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Analyzing the Game: Part 3 - Hits
A series on the use of Sports Performance Analyzer.
Analyzing Hits
Every coach and every team in any country has a philosophy that they follow, in Canada its very simple, play physical. Telling our players and getting our players to do this is not always the easiest thing to do.
Like most coaches I try to keep my players accountable by tracking hits and showing where those hits occur, tracking this stat is a big part of that for me. Hits energize the team, turn momentum in our favor and when used on the fore check make the opposition defense very nervous. Think about any highlight film you see or perhaps you make for your team: we always include hits because quite frankly it makes our players feel good about themselves, not everyone can score a goal but we can all get in front of somebody even by accident. Hitting shows your team mates that you are willing to do what you have to win games and like a blocked shot it shows that you are willing to lay your own body on the line to win.
With the Sports Performance Analyzer we allow you to track hits in one easy step and allow you to show your players the hits in two convenient formats. I will go through both of these formats and show how they both can help you as a coach get that accountability and at the same time read where you are having success within the game from this valuable stat.
Generating Hits Reports
After the data has been entered into the program we can generate a report and see who has had hits in a period or over the course of a whole game. The report will list every player that has registered a hit. You can easily print out the reports and post them in the dressing room, or email them to fellow coaches or scouts.
A running total for a game is critical to my game plan, like many coaches I give my players goals for every game. Included in these goals are a total of hits plus blocked shots. We have a goal that every game we must be over the 75 mark on this combination. If we have 20 blocked shots then we need 55 hits, if we have 10 blocked shots then we need 65 hits to achieve our goal. I find that the combination of hits and blocked shots keep our players aware of playing defensively, it also reminds them that they need to get into the hard areas to win games. If our first period is slow or we didn't get off to the start we want then I can go in after the period and show them the total we have and offer suggestions. It allows us to keep them accountable.
The other great thing about the generate report is that we can easily keep tabs on our players game by game and a player that is most effective when hitting can be show how he has done game by game. Nine out of ten times the player who is not playing well is because he is not involved, hitting gets them more involved.
Ice Surface Hit Chart
The second form of our stats package for hits is the ice surface chart. A quick and easy way to view where the hits are occurring in each period or after the game. It allows the coach quickly to view the ice surface and see if the players are getting in on the fore check or where they are making the most contact with the opposition. If are players are making hits half way up the wall in the offensive zone we are not getting to the defense fast enough. If we are hitting them below the goal line the chances of turn over increase and we create more scoring chances. By having the ice surface show where the hits are we can visually show the players and explain why we need to get in on the defense quicker. You could take this a step further by comparing with the video where the next pass is going and try and cut down any break out option they may trend to.
If a coaches game plan is to cut off the back of the net and force the puck up the wall this chart should be able to show you if you are having success or not and again by showing the players a visual aid this keeps them accountable on the fore check.
 Pick the player and ice location of the hit. |
 Easily review which players are hitting, and where on the ice. |
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Every coach has his or her favorite stats, I am have mine you have yours, its not whether we have stats that we keep its about how you use these stats to better your players and the team's performance. Every coach will find tools that work in this field, what you need is to remember you are dealing with people and we don't want to overload them with numbers. However, we can influence them and their performance with visual aids, in turn keeping them accountable to each other and the team. By doing this we can increase our chances of developing a winning pattern with the team and in turn develop our players into more well-rounded players and people. The great thing about the sport of hockey is the basic principles you teach players in a team environment will stick with them for the rest of their lives, some people see a hit stat I see accountability.
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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