Why You Should Love Hockey Drills

I remember hating hockey drills when I was a child.  I hated them the way my cousin hated her piano lessons.  The constant repetition made no sense to me.  Why am I doing this when I should be playing?  Kids still complain about this.  It’s natural.  Human beings like variety.  Standing in one spot hitting wrist shot after wrist shot seems like an enormous waste of time to a child. Complaining about hockey drills is just a part of the process, so much so, that I think if they ever stopped I should begin to worry.

The reason why kids should love ice hockey drills—okay, maybe not love hockey drills, but at least respect hockey drills is because the more you do them the more the motions become a part of their “instinct”.  Instead of having that brief pause in your head where you contemplate that shot, you’re shooting.  Instead of wondering if you should pass, you’re passing.

Wayne Gretzky once said that the only way a kid is ever going to practice is if it’s “total fun” for him.  Apparently, his coach made hit fun for him, because he certainly practiced and practiced some more.  You don’t get to be The Great One by sitting on your behind all day.

We always try to take our ice hockey drills and put a little spice on them.  We know that they are a necessary part of your hockey progression, but we also haven’t forgotten what it’s like to be nine years old and just wanting to play.  Our instructors know that kids like competition—or else they wouldn’t be in a competitive sport like hockey in the first place.  All of our drills are a game to the student, and may the best player…win.

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