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Two-puck separation control

Alternate attention and blade touches between two pucks, keeping each in its own control space without collisions.

12U · 14U+Intermediate6 minutes1–1 players
Original drill diagram
Two-puck separation control: player positions and movement 1
1 stays below the two pockets. Each dot is a separate puck. Short arrows show alternative inward touches that stop within each puck’s own pocket; neither puck crosses the center pair of cones. Original schematic; not to scale. Circles with numbers or letters mark players. Other markers and arrows are explained in the caption; some diagrams show puck or ball movement instead of skating. Red arrows show shots. Follow the written setup for spacing.

How to run it

Equipment: Skates, Hockey protective equipment, Cones, Stick, Pucks

  1. Use six cones to outline two adjoining 3-by-3-foot pockets: three cones across the front and three across the back. Put one puck in each pocket. Stand centered behind the shared edge with one stick and feet still.
  2. Move the left puck a few inches toward the middle of its own pocket, then stop it with the blade. Leave it parked before moving to the right puck.
  3. Move and stop the right puck the same way. On the next pair of touches, send each puck back toward its original spot. Each puck stays in its own pocket and never crosses the shared line.
  4. Continue for 20 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds. Complete four rounds within six minutes, including a demonstration and resets when a puck leaves its pocket.
  5. Count complete left-right pairs with both pucks settled and separated. Reset immediately after a collision rather than chasing both at once.

Key teaching points

  • Cue: “Move one, park one, switch.” Only one puck needs to move at a time.
  • Look at the puck being controlled, then locate the other before changing targets.
  • Keep the touches short so the blade can stop a puck before attention shifts.

Common mistakes

  • First puck keeps sliding while the second moves. Try: hold each stopped puck for a count of one.
  • Pucks meet at the middle line. Try: shrink the touch distance and work near the center of each pocket.
  • Player shifts the feet to chase. Try: reset the puck positions within comfortable stick reach.

Make it fit the player

  • Easier: leave one puck stationary as a reference and move the other for a full round, then switch.
  • Harder: remove the one-count pause while still stopping each puck fully before touching the other.
Research context & source notes

Background sources for this drill’s skills and teaching principles.

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