Q: How are station-based practices helping my children reach their full potential as hockey players?
A: When coaches split kids into smaller stations, it creates several benefits:
- The secret to developing and mastering any skill is repetition. By having smaller groups at each station, players gain more repetitions of the particular skill or concept.
- Smaller groups allow coaches more opportunity for individualized instruction.
- Play in smaller spaces challenges our kids to make quicker decisions.
- Ice is a valuable commodity, and with station-based practices, it’s being used more efficiently, with far less wasted time transitioning between drills.
- It’s far more fun to skate, stickhandle and shoot; there’s nothing fun about standing in line. Station-based practices keep kids engaged and active, not standing in line.