Improving time it takes to make decisions on ice

[HattrickSwayze 3]

Where pick-up games have helped me is trying to get rid of that "panic" you get sometimes. Some good advice I've been told is just to slow things down. Since the majority of us aren't playing check league hockey, the worst thing that will happen is you turn it over. If you take the extra second to get your head up and look around, or just hold on to the puck, you'll find that you can make decisions a lot faster. Like someone else said, try it out in pick-up games. If you turn it over or pass it to absolutely no one, it's not as big of a deal.

As far as actual drills go, especially by yourself, I can't think of any apart from 2-on-2's and the like.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Usually this is very directly related to how much time you spend skating with your head down. A lot of players get broken of this when they start playing full contact and get drilled because they were looking at the ice. Not really an option for people that started as adults, or left hockey before they got to checking age. I'd recommend a lot of practice stick handling. The better you get at handling the puck the easier it is to feel confident skating with your head up.

[RickeyG 0]

"Hockey Sense" is pretty much the one thing you can't teach.

The only advice I can give is to make the high percentage play. Try not to emulate Crosby when it comes to passing. Don't make the ridiculous spino-rama pass when its not necessary. If you have the puck below the goal line use the net to your advantage and if you get a defenseman chasing you, realize that it opens up a hole to pass to.

Don't try to beat too many people, use your line mates. Work on your backhand passes, a lot of players seem to completely ignore this. Watch Thornton, Savard and Datsyuk passing on their backhand. It opens up a lot of options.

Use the point, again, a lot of players don't seem to do this either. And if you're going to pass the puck pass it as hard as you can.

Dangles and shooting, I can't really help you with, that is pretty much on a case by case basis. But passing should be the most important thing to work on, I don't think many coaches stress this and it usually shows when you're playing with 14-20 year old players who think they're Ovechkin and can beat five guys at once while everyone on their team is open.

[biff44 0]

There are plenty of ways to improve your "decisions" on ice. Some are not so obvious. One way is to train your eyes/brain to "see the whole ice surface" at a glance:

you should be able to jump from bead to bead without effort.

Another is just to work on your skating dynamics so much that you can skate effortlessly. Work with a figure skating instructor one-on-one for the summer. That way you can spend all your "time" making plays, instead of worrying how to get from point a to point b.

Another thing is to be able, thru unbelievable balance, to concentrate on your job (shooting, defending, whatever) no matter what is going on. Being able to do everything on one leg-only helps. That way, you can still score even though you are getting tripped, etc. So you need to be able to do one-legged squats. When you can do that, you need to then work on one legged squats on an unstable surface (like a bosu).

[CannonBall 0]

3 - 3 Half ice, one net or if you REALLY want some chaos try half ICE 2 nets one completely up against the boards on each side of the half. You're forced to react quicker or lose the puck constantly.

[interpathway 9]

At crowded stick and pucks I'll skate around people dangling them, wether they're aware of it or not. Sometimes I'll see a guy facing away from me and I'll just work around him. He may turn around, he may not. Either way I force myself to be prepared for the situation incase he does. Reading and reacting constantly to different players (from kids to the great players out there) will improve your decision making immensely. But be careful when you do this. Don't be 'that guy'.

[Neo5370 132]

I forgot where I saw it, might've espn but it was a segment on how peyton manning trains. His trainer would have him do timed obstacle courses, some stations were pretty typical like pushups, ladder-stepping, blah blah blah, but the interesting thing was that some stations were math problems or logic puzzles that were timed and mixed in w/ the physical stations. Extremely interesting idea.

I remember watching him run to a desk soaked w/ sweat and he was trying to do mulitiplication tables (or something similar) as fast as he could; had to say the answers out loud.

[eric42434224 1]

Since I can only play 1 open hockey and 1 league game a week....with no practices, I never get a chance to"train" by using on-ice techniques. one thing I do, and I have seen countless atheletes from all sports do is to do "dry runs" in your head. In essence, you visualize what you need to focus on in your game, and what you will do in certain situations. This is a way to train your brain, and focus it to react to certain situations the way you want it to. It may sound silly, but elite atheletes do it all the time. The brain in many ways, cant tell the difference. Doing it over and over in your head, visualizing plays....especislly in the locker room before a game, can really help your decision making time.

[$m0k3 0]

I think a few people have mentioned it but playing cross ice with the same amount of guys even. You have to do it enough where its just a reaction instead of a thought.