for maximum transfer into real-life game situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really fun to watch the players play in the evening\u00a0games\u00a0and see how often they encounter the same types of situations that we created for them in our practice structure,\u201d said Kenny Rausch, USA Hockey’s director of youth hockey.\u00a0\u201cTraining in this kind of practice structure over the course of their young hockey lives will produce players with higher hockey IQ and better game habits. Competing in small areas happens all the time in games, so practice should mirror game situations as much as possible, which is a common theme of both the ADM and the CEP.\u201d<\/p>\n

During boys development camps, the typical practice structure begins with a free-form passing progression and then a quartet of small-area games, each focused on specific tactical aspects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPracticing in small areas makes the game easier for players when they\u2019re competing in actual games, because they\u2019ve become accustomed to a quicker pace and quicker decision-making,\u201d said Mark Tabrum, director of USA Hockey\u2019s Coaching Education Program. \u201cThey apply what they learn in the morning practices to the games later in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second camp practice is a skills-specific session in which the forwards and defensemen split into separate halves of the ice and work on the finer points of their position-specific skills.\u00a0During these sessions, proper playing habits are emphasized in each of the station-based drills. The final practice incorporates more team concepts and small-area compete drills that help players succeed now and in the future.<\/p>\n

Dietz and his fellow coaches are especially focused on creating high-quality practices to maximize skill development.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a coach,\u00a0your\u00a0gameday is practice,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to build and lead great practices, and have great communication with the players, so that they can play their best on\u00a0their\u00a0gamedays. Hopefully that\u2019s the message every coach at every level of our CEP is getting, because that\u2019s what will help these players truly reach their full long-term potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that, it\u2019s all about helping a disparate group of players from all over the country become a true team in six days, or hopefully fewer. Said Dietz, \u201cWe want to help the kids bond as quickly as possible so that they can continue to grow and achieve throughout the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coaches pursue that goal in part with a variety of off-ice activities and competitions, most of them active and some a bit zany. But there\u2019s a definite motive to the madness. Not only does it bring players together, it also helps enhance their athleticism and decision-making. Above all, it\u2019s fun \u2013 at least, it\u2019s fun after getting past the initial awkwardness.<\/p>\n

John Farinacci, a 16-year-old forward from New Jersey, remembers the surprised looks on his teammates\u2019 faces during their first encounter with the PDC off-ice program at last year\u2019s Boys Select 15 camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of quirky things that happen as ice-breakers, especially on that first day, when you\u2019re pushed out of your comfort zone a little bit, but after you get over that initial hump, everything smooths out,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s definitely effective. Without those little games, it would just be playing hockey with everyone, but with the off-ice activities, you get to know the guys and build relationships and build trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farinacci\u2019s first camp included a memorable wiffle ball game, and this year, at the Select 16 camp, he navigated a minefield of pucks in a parking lot \u2013 blindfolded, of course \u2013 with only verbal instructions from his teammates to help. After that, navigating the ice seemed easy. Farinacci did it especially well, finishing as the camp\u2019s leading scorer (10 points in five games) en route to earning a spot on the United States Under-17 Select Team.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the camp\u2019s true goal \u2013 to boost players toward their full potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire experience, for the players, is about continuing to enhance their game on and off the ice,\u201d said Tabrum.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original story posted here. There are coaching practitioners and there are coaching theorists, but USA Hockey\u2019s Coaching Education Program staff is\u00a0both\u00a0by design. This is on full display during USA Hockey\u2019s summertime development camps, when several CEP instructors and coaches-in-chief shift from the classroom to the ice, leading station-based practices and camp games for the nation\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"segment":[],"class_list":["post-5371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5371"},{"taxonomy":"segment","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iplayhockey.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/segment?post=5371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}