help me please!

[juiced 0]

I need some advice badly. Heres my situation. I am currently playing in a "rookie tournement" for my school. It's basically everyone who wants to try out next year for the team but isnt on it currently. We're all put on to a team with our school's name and we compete against other schools. The object of this tournement is for the coaches to look at the up and coming players, it's basically like tryouts. I play defence and i am very good at skating, shooting, passing and i have good size. I even have decent hands but every time i get the puck i get nervous and throw it away. It seems like there is always someone on me. I'm not scared of getting hit, i just get nervous for some reason. The coach said that if i just calmed down i would make the team but i can't. I know there isn't really much you guys can say but if anyone has any advice please share. I dont play for 4 or 5 days so i can work on whatever it is. Thanks alot in advance.

[irbenaid 0]

Just keep in your head that you do have more time out there than you think. Check out the situation on the ice while the puck is coming to you. Keep your feet moving. You'll be fine!!!

[kovalchuk71 212]

Take a deep breath and forget about that team. Just play hard and have fun and youll do fine. Play as you normally do and dont let making the team mess it up

[evor1 6]

is your stickhandling good? usually people who cant stick handle well or do not have confidience in their stick handling will pass the puck rather than skate with it.

[juiced 0]

no, i have good stick handling. I geuss i'm just not confident with the puck. thanks though for the tips

[mrusse01 0]

If you are playing D, it is important to always know where your forwards are so that when you do get the puck you can quickly focus on where to make the outlet pass. As well, it is important to understand where the forecheckers are coming from, if there is only one man coming in and he doesn't have a good angle on you, take it behind the net and set-up either with a D to D pass or skate it out yourself if he is dumb enough to follow you back there.

Just try to play 'smart' and you won't feel so nervous because you will see where the play is going before you even get the puck.

When I played D, on the dump in I was always looking for the D to D pass if the forecheckers were taking too straight of an angle on me, or I would take the puck behind the net as much as possible. Watch what the pro's do, and once you get fast enough you will be able to move the puck out quicker and quicker. If you are a strong skater and passer you can work on making the quick up to the forward streaking down an ice, but it is an advanced move and can be difficult.

If the play was in our end and there was a turnover or I won the puck along the boards I would take a quick look to see if the centre or far winger was breaking up the middle for the quick pass (be very careful though, you don't want to give it away), if that play wasn't open I would look to the the winger on my side who hopefully would be set up along the side boards to take the pass, if he was covered my third option was to either clear the puck out off the glass to the neutral zone or ice the puck. Off the glass and out is usually not going to be a bad play, but you want to at least work on making the pass.

Remember though that you have to make these decisions very quickly, and knowing where everyone is before you get the puck is essential to letting you make the right decision in time. Don't be afraid when the puck is on your stick, I believe if you have confidence in your ability to make the right decision, you will feel much less nervous.

[biff44 0]

Hockey is a fast game. You need to learn two things, how to react quicker, and how to create more time and space for yourself.

Reaction time is a good part "muscle memory". You do not skate up to the puck, think about what to do next, and then try to do it--you will get mowed down. You need to get to the puck and immediately do what you will do. So, how do you do that? Practice the basics over and over, so they happen without even thinking. One of the basics is stickhandling. No matter how good you feel you are, you need to practice more. Take a golf ball, or one of those expensive sickhandling balls, and marry it for the summer. You should be able to do amazing things with it without even glancing at the puck. Get one of those sean skinner videos of all the drills you can do for stickhandling, and learn them all. Once you can stickhandle without even thinkng about it, you can concentrate on other more important stuff, like how to get you butt out of trouble in a corner, etc.

You could also try some simple things, like buy a "reaction ball" (rubber ball with warts on it that bounces unpredictably) and drop it and catch it. You can bounce your golf ball or a tennis ball against a wall and learn to catch it with your stick, even in mid air.

Then you have to learn how to creat time and space for yourself. Going into the corner, do you get to the puck and stop (and get creamed) or do you plan out what you are going to do way before you get to the puck and keep your feet moving and arc out behind the net--staying 2 feet infront of the forward trying to catch you. If the later, you have created a second or two to look up ice and see the perfect outlet pass! If you are pressured and about to lose the puck down low, do you just blindly wrap the puck around the boards (right onto the opposing Dmans stick) or do you know how to bounce it high and hard off of the glass to clear it safely to center ice. If you are stickandling the puck and there is a gorilla all over you, can you stickhandle with one hand and keep your body between the puck and the forward so he can not get to it--allowing you some room to skate to find a passing lane that is open.

Another good trick to to learn to deke and fake. Passes getting picked off all the time? That is because the forward knew ahead of time where your were going to pass the puck and HE created some time for himself by getting there ahead of the puck to intercept it! Make that work against him. Look over at joe in the corner, get ready to pass looking straight at joe, but instead pass it to harry on the other side. The forward will be there guarding the passing lane to joe and look like a shmuck when the puck goes the other way.

Study some of the Dmen during the NHL stanely cup games going on now. They have fast and good forwards all over them, yet they still find the time and space to get the puck onto the tape of one of their own forwards at the redline! Learn the basics so you can do them in your sleep, and learn the tricks for creating time and space, and it will look like the game is going on around you in slow motion!

Finally, learn some mind control. Did you really screw up the last shift and cause a goal to go in? So what? Is that fact important the next time you step onto the ice, or should you be spending 100% of your concentration on the game going on now, not in the past? So when you are sitting on the bench, take a bunch of deep breaths. Stop thinking about what happened. Envision in your mind going out there next shift and doing the perfect play. Calm down, and just go out there and do it. Even in the big tryout the coach will probably not notice one big mistake, but he sure as hell will notice if after it you play like a dog and do not bounce back right away with a lot of intensity!

[Plymkr 0]

mrusse01 and biff44 explained it very well so I'm not even going to add anything, however I will give you a situation of what I did to help me.

I'm a smaller guy (5'6 160) so I used to get nervous when stickhandling in games. This was bad since I mainly play center since I'm good with faceoffs and I'm fast. I spent every time I wasn't on the ice out in the street or driveway on roller blades stickhandling with a golf ball. I learned how to stickhandle very fast and also came up with some of my own moves from that. But what I can tell you in order to help you is that it's all about experience. I'd recommend trying to stickhandle more in practice until you get comfortable with it and you eventually will. Once you get comfortable with it you'll find yourself getting more open passes to your teammates and you'll also find that you'll control the pace of the game more.

[Crazy Otto 0]

I need some advice badly. Heres my situation. I am currently playing in a "rookie tournement" for my school. It's basically everyone who wants to try out next year for the team but isnt on it currently. We're all put on to a team with our school's name and we compete against other schools. The object of this tournement is for the coaches to look at the up and coming players, it's basically like tryouts. I play defence and i am very good at skating, shooting, passing and i have good size. I even have decent hands but every time i get the puck i get nervous and throw it away. It seems like there is always someone on me. I'm not scared of getting hit, i just get nervous for some reason. The coach said that if i just calmed down i would make the team but i can't. I know there isn't really much you guys can say but if anyone has any advice please share. I dont play for 4 or 5 days so i can work on whatever it is. Thanks alot in advance.

It's called "puck panic" and it's common among less experienced players. One of the better things you can do is go to some pickup or open hockey games and try to create your own offense in a no-pressure situation. Try and carry the puck out of your own zone and go 1-on-1 against the forechecker. If you turn it over, big deal. Go back and try again.

[sabre09923 0]

biff44 and mrusse01 already did a good job on explaining, but I'm going to add a little more.

This isvery familiar situation for me. I used to have it pretty bad, as a d-man (earlier this season). I just kept getting picked off and nothing I tried helped... But, sometimes, all you do is practice stickhandling more, even if you are a good puckhandler. It's no use being a good puckhandler if 90% of the time that you have the puck, panic takes over. Stickhan dling with a smart ball or stickhandling with an actual puck on a skill pad works wonders-if you keep your head up while you do so (to get a "feel" for the puck, and you are confident with it).

Another thing that may be messing you up is that you are afraid of not making the team. You aren't going to die if you don't make the team. On the other hand, though, you have to want to get on the team more than everything else. But keep in mind you have another chance, if things don't go your way. Do not be afraid of making a mistake and just make the plays (believe in yourself!). If you do make a mistake, keep your head up and don't worry about it. Make the right play the next time.

These are things that may help you to make the team-be creative in making the plays on D, change up the pace and keep the other team on their toes, reverse it behind the net, even fake reverse by having a quick stop behind the net then keep going in the same direction, keep your head up, look to the backdoor when you're in the offensive zone, be smart and keep a good gap, trust your legs, be confident in everything you do, and above all... Listen to the coaches and whatever advice that they give you. Coaches love a player who answers the call of duty and does what they have to do. Don't ignore your teammates either. Be respectful of the other players, and whatever advice they have;make sure you tell them when they had a good shift, they made a good play, etc. I don't know anyone who doesn't like praise.

Good luck making the team. If you don't make it there's always next year. Remember that.

[biff44 0]

A good thing to try, especially during a tryout when you want to be noticed, is every so often take hold of the puck and try to keep it for a full 10 seconds before passing it off. Maybe 2 or 3 times during a game. Gets you used to protecting the puck, and grows hair on your chest!

[hapamatt122 0]

I'm a d-man also, and I can't really add much because these guys gave some really solid advice. perhaps one thing I could mention is if these forwards that come streaking down to you when you got the puck, as soon as they see you panic and make a blind pass, they are going to hound you everytime you touch the puck. so when you get it, take a look around, you've always got time, if theres one forward coming at you and you are stumped as to what to do, send it along the boards as the other guy said or hold on to it but protect it for a second so that someone can get open.. however, it seems that you know what you need to do, its more in your head that if you make a bad play then your not gonna make the team.. so all I can say is don't let those forwards think you have no confidence because they will try to capitalize on it.. once you take a few steps and seem like you know whats up, you should back them off a bit and buy yourself a few extra seconds because they don't know if your going to carry it or pass it. good luck!

[KYHockey3 0]

is your stickhandling good? usually people who cant stick handle well or do not have confidience in their stick handling will pass the puck rather than skate with it.

i feel like i get nervous in highschool league when i get the puck., so sometimes i pass quickly to take the pressure off

[gavin 0]

If you're playing Dman and forwards come down hard on you (usually in this situation it's just one guy coming in hard on you, waiting for you to panic and making some bad pass/turnover) that means that you can probably make ONE move no problem, maybe a few more. Look at NHL players. The defenceman will make one move to get around a forchecker, even if he's the last man back and he's only halfway up his zone. That's because that is the easiest deke in all of hockey: you have the whole ice, you can turn anyway you want to, and the one forward that's coming in hard has only one line of attack and he's moving too fast: if you make a small move around him, he'll be gone and you'll have time/space to make a nice crisp pass. Just don't dink with the puck: start with making 1 move around the first forchecker. Later you can work on going coast to coast.

[juiced 0]

sorry about that, i was away from my computor for a few days. Thanks alot though, you guys gave some really good advice. thanks biff and mrusse and all for writing such long responses instead of just stating the obvious "keep your head up and thats it". Much appreciated.

[chk hrd 164]

here is a look from the other side. As a hard fore-checking forward I go in thinking about what I want the d-man to do. The first few times you go in sizing up the d-man to see what he is about...experienced, confident, good on his skates or with his stick, etc. If I feel the guy has no confidence or experience I go in hard to force him into doing something stupid. If you angle them right you can usually get them to cough up a soft pass into the center. If the guy is confident or good I go in a little slower trying to guide him in the direction I want and to take up time so that I can get help on the coverage. These are the guys that will put one move on you to get you to go buy and move the puck up. They also have the experience so they will hold onto the puck or allow you to trap them on the boards until they get some help. They realize that they have that extra time and it is better to hold on than make a stupid play.

The biggest mistake I see beginners make is they panic, when you panic your body and mind stiffens up and you are stuck. I always tell the kids that they have a little more time than they think. If you are afraid that you will make a stupid play or move then you will make one. Confidence is the key. I would rather have a confident d-man that is so-so at puck handling but makes smart moves than a great stick handler that panics.

It is hard to build confidence. No one can teach you it...it just sort of happens. One thing that can help is to remember it is just a game. No one died because you made a bad play...you learn from it. Have fun, relax and enjoy it. It takes some pressure off of you.

[juiced 0]

Thanks, just to let you guys know, i just had the next game. We lost but i didn't panic at all. I just kept thinking that i had more time then i thought and to take a few strides before i do anything and i realised that it's only when i first touch the puck that it seems like someone's on me but if i start skating everything just opens up. Thanks alot.

[gavin 0]

Let us know if you get named to a team. But I have to wonder, why is your Highschool having tryouts right after the season finishes? Wouldn't it be smarter to have them in September?

[juiced 0]

Ya, i will. There not really tryouts. The real tryouts are in september but this is just so the coaches can take a look at the "up-and-coming" players. So if they see something they like it will improve our chances in september. It's also to take advantage of the fact that our Minor Hockey Insurance is still good and regular hockey is done, so it just gives us another chance to play before our insurance expires. It's kinda complicated so i can't really explain the insurance thing.