Advice: How can I help my novice team play better?

[kilowatt]

I've been playing hockey for a long time, but I broke my leg six months ago. I figured it would be a nice, relaxing reintroduction to play in a recreational coed league with one of my best friends, who happens to be relatively new at hockey.

I'm in a new situation - I need to become a much better coach and teammate! Plays that are automatic for me are foreign to my teammates who don't have a lot of experience - things like drop passes, give and go plays, and the like.

What are some simple ways that I can help this team improve? We don't get practice time, so it is basically five minutes before the game and during the game in which I can coach them.

Knowing this, what advice can you give me to help both myself and my teammates? Tell everyone, when we don't have the puck, to pick a man and stay on them? It's tough because a lot of the time, people are either floating on defense or cherry-picking on offense.

Thanks!

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[jnk96]

Be the captain, no matter if you wear a "C" or not. Tell your players where to go, and what to do. Not in a cocky way but in a good captain way. Let others give you advice too. Be a playmaker, not a one man show, so your teammates will trust and like you. When you tell them what to do, and set them up to do those things, they'll at least try doing it. Without practice there isn't really much more you can do. Be a presence in the locker room as well, help people, but don't be like "you always **** up our plays, what the hell". You sound like you're not that kind of guy so that's a great start. You can also draw stuff in the locker room to show them, practice little things in there, and show some more things in the warm up. Talk, talk, talk!

 

[wils5150]

my advice is help them out when you can. Have fun and dont worry about wins or losses. Enjoy the process of watching your teamates grow as players!

 

[Devil Dancer]

Teach who you can and accept that some people either cannot or will not listen to your advice, whether you're right or not.

 

[sanityplease]

Are you appointing yourself as 'coach'? Who runs/organizes the team?

 

[itsjustsurvival]

Teach who you can and accept that some people either cannot or will not listen to your advice, whether you're right or not.

This is such good advice.

Inevitably, you will decide whether its more important to play with friends or play with your skill level. Though sometimes you get lucky and find a nice balance of both.

 

[CornKicker]

i have found as an experienced player it works to come off the ice after a shift and point out what the other team is doing, especially regarding their forecheck. If they are stacking a player on the boards expecting your defence to clear it that way let the d know not to do that and too look for a pass 4-5' out from the boards. Also if you are a forward ask the defence where they want you to go.

as for the offensive zone have a default play to go to. for 10 years our team has used the if you have no clean pass and not chance to get to the net dump it behind the net. the far winger knows that after a bit thats whats going to happen so they time it and be there when the puck gets there.

just remember that everyone comes from different backgrounds hockey wise. but dont come out barking orders, it rubs people the wrong way. use lines like "how should we get around them doing this?" or "what do you guys think about this?" you already know the answer, but it helps everyone feel like they came up with the solution instead of dropping it on them like fact.