Z Drill

Purpose

Players build the skills necessary to make the transition from forward to backward skating and from backward to forward skating.

Setup

1. Players form a single file line on the goal line. You may want to place cones at the different transition areas.

How it Works

1. Coach blows his whistle or says, “Go.”
2. Player skates hard to the blue line.
3. At the blue line, the player transfers to skating backward and goes to the faceoff dot.
4. At the dot, the player switches back to forward skating and skates down to the dot in the defensive zone faceoff circle.
5. There he switches back to backward skating and goes to the blue line.
6. At the blue line, he once again switches to forward skating and goes to the goal line.
7. Have your players complete 2-3 reps.

Coaching Tips

• Look for smooth transitions with proper fundamentals.
• You can run this drill with two lines to maximize the number of players that can be involved in this exercise.