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When Practice Hurts

By Hal Tearse, 12/19/13, 9:45AM CST

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Coaches can reduce injuries in practice by controlling the environment.

"Practice like we play" is a common mantra at coaching clinics and in application.  However, coaches and players need to be reminded that practice, even tryouts, are not games.

Broken bones, concussions, and other injuries occur too frequently in the tryout and practice environment. Some of these can and should be avoided with the right emphasis and attention from the coaches. After all, what good does it do to run battle drills with mis-matched players that result in injuries leaving the team short-handed come game time?

In tryouts especially, where players are attempting to impress coaches, they will push the boundaries to show how tough they are and demonstrate they are willing to sacrifice for the team. While many coaches applaud that mindset, an injured player in tryouts or practice deprives the team of that player perhaps for the entire season and of course, deprives the player the opportunity to particpate. 

On the other hand, we want players to show their stuff and compete in practice as if it were a game. By raising the intensity in practice, coaches hope players will pick up good habits at high speed which should increase performance in games. But practice is not a game and in some instances, it is far more physical and intense than games where officials are present to call penalties. 

To run competitive and useful pratices & tryouts, coaches must be clear to players that they must play within the rules and to ease back a bit in situations that could result in a teammate being injured. For example, blocking shots in practice only goes so far because eventually someone will get hurt. Shooters can pull up a bit if a teammate/tryout player is clearly in the shooting lane. In that event, maybe the shot is the wrong decision anyway. 

Another important situation for youth coaches is when they introduce body checking to Peewees to prepare them for Bantams. Remember, it is technique that they need to emphasize, not outcomes.  Some Peewee age boys want to be physical and check hard, but others are not quite that enthusiastic. Coaches must stress the real purpose of checking, to separate the opponenet from the puck, as they teach those skills.  

Hockey is a contact and collision sport and injuries will occur. Coaches need to make sure that the environment in practice, which they control, is such that the potential for injuries is reduced without sacrificing the physical aspect of the game. 

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