Pivot Drill

Purpose

Setup

• Players line up at the blue line.
• Five cones are placed on the ice.

How it Works

1. Coach blows his whistle or says “Go.”
2. Player starts at the blue line and skates backward to the far cone.
3. There he pivots forward and skates back to the top cone.
4. There he executes a Defense Turn and skates backward to the next cone.
5. Drill continues in this pattern until the player has skated around all the cones.
6. Run the drill for 4-8 minutes or 3-5 reps.

Coaching Tips

• The most common error made by young defenseman when transitioning from forward to backward skating is leaning too far forward, which causes the player to be off balance – so keep an eye out for this.