Hockey Session (Under 10s): U8/U9 05/30

T Rex/Chicken Wing Tag Warmup (10 mins)

Make channels about 5m wide and 10-15m long. Pair players up.

This warmup is intended to introduce defensive channeling & work on footwork

The goal is to make it across the line on the opposite side without being tagged.

The partner is trying to tag them, but they must have (coaches choose) either their elbows pinned to their sides (t rex) or their hands behind their back (chicken wing).

If you tag your partner, you switch roles. 

If you want to make it more competitive, players get 1 pt for tagging and 1pt for getting across the line successfully. Play for a couple minutes and switch partners (queen’s court style)

After a couple of rounds, we can introduce these coaching points: 

1. Approaching the attacker with a staggered stance instead of straight on

2. Being on the balls of your feet instead of sitting back on your heels

3. Drop stepping to change directions and keep the attacker in front of you instead of turning to chase

Channeling (20 mins)

Blue player (defender) passes to Red player (attacker).  Red players objection is to score in yellow gate.  Blue players objection channel the attacker into the blue gate.

Key points for Defender:

- they don't need to make the tackle, they just want to keep the player on the outside

- don't let attacker cut inside/behind them

 - body positioning isn't too far in front 

- protect their feet