Oct 07, 2019 | Josh Bedard | 121 views
Homework - Soft Touches
Starting this week, we're going to add another challenge for our weekly homework. this one will focus on stick-handling and I'll be tracking players personal bests over the course of the year.
To complete this assignment players will need their hockey stick, hockey gloves and either of the following equipment:
- Green biscuit hockey puck
- Weighted stick handling ball
- Synthetic ice and hockey puck
Throughout the week they are to do a cumulative 10 minutes of stick-handling using soft hands (no slapping their stick) to see how many touches they can complete in a minute. Each time the ball or puck touches their stick it counts as one touch. I highly recommend that a parent be involved with this drill. I recommend setting up a timer on a phone to count down from 1 minute. I recommend placing it at waist level so each player has to look up to see the time. Once the timer starts count every time the puck touches the tape on the players stick. Once they are complete write their personal best on a whiteboard and have them try to beat it the next time they complete the exercise. It is a simple drill but will help with their hand eye coordination and muscle memory. We'll start off in the neutral position but as the season progresses we'll try it to the side, from their knees, side to side extended and add other variations. For the first one though lets just stay with the hands out front in the neutral position.The video by Coach Jeremy is a great teaching aid for both players and parents to watch to ensure they are doing it properly and not simply "slapping" the puck/ ball back and forth. Our goal here is to have the "silky smooth hands" at the end of the year and really use the top hand to get that happening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=292&v=GWHRyeFPFWQ
When you submit your shot total at the end of the week, also submit their personal best for touches in a minute.
Any questions let me know.
Cheers,Coach Josh