THE TWO MAIN CATEGORIES OF DEVELOPING A HOCKEY PLAYER

There are two main categories of developing any hockey player. These two categories include “Physical Skills” and “Mental Skills”. Both of these are of equal importance. In fact, excellent mental skills can make up for some deficiencies in physical skills and some physical skills can make up for some deficiencies in mental skills. However, to reach full potential, these deficiencies will have to be minor.

At Pro Performance Hockey we breakdown the physical skills needed in hockey into 6 main categories:

1) SKATING

2) EYES UP STICKHANDLING

3) PASSING

4) PASS RECEIVING

5) SHOOTING AND SCORING

6) CHECKING AND PHYSICAL PLAY

We also believe there are 6 main categories of mental skills needed in hockey:

1) DEFENSIVE TACTICS

2) OFFENSIVE TACTICS

3) COMPETE LEVEL

4) HOCKEY I.Q.

5) TIMING

6) VISION

We strongly believe that hockey has the most complicated skill set of any sport. This is largely due to the fact that hockey is played on ice and players must be proficient at skating and skating is an unnatural movement. Most other sports are played while running which is a very natural movement for the body. Proficient skating alone can take years and years of training not to mention the added difficulty of learning stickhandling, passing, shooting, checking, etc.

Another major factor that makes hockey so difficult is the extremely fast pace at which the players move. This hectic pace means that successful players must be able to mentally “process the game” at an incredible rate. (See our article on “Eyes up Stickhandling and a 5G Processor” to learn more about processing in the game of hockey.)

The good news is that with expert training, excellent coaching and proper motivation a player can thrive. The bad news is that there are very few coaches that possess the necessary expertise and experience needed to help our players flourish. The following articles on this website will give you some detailed information on how to help your athlete succeed. We will also give you our opinion of the reasons why we think players get off track.

Thank you,

PRO PERFORMANCE HOCKEY