On January 11th and 12th the Xplosive Team crossed the bridge into Philadelphia to attend the AstroTurf/NFHCA Coaches Academy. With so few opportunities for professional development in the sport of field hockey, it was awesome to see so many coaches dedicate their weekend to the sport we all love. The clinic was just want we all needed to get us back in the hockey mood. The topics were all applicable to the high school level and the Xplosive team is can’t wait to add some of these concepts to camp this summer. Here’s a synopsis of the topics covered:
Keith Waldman, the director of Optimal Performance Associates started Saturday morning off with 45 minutes of team building activities. It was hands on and we had a blast. If you ever want to bring someone in to do team building with your team, Keith is your man. He has worked with numerous high school and collegiate field hockey teams and since his daughter plays, he understands the sport more than most.
We heard from UDel’s Rolf van de Kerkhof who talked about ways to incorporate your goalie into practice. He gave us the great idea of using different types of balls for the goalies to use to work on clears and get those hips open. A soccer ball, an inflatable and various sized plush balls work and they can even practice without their pads on if they are using those.
Next is was Helen Knull for Michigan State who discussed building team defense through individual defensive tactics. Her advice was spot on and told us how important footwork drills are and that we should be doing them everyday. She also said that every defensive drill should incorporate an offensive, forward movement, so that when the defender wins, they are reinforcing the need to transition quickly into attack. How many times do defenders win their 1 v 1 grid and then just stop playing?
If you didn’t want to listen to a defensive talk, you could have seen Joanie Milhaus from Villanova discussing Lateral Ball Movement, a transition from defense to attack. She gave us different formations for the backfield and passing drills to work on both. Don’t forget to add in a timed component to increase the speed and urgency of the change of fields!
We broke for lunch and walked to the Lowes Hotel. They had a fabulous spread set out for us and it was a great chance to meet new coaches and discuss new strategies!
After lunch we got to hear from UPenn’s Colleen Fink describe some specific, situational drills. You know how frustrating it can be when you can’t get the ball out of your defensive end, well Colleen provided us with some ideas and drills to get your team confident in getting the ball quickly out of the back field. She also showed us some great small grid, decision making drills. These are a must for the 2014 season!
Afterwards, Montclair State’s Beth Gottung explains ways to take advantage of the self-start. She gave us 6 decision makers to consider on an offensive self-start and how important it is to get your team thinking about these before they approach the ball and decide what to do with it. She did let us in on one little secret... after a defensive corner, it’s best to exit the 16 with a self-start. Why? The other team is still bummed that they didn’t score and if you get the ball out quickly, you can get it down the field.
The last session of the day gave coaches the option of hearing Laurel Martin from Stevenson University discuss the “Basics” or Delaware’s Rolf van de Kerkhof give a live demonstration of the drag flick, sweep, reverse hit and reverse chip. Laurel’s basic skills taught us the importance of 30 minutes of basic skills everyday. You know what they say, “you can never get enough of the basic skills.” On the other field was Rolf, demonstrating how you can break down each hit and teach your kids these skills. He gave us the progression of starting on your knees, then on one knee, then standing, then approaching the ball and finally full throttle, no holds bar, going at it with speed and intensity. Lots of videos were taken at this session and everyone was excited to get out there and try these skills.
Day 1 was awesome and we learned a lot... we couldn’t wait to get back for Day 2... that’s for another post!
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