The 3 x Wall Pick Ups with Shot Around Circle is a simple but effective drill to work on picking pucks up off of the wall and making a pass. This setup can be modified in a variety of ways depending on what you would like your players to work on.
Setup
- Pucks in the corner with a coach (or player).
- Players line up at face-off dot as shown on diagram.
- On the whistle, player 1 jumps to the boards as a coach (or player) chips the puck up to the boards, collects the puck, and makes a pass to player 2.
- The player repeats this 3 times and on the 3rd time the player takes a shot on net.
Coaching Points
- Player getting the puck off of the wall should shoulder check before collecting the puck along the boards.
Variations
- Can be a coach or player that chips the puck up the wall. If it is a player you can have a rotation where after the player shoots, they become the person who chips up the boards, then to the back of the line.
- Can have objects or token pressure that the player must pass through after they get the puck.
- Can have the player work on different pickup techniques, or as soon as they get it, get off of the wall before they make a pass. Lots of options!
- Can have players work on different shots on net. Backhand, wrist shot, or snap shot.
This encourages 'angling' when retrieving puck, eliminating risks of crashing head first or getting checked from behind into boards