Week One
Aims for Week One
- Learn the basic rules of hockey.
- Know why we do a warm up and how to perform a warm up.
- Learn a skill or technique, in this week’s case, push passing.
- Know why we do a cool down and how to perform a cool down.
Introduction to the Participants (6:00-6:10)
- Introduce myself and give a brief overview of what we will be doing in the session.
- Explain the basic essential rules of hockey which must be known to play, like the ball must not touch the feet, can’t use the back of the stick.
Warm Up (6:10- 6:25)
The warm up will consist of static and dynamic stretches. Stretching should be general and specific. General stretching of all of the large muscles and specific stretching of muscles that are used heavily in a hockey match.
Static stretches (unassisted stretches in a stationary position)
The participants will be asked to stretch neck, shoulder, arms, core, upper leg, pelvic areas, leg and feet.
Dynamic Stretches (Stretches with movement)
Small steps, small skips, single knee lift, knees cross, side running, walk lunge and hurdle walk.
Skill – Push Passing (6:20-6:50)
For the first week the skill learning session will be at the beginner’s stage. I will ask the participants to separate into pairs, one of the pair stand on the halfway line, and the other where a marked cone will be about 6 paces away from each other. One participant will have the ball. Then, basically push the ball back and forth. This will be done for 5 minutes, when the 5 minutes are up, I will call the participants back and explain what they were doing wrong and tell them how they can improve. I will then ask them to go back and continue what they were doing, but apply the improvements that I asked them to make. I will then make the exercise a bit harder, by putting them under pressure. I will ask the participants to go into fours. Three members of the group will stand in a triangle (one person with the ball); each point about 5 paces apart, while the other one must stand in the middle of the triangle. The person in the middle must intercept the push passes made between the 3 other members of the group.
Game (6:50-7:15)
As there are 20 participants in the whole group, I can make 4 five-a-side teams and two small matches on either half of the pitch. Just like a normal game, but with one catch, only allowed two touches and when passed, it must be a push pass. If someone touches the ball twice, a free push will be awarded to the opposing team. The winner is the person with the most goals.
Cool Down (7:15-7:25)
- One minute light jog
- Small static stretches
- Finish with another jog