Hockey

Hockey is my favourite sport and its very fun. Hockey is a sport where a lot of skill is needed if you are playing in better rankings. But you don't need to be on those high ranking teams to have fun. House league is just as fun, but it is less competitive. Everyone in house league is having fun. When you get up to the higher rankings, coaches are really looking for the fast skaters, good passers, stick handle well, can shoot hard, hits and many other quality's.

Hitting. The difference between the higher rankings is hitting. You have contact in the higher rankings which is either fun for players or scary for players. I'm in contact and I'm telling you it is so fun. When you here the word contact you usually think of injuries and kids getting really hurt, but as long as you have your head up, there probably won't be any injuries. Things you should be doing in a game. In a game you should constantly have your head up because it is dangerous having your head down because if you get hit it, will hurt a lot.

During the game. During the entire game you shouldn't be thinking about scoring even if it is a good feeling because it will throw you off your game and you will become a hog. Your players absolutely hate hogs so don't do it. On the ice you should be thinking about making that nice pass or working really hard in the corner.

Passing. Passing is the key to the game of hockey. If your team can't make good passes there most likely going to be a bad team. When your making your pass if the player is immobile you should be looking at there tape on there stick. If the player is skating you should be thinking about passing the puck a few feet ahead of him/her because he/she will eventually catch up to it. When your making your pass you should really be concentrated on that pass because I guarantee if you are concentrated, you will make a better pass.

Shooting. Most coaches say to shout for the corners, but my hockey shooting school teacher said to shoot for the mesh. If you can see the mesh of the net shoot for that spot because it is open. When you are shooting you should be relaxed because it will mess you up if you are very nervous.

Deking. In my opinion if you are on a break away you should be skating your fastest because then the goalie has less time to react and they have to commit to one of your moves. If the goalie is out of his net you should deke because there is a lot of space to go around him/her. If the goalie is in there net you should shoot because there is very little space to go around him/her. On a breakaway you should also come down in a shooting position because that gives you the option to quickly shoot or deke. If you are not in the shooting position and you decide to shoot, it takes time to set up and you might get a bad shot off.

Practice. Practice is a very important part of hockey because that is where you learn and improve. They say "practice like you play and play like you practice" That means that you should be working just as hard in practice, as you would in a game. Don't slack off in practice because that's where it all starts.

Hockey is a very fun sport, so enjoy it when you are playing. Really focus during the game and at practice and you will see the results.