Drill Setup:
- 2 lines in the same corner.
- Line against the wall has pucks. Line in the middle no pucks.
- X1 skates up the wall with the puck about half speed.
- X2 skates up along side the man and hits through the hands separating X1 from the puck and stopping their forward motion.
- After the hit., X2 lets X1 go and X1 grabs the puck again skating up the wall. X2 repeats hitting through the hands.
- Players perform this to the desired spot of stopping the drill. This drill is meant to be slow and controlled to allow players to feel out the skills in the drill.
Drill Purpose:
- This drill has 2 main purposes. One, teach X1 (player against the wall) how to stay near the wall and use the wall to absorb hits. Coach should talk about what the danger zone is and how we don't want to be just off the wall.
- Injuries are more common from players getting hit and then falling into boards awkwardly. If the player is against the wall then the chance of injury is reduced as now the wall can absorb the hit and they won't fall awkwardly into it. Two, introduce the concept of hitting through the hands of the player. This is an important skill to learn as it is what will help separate the opposing player from the puck.
- This skill is also the last part of teaching angling. As player angles the opposing player up the wall giving them only 1 place to skate to and then cuts them off hitting through the hands. Other skills to focus on are as X2 is hitting through the hands they should be using a stick lift or poke to also help separate the opposing player from the puck.
- Common saying to use is "Stick on Stick, Body on Body."
Common Mistakes:
- One, with this drill are X1 coming off the wall and then they get hit by the player and then also hit / fall into the wall. Que them to stay near boards and use wall to absorb the hit.
- Two, X2 hits X1 on the side and doesn't hit through their hands. By just hitting them on the side you are not stopping their forward motion and/or not separating them from the puck. For the drill you want to see X2 completely stop X1's forward motion before they repeat the drill down the wall.
- Three, X2onlygoingforthepuckoronlygoingforthebody. We want to see X2 hit through the hands AND use a stick lift or poke to also take the puck away. These two things are done simultaneously.
