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Four Skills of Great Defenseman

July 4, 2008

The Four Pillars of Great Defenseman

It Starts with the Feet

Good change of direction “cod” and ability to prevent the offensive player from throwing a good pass or taking a good shot! Too many young defensemen think they always need to take the ball away – instead they should be focus on prevention, good base checks like the poke and (not getting beat, by moving your feet). Always be in good position. Great defensemen know how to always be in good position. To accomplish this, good position is a direct result of footwork.

Have Sense of Team Play!
You need to know how you fit in to the defensive scheme, you are not an on island, but part of a bigger scheme. You need to develo an acute sense of field awareness, anticipating where the ball and point of attack will be and understand what the offense is trying to accomplish.

Stick Work
This goes without saying, but the # 1 key is the ability to pick up and clear ground balls, get the ball out of the defensive end. You want to strive to be the most reliable stick handler on the defensive side of the field
and be able to handle long passes, dodges and ground balls.

Ability to ”put the ball on the ground”

All good defenders have established excellent 1 on 1 defense, starting with the ability to set up their checks. We teach to only the poke check at the lower levels as it is the one check that sets up all the other cool checks. The fancy checks are set up by good positioning and a solid poke/slap check arsenal.

 

 

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