Last night I kept up my good record of attending training this season by getting to Gawler no more than five minutes late for inline hockey training. Being an off-week (no game scheduled this long weekend) there were less trainees than usual (I made six skaters plus a goalie and James the Coach) which was fine by me. Four of the skaters were Div 1 players and the two Div 2 players (Me and Alen) are amongst the better skaters in the Division so there was a higher standard and narrower band of skill for James to work with. Which was good.
We focused on one specific aspect of the game, breakouts. The session consisted of two variations of the same drill for about thirty minutes and then a half hour of 3 on 3 'games'. The breakout drill was simple, with one player starting with puck behind their goal and a player on each of the dots near where a blue line would be if this was ice. D passes to F1. As soon as it is clear who F1 is going to be, F2 curls up across the floor towards the centre for a pass, curling around the board on the side that F1 was on. By the time they are entering the zone, D has skated hard down the ice and is ready for the pass and subsequent taking of a shot. The variation to the drill had the two wingers skate in from centre through their 'spot' for the initiation of the breakout move by the D behind the goal. This made the whole exercise more dynamic in its pattern and got us used to constantly moving our feet (and hence, practicing 'thinking on our feet').
For the three on threes we simply divided into 'white tops' and 'dark tops' with no one on the bench. Their being only the one goalie, the rule was that the team that plays D, once it has gained possession off the attacking team, must all 3 skate back into the far third of the rink before coming forward as the attackers to try and get a goal.
The aim was to begin the attack with a breakout move as practiced earlier (ie reset from behind the goal, the (newly) defending team to not interfere with the initial passout from there). A couple of times my team made the right moves and cut through the opposition for a goal, but most of the time I felt I was constantly out of position. Or, at least, out of contention (ie not a threat). I tended to be either chasing the puck, double tagging the puck carrier thus leaving my guy free (a variation on chasing the puck), skating backwards watching the play waiting for a pass, or parking myself in the slot.
Chasing the puck puts me out of position, reactive rather than creative playstyle.
Double tagging came about through indecision about which of the opposition to cover generally when they crossed over and out players had to direct ourselves to either follow the man or hold the zone (ie we became confused when the target player(s) crossed the rink and thus crossed zones). I think the general rule was to stick to your player.
Skating backwards while on the offence is generally stupid. It is slower, less threatening, makes you vulnerable to a hit. As James says, be confident that your team will be able to pass it to you and skate forward with speed. Much more dangerous.
Sitting in the slot is futile in 3 on 3 as it removes you from the dynamic play and reduces the team's effectiveness majorly. One should always be moving. Thus, skate through the slot rather than park inside it.
The game is revealed in these essentials to be one of trust and communication. Which made this a good exercise with quite a bit to learn from it.
And, this is my 100th post in 97 days!
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