Coaching without drills

The work of play

I’m back coaching hockey again.

I vowed that I wouldn’t. And yet, here I am.

I can’t skate as well as the other coaches.

I don’t have their tactical knowledge of the game.

As such? They’ve put me in charge of working with the goalie.

He’s a work in progress.

His father is a highly qualified goaltending coach.

His knows more than me and is attempting to ‘help’ me by providing me with books and drills so that I can teach his son as he would.

There’s an issue here. 

I’m not him.

I don’t know what he knows or think what he thinks.

The chance of us sharing values is low.

Well, I care about his son and hope he enjoys hockey. We’re probably on the same page there. It’s likely we don’t share much beyond that.

My young charge is frequently telling me about positioning, about skills and about what he knows.

He constantly reminds me about his dad.

The issue? He knows this stuff in his head.

He wants to show that he’s doing it ‘correctly.’

His body simply can’t do what he knows. His body can’t do it ‘correctly’

I…