The 6 Cone Skills Series is a simple yet highly effective setup to practice a variety of skills that are used over the course of a normal hockey shift (hard & soft direction changes, tight & wide turns, pivots and forward skating).

In this video, Rob Sedia of NewEdge Hockey runs a group though 5 unique skills that can be practiced with a small group or with two teams on the ice. These can be done with or without pucks. As players get comfortable with the movements, encourage them to keep their head up, sell their moves and increase skating pace. 

Coaching Points:

• Athletic hockey stance (knees bent and legs shoulder with apart, butt out, head & chest up).
  • A wide stance will help with explosive moves and make players harder to knock off the puck.
  • Shoulders and head should be square and not be moving all over the place. Anytime you turn your head and shoulders you change your vision on the ice. So be mindful with how you are moving them. 
• Skills should be practiced on both sides of the ice.
• As players improve, encourage them to keep their head up!

The 5 Skills Sequences in the video are:

1. Hard direction change
2. Hard direction change into a tight turn
3. Figure 8 tight turns
4. Slide-out to shuffle
5. Slide-out to deceptive shuffle