Hockey drills at home for 16 year olds

At a glance

At 16

53 hockey drills the app opens for a 16 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 50 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 75 minutes for a 16 year old.

How often

At most 5 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: stick (38 of the 53 drills), ball or puck (22), cones (10), net (7), pucks or balls (6), floor space (3), pucks (3), balls or pucks (2). 2 drills need nothing but space. 25 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

53 at-home drills

Hockey drills for 16 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 16 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

defense

Defense

• Gap Stance Backward StepsAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Goalie Call and CatchAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Goalie Ready StanceAges 7 and up · 8 min

passing

Passing

• Forehand Pass to a WallAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Mini-Stick SweepsAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Partner PassingAges 7 and up · 8 min

puck battles

Puck Battles

• Mirror and TrackAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Puck Battle StanceAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Skater BoundsAges 11 and up · 10 min

shooting

Shooting

• Shooting in StrideAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Snap Shot Quick ReleaseAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Backhand Shot BasicsAges 7 and up · 10 min

stickhandling

Stickhandling

• Stickhandling Through ConesAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Toe DragAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Figure-Eight HandlesAges 7 and up · 8 min

A 46-minute session

A home hockey session for a 16 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 46 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Hockey Warm-Up, Ages 14 and UpA 12-minute moving warm-up for hockey players 14 and up: moving stretches, strength, single-leg control, cuts and build-up runs, then hockey moves at practice speed.12 min
2. 2Stationary StickhandlingTop hand controls, bottom hand slides.8 min
3. 3Figure-Eight HandlesReach with your arms, soft hands.8 min
4. 4Toe DragToe over the puck, pull it in.10 min
5. 5Hockey Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 14 and UpA 8-minute cool-down for hockey players 14 and up after training: stretches for the legs, hips, inner thighs and wrists, each held 20 to 30 seconds, never to pain.8 min

At 16

What changes in hockey training at 16

The app opens the same 53 at-home drills at 16 as at 15; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting hockey into a week at 16

At 16 the limit is 16 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 50 minutes is 4.17 hours, which leaves 11.83 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 75 minutes, is 6.25 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 13 to 15 are the "specializing years", after the sampling years of 6 to 12.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers