Kid seems lost on the ice

[trailsmom]

Hi. This is my first post, apologies if I’m in the wrong category here. My son is U11, enjoys playing but gets really lost on the ice is the only way I can describe it. He’s a physical kid, he will likely be a D if he keeps going. Big if. I’m a mom. I run the score clock and scorekeep so I can hear the coaches yelling at him LOTS, “that’s you!” Go this way go that way. He shuts down completely and looks really unsure what to do. This breaks my heart to see my kid like this. He goes from smiling and getting in the corners to looking super confused. His skating and shooting are ok for the tier we are at (3) but his hockey sense needs help. I’m not a player but now I’m watching games trying to figure out what players do and where to go. Is there anything I can do to help him learn some of this stuff. He really likes playing on the ODR, he pretends he’s his favourite player but he’s usually alone or just one or two other kids. He may have a mild learning disability but I’m hesitant to talk to his coaches because I trust them to help what they can. I recall we did a football program first time and the coach understood he was new. Gave him one job “don’t let that kid catch the ball”. He did a great job with just one simple instruction and I could see the confidence go up. Any ideas to help hockey IQ? Thank you in advance. Really would love to help enjoy the game more.

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[Mr Jiggyfly]

Hi. This is my first post, apologies if I’m in the wrong category here. My son is U11, enjoys playing but gets really lost on the ice is the only way I can describe it. He’s a physical kid, he will likely be a D if he keeps going. Big if. I’m a mom. I run the score clock and scorekeep so I can hear the coaches yelling at him LOTS, “that’s you!” Go this way go that way. He shuts down completely and looks really unsure what to do. This breaks my heart to see my kid like this. He goes from smiling and getting in the corners to looking super confused. His skating and shooting are ok for the tier we are at (3) but his hockey sense needs help. I’m not a player but now I’m watching games trying to figure out what players do and where to go. Is there anything I can do to help him learn some of this stuff. He really likes playing on the ODR, he pretends he’s his favourite player but he’s usually alone or just one or two other kids. He may have a mild learning disability but I’m hesitant to talk to his coaches because I trust them to help what they can. I recall we did a football program first time and the coach understood he was new. Gave him one job “don’t let that kid catch the ball”. He did a great job with just one simple instruction and I could see the confidence go up. Any ideas to help hockey IQ? Thank you in advance. Really would love to help enjoy the game more.

Here are some great resources to help you and your son learn the game on a deeper level:

Howtohockey.com

This is a great site for beginners that can really help expand your knowledge of the game.

You said your son will eventually play D or wants to?

Here is a good article on what new players need to know about playing D:

How To Play Defense – Roles and Responsibilities – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

If he wants to play wing:

The Role of a Winger in Hockey – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

Center responsibilities:

The Role of a Centerman in Hockey – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

Reading these articles will give you a really solid foundation of what your son needs to be doing for each position all over the ice.

You can also get a subscription to LiveBarn if your local rink has it.

Then you and your son can review his games, and you can talk to him about his mistakes and what he should be doing instead.

You can also check out Itrainhockey:

https://itrainhockey.com/

Sean’s stuff is more advanced, but it can help you get a much deeper understanding of the mechanics (shooting, passing, skating, etc).

My daughter has also done Sean’s camps and she loves him - so if he does camps near you, your son would likely benefit greatly from working with him.

 

[JMCx4]

@trailsmom : IMO, the first action you need to take for the overall benefit of your son (in sports AND in all other aspects of his life) is replacing the notion: "He may have a mild learning disability" with either: "He has been professionally diagnosed with a learning disability" or: "It has been professionally confirmed that he does not have a learning disability." The professional diagnosis should come with advice that will redirect your expectations & inform you on positive next steps. For your self-education while seeking a professional diagnosis, this e-magazine article discusses some of the challenges for kids with attention deficit playing group sports. Good luck.

 

[trailsmom]

Here are some great resources to help you and your son learn the game on a deeper level:

Howtohockey.com

This is a great site for beginners that can really help expand your knowledge of the game.

You said your son will eventually play D or wants to?

Here is a good article on what new players need to know about playing D:

How To Play Defense – Roles and Responsibilities – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

If he wants to play wing:

The Role of a Winger in Hockey – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

Center responsibilities:

The Role of a Centerman in Hockey – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

Reading these articles will give you a really solid foundation of what your son needs to be doing for each position all over the ice.

You can also get a subscription to LiveBarn if your local rink has it.

Then you and your son can review his games, and you can talk to him about his mistakes and what he should be doing instead.

You can also check out Itrainhockey:

https://itrainhockey.com/

Sean’s stuff is more advanced, but it can help you get a much deeper understanding of the mechanics (shooting, passing, skating, etc).

My daughter has also done Sean’s camps and she loves him - so if he does camps near you, your son would likely benefit greatly from working with him.

Thank you for the resources. We will look at this together. I asked him this morning if he wanted to learn D and he said he likes forward. Which is great too. I just hope to see him feeling more confident in his role and see him smiling.

 

[trailsmom]

@trailsmom : IMO, the first action you need to take for the overall benefit of your son (in sports AND in all other aspects of his life) is replacing the notion: "He may have a mild learning disability" with either: "He has been professionally diagnosed with a learning disability" or: "It has been professionally confirmed that he does not have a learning disability." The professional diagnosis should come with advice that will redirect your expectations & inform you on positive next steps. For your self-education while seeking a professional diagnosis, this e-magazine article discusses some of the challenges for kids with attention deficit playing group sports. Good luck.

Thank you for your opinion. He was checked does not have a diagnosed learning disability. The reason I say that is because it runs in our family. As a mom I’m searching for ways to try and help him. He is clearly struggling with hockey understanding and it’s hard not compare with the kids that seem to catch on really quick. You are right and the way I worded that was unfair. I will change that going forward. Thank you.

 

[trailsmom]

Here are some great resources to help you and your son learn the game on a deeper level:

Howtohockey.com

This is a great site for beginners that can really help expand your knowledge of the game.

You said your son will eventually play D or wants to?

Here is a good article on what new players need to know about playing D:

How To Play Defense – Roles and Responsibilities – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

If he wants to play wing:

The Role of a Winger in Hockey – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

Center responsibilities:

The Role of a Centerman in Hockey – How To Hockey

howtohockey.com

Reading these articles will give you a really solid foundation of what your son needs to be doing for each position all over the ice.

You can also get a subscription to LiveBarn if your local rink has it.

Then you and your son can review his games, and you can talk to him about his mistakes and what he should be doing instead.

You can also check out Itrainhockey:

https://itrainhockey.com/

Sean’s stuff is more advanced, but it can help you get a much deeper understanding of the mechanics (shooting, passing, skating, etc).

My daughter has also done Sean’s camps and she loves him - so if he does camps near you, your son would likely benefit greatly from working with him.

I see Sean has a camp near us in February so that might be an option. Also, watching himself play is something I never considered. He was sick for a game and we watched his team. He said “do i skate that fast too”. Yes you do! It’s eye opening what we can learn from another vantage point.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Thank you for the resources. We will look at this together. I asked him this morning if he wanted to learn D and he said he likes forward. Which is great too. I just hope to see him feeling more confident in his role and see him smiling.

If he wants to play fwd I would suggest he plays wing for now.

It’s a much easier position to learn positionally than C or D.

D is really difficult and takes years to learn properly, so if he’s struggling like you mentioned, I’d try to push him away from defense.

I see Sean has a camp near us in February so that might be an option. Also, watching himself play is something I never considered. He was sick for a game and we watched his team. He said “do i skate that fast too”. Yes you do! It’s eye opening what we can learn from another vantage point.

My daughter and I have done film work together since she was 9 (she’s 13), and it has done wonders for her.

I just started helping one of her teammates and doing film work with him, and he and his mom have told me it’s really opened his eyes to how he played the game.

And this is AA, so he’s a talented kid, but he was just really confused positionally and it was holding him back.

He went from a low confidence kid that was literally in tears back in Sept (which is why I stepped in), to one of their best players.

Film work is crucial for getting better.

 

[trailsmom]

Wow thank you. His coach just moved him from C to left wing. This makes sense now.

There is one fantastic girl on our team who is in D and she is very sharp strategy wise. She knows how to time cutting players off and manages to get them to the boards.

Because I’m not hockey knowledgeable myself I just assumed his size and physical nature was more D. I see now that’s not the case.

I will encourage him to watch his games. Maybe have him pick out some positives and things to work on. Start asking questions to his coach would help as well.

We are in Tier 3 so that’s the middle of the pack in our city. That’s a perfect tier for him challenging yet he can get that puck if he makes the effort.

I agree that video is a must. All athletes in all sports seem to be doing more and more.

 

[JMCx4]

Thank you for your opinion. He was checked does not have a diagnosed learning disability. The reason I say that is because it runs in our family. As a mom I’m searching for ways to try and help him. He is clearly struggling with hockey understanding and it’s hard not compare with the kids that seem to catch on really quick. You are right and the way I worded that was unfair. I will change that going forward. Thank you.

He's got a good Mom, that gets him at LEAST halfway there.