Learn How to Teach, Teach How to Learn

Traveling from rink to rink and working with teams of all ages and skill levels I get the opportunity to see hundreds of practices throughout the year. It has become really frustrating to see coaches going through drill after drill with zero emphasis on teaching a skill. I know too many coaches now a days that get so consumed with running the most elaborate drill because it looks good to mommy and daddy up in the bleachers but the players are getting nothing out of it besides confusion and maybe even bad habits. This goes for both forwards and goaltenders.

Approaching a practice or training session, as coaches we MUST have a plan! If a coach shows up unprepared and attempts to “wing-it” the kids will see right through you. Each time I step onto the ice with a goaltender I have a plan set with certain skills I want to work on and I always have my “back pocket” drills incase he or she is having an off day and I need to improvise. My back pocket drills are basic drills that we may have done in the past and I feel the goaltender is comfortable with, but teaching and skill progression will still take place.

When a coach is teaching a skill we need to remember that these young goaltenders want to learn, but what does it take to learn? Learning takes determination and the will to work; it also takes dissection of skill and hours of repetition. With that said every player is different and may learn in different ways. The Learning Pyramid below is an example of the multiple ways each individual may learn a certain skill.

THE LEARNING PYRAMID

*Lecture 5%

**Reading**10%

***Audio-Visual***20%

*****Demonstration*****30%

**********Discussion Group**********50%

****************Practice by Doing***************75%

**************Teach Others/Immediate Use of Learning**************90%

While training a goalie I include as many points of the Learning Pyramid as possible to ensure that the skill being taught is understood. I want to touch on the final two parts of the Learning Pyramid, Practice by Doing 75% and Teach Others/Immediate Use of Learning 90%.

Practice by Doing 75% - This would be our on ice sessions with our goaltenders. Be sure while going through drills to slow it down if needed, dissect the skill and teach. Make sure the goaltender understands what the drill is and why they are working on it. After that its repetition, repetition, repetition.

Teach Others/Immediate Use of Learning 90% - Working with goaltenders of all ages I have found that it can be very beneficial to bring out an older goalie to assist on the ice with a younger student. I don’t just bring them out to shoot “cheddar bombs” at these little guys, they are on the ice teaching and learning as well. Now the student has become the teacher to a certain extent. When an older more advanced goaltender is physically teaching key points to a certain skill they are getting a better understanding of set skill. The older goalies love to help and the little guys love working with the big kids that they can look up to.

Learn how to teach, teach how to learn.