Info about Hockey Coaches
Things that a hockey Coach needs to understand
Hockey is a great sport and requires varied skills in the team players. As a coach one needs to be able to understand the demands of these positions and get the best players that match the skills required. The next is people management skills to manage the players well. Lastly it is about strategy to win game. A good coach is a combination of these three features.
Picking the right players:
Typically hockey has three main positions: defence, mid field and attack. These are also called defence, neutral and offensive zones like in ice hockey. Defence are the positions around the goal. The players here need to ensure that the opposition striker does not get a clear shot to the goal post. This required people that are great at snatching the ball from the opponents.
The mid field is the region where most of the game gets played. As a result you need people with great stamina. They are in the transition zone. If the defender is able to snatch the ball and turn it around quickly, it is the mid fielder who needs to pass it to the striker. So players in this position need longevity and speed as well as be able to think on their feet.
Strikers are players who have the best chance of scoring the goal as they are closest to the opposition goal post. They need to be very deft with the ball handling and deliver the kill blow in a split of a second.
So you see the demands of different positions are different. A good coach needs to identify who is best suited for which position and train the players accordingly.
People Management Skills:
There are two aspects to this motivation and conflict management. As a player there are always ups and downs. You need someone who can keep you on your feet when you are on the top and someone to support you when you are down. This is the responsibility of the coach. Besides, before every match coach needs to motivate the team so that they believe that they can win.
While motivating the team is good, coach must also control the conflicts in the team. After all when a bunch of talented people come together there are bound to be conflicts. As a coach on needs to ensure that these conflicts do not spill outside the dress room and that they do not affect player performances.
Strategy:
You may have picked the right players for the right spot and even motivated the team and taken care of conflicts. Now with the team on the field with an opposition how to they go about playing and scoring goals? This is where strategy comes in. As a coach you need to identify the team strengths.
Some teams are great at defense and others at attack. You need to come up with a strategy where the opposition plays to your strengths and not the other way round. The strategy cannot be pre-planned and implemented. It may need to change many times during the course of the match. So coach needs to be agile and flexible.
Anyone who’s ever seen the killer picture, Miracle, starring Kurt Russell, knows that hockey coaching is no mere hobby, but it’s something that takes up your whole life.