ADM Kids

Q: I just learned that my child’s hockey association will continue following the ADM next year in the 10U age classification. I thought the ADM was just for 8U. What should I do?

A: The quick answer is that you should celebrate your child’s good fortune.

Sometimes, 8U hockey and USA Hockey’s American Development Model are thought of as one in the same. This is a developmentally dangerous misperception by some parents, coaches and even associations. The ADM is a model of high-performance development based on children’s biological development. Associations, teams, and coaches who follow the ADM recommendations benefit from a clear path of development to guide them long after 8U hockey. These guidelines include season-long objectives to help coaches deliver proper practice content as well as age-appropriate practice points of emphasis, which help coaches stay on task when designing practice plans. Associations and teams who not only follow the ADM guidelines for development, but more importantly, deliver world-class practices based on these guidelines, tend to provide the best possible path of development for all youth hockey players, 8U and beyond.

These guidelines are categorized as follows:

Skills (hockey skills and habits training): This begins as basic fundamental skills and progresses to include a more complex combination of skills as the players get older and/or more proficient. Skills include things like skating, puck control, shooting, passing, body contact / body checking. Habits include things like facing the puck, stopping at the net, etc.

Sense (hockey concepts and awareness training): In specific terms, this is offensive and defensive awareness with and without the puck. This includes the ability to read the level of pressure by an opponent and make correct decisions according the play (read and react). Concepts involve development of all the key hockey concepts that are used by all players.

This would include, but is not limited to:

• Moving to open space.
• Offensive- and defensive-side body position.
• Offensive support and defensive support.
• Puck pressure and containment.

Small-area games with a distinct purpose are the most effective way to develop these mental skills.

Systems (team play training): Development in this area provides for positional play within the team’s designated structure. This would include, but is not limited to forechecking patterns and defensive zone coverage structure.

As you can see below, the approximate percentage of time spent on each of these categories changes with the age of the player.

8U

• 85% Skills – Hockey skills and activities 
• 15% Sense – Small-area games and awareness training
• 0% Systems – Team play training

10U 

• 75% Skills – Hockey skills and activities 
• 15% Sense – Small-area games and awareness training
• 10% Systems – Team play training

12U

• 65% Skills – Hockey skills and activities 
• 25% Sense – Small-area games and awareness training
• 10% Systems – Team play training