Drill of the Week

Roller Coaster Transition Skating

 This is a really great drill for your D as it targets the development of both transitions from forwards to backwards skating, as well as gap control. The added bonus is that the video features Geraldine Heaney, a former women's Olympian so if you send the video out to your girls, the skill is being delivered and demonstrated by a great female role model. 

Roller Coaster Transitions Drill

We've used this drill from Atom all the way up to the Pro level so it should work for most of you. A couple of progressions we've used  are:

1. Unlike the video, pylons are placed in their pattern across the width of the ice so that the player's path is up and down the ice while eventually moving across the width of the ice (board to board). We then vary the distance between pylons so that the transitions take place at different levels and there are a variety of distances up and down the ice for the D to cover
2.  Using the same direction and pattern above, the Roller Coaster is finished  as a 1 on 1 so that coming out of the last transition the D angles the forward to boards and takes away all space, shutting down the lane

Gap control is difficult to master and involves the combination of many technical skills that players must continue to develop. This is a straightforward drill that will help your D put those skills into play!