1. Drills
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  3. For 8 year olds

Hockey drills for 8 year olds

At 8, practice defense, passing, shooting and skating: the skills the 28 drills SSTracker opens for 8 year olds train. SSTracker keeps one home session for an 8 year old within 30 minutes and plans at most 3 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 an 8 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.

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At 8

The age at a glance

This year
Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 8: 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 drills. Developing drills start at 11, 3 years from now.
Checking
Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 8: 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 8
Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week.
At home
SSTracker keeps one home session for an 8 year old within 30 minutes and plans at most 3 home days a week, with rest days between.

28 drills

Drills for 8 year olds

Every drill here is one the app opens for 8 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

Shooting

Skating

Puck Battles

Stickhandling

What you need at home

What you need at home at 8

27 of the 32 hockey drills for 8 year olds work at home, in a room, garage or yard. Most used: stick (16 of the 27 drills), ball or puck (9), cones (3), balls or pucks (2), floor space (2), net or board (2), pucks or balls (2), tennis ball or soft ball (2). 2 drills need nothing but space. 10 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

A week to start with

A free week of hockey at home

  1. 1Wrist shot targets18 min
  2. 2Passing: Soft Catch Receiving15 min
  3. 3Passing: Pass Through the Gate15 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 8 year olds: questions and answers

What hockey drills can an 8 year old do at home?

27 of the 32 hockey drills for 8 year olds work at home, in a room, garage or yard. Most used: stick (16 of the 27 drills), ball or puck (9), cones (3), balls or pucks (2), floor space (2), net or board (2), pucks or balls (2), tennis ball or soft ball (2). 2 drills need nothing but space. 10 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

How long should an 8 year old practice hockey?

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 8 hours for an 8 year old, with two rest days a week. SSTracker keeps one home session for an 8 year old within 30 minutes and plans at most 3 home days a week, with rest days between.

Is body checking allowed for an 8 year old in hockey?

Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 8: 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 an 8 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 8?

Body checking is not part of ice hockey at 8: 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 drills. Developing drills start at 11, 3 years from now.

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 8 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.

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Does your child's coach know about this?

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