1. Drills
  2. Hockey
  3. For 12 year olds

Hockey drills for 12 year olds

At 12, practice defense, passing, puck battles and shooting: the skills the 30 drills SSTracker opens for 12 year olds train. SSTracker keeps one home session for a 12 year old within 60 minutes and plans at most 5 home days a week, with rest days between. Why: Ages 6 to 12 are the "sampling years": high play, low deliberate practice (Côté and Vierimaa 2014).

What a 12 year old can practice at home: drills the app opens at this age, what changes in hockey this year, how long and how often, what to have at home, and a free week to start.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated November 5, 2026

SSTracker follows USA Hockey on checking: none at 12U and younger, and a checking drill is shown only from 14.

Build my child's week

Free, no account. A week for this sport and age, kept to healthy limits.

Or invite your coach

At 12

The age at a glance

This year
Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 12: USA Hockey allows none at 12U and younger, and SSTracker shows no checking drill before 14. Skating, puck control, passing and shooting come first.
Drills this year
Beginner and developing drills. Advanced drills start at 14.
Checking
Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 12: USA Hockey allows none at 12U and younger, and SSTracker shows no checking drill before 14. Skating, puck control, passing and shooting come first.
Gear
Helmet with full face cage, neck guard, mouthguard and full gear on the ice. Goalies wear full goalie gear before any shot, with soft balls and slow shots first.
At 12
Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 12 hours for a 12 year old, with two rest days a week.
At home
SSTracker keeps one home session for a 12 year old within 60 minutes and plans at most 5 home days a week, with rest days between. That is up from 45 minutes and 4 days at 11.

30 drills

Drills for 12 year olds

Every drill here is one the app opens for 12 year olds, at the level for the age. Each page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a practice log to print.

Defense

Passing

Puck Battles

Shooting

Skating

Stickhandling

What you need at home

What you need at home at 12

43 of the 57 hockey drills for 12 year olds work at home, in a room, garage or yard. Most used: stick (31 of the 43 drills), ball or puck (19), cones (9), net (4), pucks or balls (4), balls or pucks (2), floor space (2), net or board (2). 2 drills need nothing but space. 20 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

A week to start with

A free week of hockey at home

  1. 1Shooting in Stride15 min
  2. 2Physicality: Skater Bounds15 min
  3. 3Stickhandling Through Cones15 min
The week, with steps and fridge cards The age group's plans and sources

Free printables

Weekly planner (PDF) Parent and player card (PDF) All free printables

Questions parents ask

Hockey for 12 year olds: questions and answers

What hockey drills can a 12 year old do at home?

43 of the 57 hockey drills for 12 year olds work at home, in a room, garage or yard. Most used: stick (31 of the 43 drills), ball or puck (19), cones (9), net (4), pucks or balls (4), balls or pucks (2), floor space (2), net or board (2). 2 drills need nothing but space. 20 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

How long should a 12 year old practice hockey?

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 12 hours for a 12 year old, with two rest days a week. SSTracker keeps one home session for a 12 year old within 60 minutes and plans at most 5 home days a week, with rest days between. That is up from 45 minutes and 4 days at 11.

Is body checking allowed for a 12 year old in hockey?

Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 12: USA Hockey allows none at 12U and younger, and SSTracker shows no checking drill before 14. Skating, puck control, passing and shooting come first.

What gear does a 12 year old need for hockey?

Helmet with full face cage, neck guard, mouthguard and full gear on the ice. Goalies wear full goalie gear before any shot, with soft balls and slow shots first.

What changes in hockey at 12?

Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 12: USA Hockey allows none at 12U and younger, and SSTracker shows no checking drill before 14. Skating, puck control, passing and shooting come first. Beginner and developing drills. Advanced drills start at 14.

Free for families and teams

Turn this into your child's week

Pick the days and minutes you have and see a hockey week for 12 year olds, kept to healthy limits for the age, with no account. A free account saves it and shows progress against your child's own start. Coaches can send the same drills to the whole team as homework.

Build my child's week Coach or trainer? Use this with my team

30 days free for a family, no card · Running a team is always free

Does your child's coach know about this?

An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.