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Analyzing the Game: Part 1 - Shots
A series on the use of Sports Performance Analyzer.
Why analyze?
There are various reasons to analyze a game or breakdown plays. In this series we will examine the benefits of analysis for you as a coach but also for your players and how you can help them become better at the sport they love to play. I feel that if we make our players the best they can be then your team as a whole may become better. Helping players reach their potential should be a goal of each and every coach.
This keeps with our mantra of:
Track. Teach. Develop.
We feel that this is true at any level of hockey and we know our software can help you achieve these goals. In this first installment we will look at analyzing shots. I will try and give you every angle that I use, but the beauty of the software is that each coach has their own way of using it, and making the analysis their own. If you have your own way of using SPA, then I'd definitely like to hear from you. Lets get to it.
 Shot entry is quick and easy. |
 Easily track offensive blocked shots. |
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How can I help a player through tracking shots?
During the game there are many things we as coaches are looking for, but when I am looking at shots there is two main areas I look for: offensive shots and defensive shots given up.
On the offense I am asking the following questions:
- Where we are getting shots from?
- Where they are going on the net?
- Where did our blocked shots come from?
- How many shooting attempts are we getting?
- How many power play shots did we get?
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 Record where a goalie is making saves, where you're missing shots or where you're scoring. |
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On defense I am looking for the opposite:
- Where are we giving up shots from?
- How many attempts did we give them?
- How many shots did we block?
By reading this you may say does he track both teams? No, not always but we do decide which will be more important to track: ourselves from an individual standpoint or the opposition from a team teaching stand point. You as a coach will determine which is best for you and your team. (Check back in April for our dual version upgrade that will allow you to do both.)
 Quickly view your shots. |
 Highlight key shooting lanes. |
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Helping your Offense
Now on the offensive as a team teaching tool I can show my players the chart of the ice surface and easily show them where we need to get to, or where we may have scored on the goalie. As time goes on and you keep your files from game to game you will be able to recall previous outings vs. goaltenders and see how patterns have formed, thus allowing you to show your players where weaknesses may be on a goalie, or where they have breakdowns in there D-Zone coverage. It is a benefit to individual players as well. By being able to recall a single players shots from any game, you can help a player understand where he needs to be to get better scoring chances. Here is a real life example where this was of great value to my leading goal scorer and me.
Player X was scoring goals at a good pace to start our season, he was shooting and getting into prime areas and putting the puck home when he had the good opportunities. Well, like most players over a long season he got into a drought, nothing was going in for him and frustration started to set in. I decided that I would talk with him and get his feelings for the situation. As we talked it was clear to me that he believed he was doing the same things he had always done and was getting the right spots. After listening to him I felt I had two options for this player, I pulled up the first five games of our season where he scored 8 goals and just put up all his shots, where they came from on the ice and where he had put them on goal. The majority of his shots came as he crossed over to his forehand off the wing and went mid way up the net on the goalies blocker side. Having put that information back into his head, I then pulled up his last few games where his frustration laid, It was obvious to player x right away that he was staying outside playing more perimeter than his prior games and he was shooting from bad angles trying to get the puck to squeeze in holes that were not there. He was shooting low and not picking the corners like he used to because he had put himself in bad shooting positions.
Now did he come out next game and score 4 goals, no he didn't but he did get back on track and by teaching him visually it stuck with him and hopefully he is using it to this day, the player went on to college and some day will be a very good pro player, and just maybe a few things like that we helped him with will help him in the future be that good pro player.
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 Draw on the ice surface to communicate coaching strategy visually. |
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Helping your Defence
On the defensive side of the puck it is easy to track a player's tendencies. If you as a team play someone four times or more a season then tracking tendencies is a must. You can prepare your players for the opponent much better and with great precision. For example if I track the other teams shooters, I can start to see patterns on the offensive tactics they are employing against us and we can make adjustments accordingly. Lets say I see their leading goal scorer comes down the off wing and cuts to the middle 70% of the time. I can give that information to my defence and goaltender to watch for that and to take away the inside and drive the player low on his back hand. This will then cut down on his scoring chances and in return help to give us less goals against.
As you can see I have outlined a few benefits of the tracking program there are many more, over the next few articles we will continue to show more to help you use the Sports Performance Analyzer to your fullest potential. Check back in January for more on analyzing the game. If you have any questions about SPA or my articles please don't hesitate to contact me at mike@spa-hockey.com.
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