Template:Dominant Face-Off Corps

Dominant Face-Off Corps - Tim O'Branski Mercer Assistant Coach

• Each possession is two goals, one you have made and one you take away from your opponents
• Keys to great face off specialist
  • Quickness: hands, reaction time, feet, decisivenss
  • Mental Stability
  • Overall Athleticism
  • Stick Skills
  • Variety of Moves: Pinch & Pop, Rake, Push, Jump, Jam, Counter Moves
  • Field Sense understand other positions on the field, learn how to shoot, learn how to play defense
  • Scrapleticism: scrappy and nobody else is going to get the ground ball

Pre-Test

• 1st individuals practice
• Warm-up
• Live Whistles
  • Check out their cadence mechanism and technique
  • Pair up two faceoff guys on the same team, use them as coaches when doing faceoff's against each other

Film Analysis

• Demonstrate Desired Technique
• Overlap with footage, good and bad examples
• Promote discussion (with your co-teammate), how does one guy beat the other, figure out how you beat this guy

Skill Development

• Forearm Stengthening circuits
• fast-twitch muscle building
• whistle/cadence mp3 - always hearing whistles and tap a desk
• Fumbler technique - throw a football try to slap it out type drills
• Sensory Deprivation - take away a sense, close your eyes on the faceoff, open when the whistle goes, and key in the whistle

Practice Plan for Faceoff guys

• Warm-Up, develop skills at every practice
• Skill Development Drills
• Move/Countermove Instruction
• Live face-off technique drills

Drill: Ball Dropper

• No Stick, react to the whistle
• Turn and Locate
• Do Not Guess
• progress to live competition, finish the drill to a ground ball
• Guy stands above the other guy without his stick. When whistle blows, drop the ball, and the guy on the bottom tries to grab the ball
• Variant: Whoever touches the ball first wins

Drill: Quick Whistles

• 20-30 second intervals
• react to whistle with move
• with and without ball
• quick hands, just touch the ball with your stick, to clamp or get the ball, without ball touch the ball

Drill: Line Hops

• 20-30 second intervals
• Jump stick over and back

Drill: Break Down Progression

• 10 perfect reps for each step (every little step must be perfect) Steps Below
• Approach the X from the sideline (reset yourself getting yourself ready to go)
• Getting into a stance, blow the whistle and they stand up (helps bring the process where these things become second nature)
• Punch
• 1st Step
• 2nd Step as you get ready for your exit
• Exit to a GB or popping to yourself

Drill: Baer Drill

• Low center of gravity drill
• Athletes are back to back
• box out for control over the ball
• Kick the ball 2 times before it is live
• When ball is in between your feet you kick the ball
• Competitive aspect to stay low
• Variant: Put the ball between their backs

Drill: Shock & Main

• like shark and minnows
• soccer circle or smaller
• each player has a ball
• Have to put ball on the turf and continuously pick up ground balls
• Knock opponents balls out of circle
• Can steal a ball to get back in the game
• last player left with a ball plays keep away, but still has to put ball on the turf

Drill: Golf

• One guy in a rectangle, with golf location spots, faceoff to a guy into a two cones

Drill: Pressure Exists

• 166 set up (one guy is going 66% clamped and the other guy is ready to go)
• coach/other specialists circled around
• Control clamp and get it to yourself
• Exit while avoiding pressure/ball hitting ground
• Coach/Other players attack (can use football pads) - try to get out clean

Drill: 1 check drill

• Advantage/Disadvantage set up (give the guy a little slower an advantage)
• React to whistle trying to win face-off
• Exit accordingly with a win
• Throw 1 timely check to displace the ball

Drill: Live Face-Offs

• Best of three series
• Do Not go early (use performance enhancers as punishment like pushups, burpees)
• If beat twice in a row, change move
• catch the ball or place it on the green (one of the spots, where you know where its going, or where wing guys will be)
• First time ground ball, get the GB on the first attempt every time, take your time get it the first time

Drill: Rapid Fire Live

• Have a line of guys with a ball, about 10 yards apart
• Have 1 guy leapfrog to each guy and do a faceoff