The Side Middle Side passing drill from Darryl Belfry is from his practice plan, Parallel Teaching Structure - Passing Between Two Checks and One Touch Passing. This specific drill allows the whole team to warm up their skating, puck handling, passing and vision at the beginning of the practice.
Setup
- Players line up at all 4 neutral zone face-off circles with pucks.
- Progression 1: on the whistle, a player with a puck starts out and passes down the side of the ice, after that, the player passes through the middle of the ice, and they continue to follow the side - middle - side passing flow.
- After players get the movement down, add more pucks so both sides are skating at the same time, which forces players to keep their heads up.
- Progression 2: have players in line start moving before they receive the puck. This forces the player with the puck to lead the player in the direction they are skating.
Coaching Points
- Communicate
- Keep stick on the ice to let the player with the puck know where you would like the puck
- Keep head up when skating with the puck to be aware of the other players
Variations
- Can add more than 2 pucks to make it more challenging for the players.
- Can make the passing area larger or smaller.
