Skills

At What Age Should We Start Teaching Hockey Sense?

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At What Age Should We Start Teaching Hockey Sense_ by Greg Revak

If players don’t have a base for their hockey sense by age 11-12, it’s very difficult to put many of those intuitive hockey sense elements into their game.

Every coach agrees that hockey sense is vital for their players, but when should players start being taught and learning hockey sense?

To set the foundation, hockey terminology and rules should be started right away. Players at the under U9 (age eight and under) level still need to pick up the basics skills and athletic abilities. Once the basic foundation has been formed it’s time to start teaching and influencing their hockey sense.

Teaching hockey sense while they are acquiring their skills gives the players an intuitive ability to apply their skills to game sequences. Top players can start around age 8-9 while others should be started by age 9-10. This means coaches should be implementing drills that hit on hockey sense during first year squirt year and beyond.

Why start at ages 8-10? There are 3 main reasons:

Key operational stage
Neuroscience
Trainability windows

Operational Stage

If players don’t have a base for their hockey sense by age 11-12, it’s very difficult to put many of those intuitive hockey sense elements into their game . . .

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