Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Sniper Frogger

Alternative names: SnipeHer
Objective: To practice timing and placement of hits within the pack; to practice side stepping and moving through the pack to get to your target; to practice good communication
Typical length of drill: 10-15 minutes
Materials needed: A full track or just four cones to mark the inside track line
Skill level required: Skaters must be cleared for contact
Description: This is a variation on the drill called Frogger.  Just like in Frogger all the skaters get into one huge pack and start skating at a moderate pace.  A coach stationed inside the track starts calling out sniper assignments to the skaters (i.e. "Dread take out Tigre!" "Rose kill Bangher!" "Maura snipe KC!").  When they hear their names called the sniper skaters should immediately locate their target within the pack and then weave through the pack to get to their target and give her/him a solid hit.  Just like in regular Frogger, the snipers should communicate to the other skaters what they are doing at all times.  If your league has a secret language or use code words then this is a good chance to practice effective communication in league-speak.  During this drill the coach can also add extra challenges by varying the speed of the pack, calling out specific hits for the snipers to use (i.e. "Carmen kill JoJo with a Johnny Crash!" "Suzy take out Ana with a hip hit!"), or calling out directions in rapid succession making several skaters move though the pack and place hits at the same time.
Additional notes: I originally read about a drill like this on the Via Derby forum a long time ago but now I can't for the life of me seem to find the original post so I apologize for not being able to give appropriate credit here.  If anyone has information, I'll gladly accept it.  Other than that, this is a really fun drill that seems to put skaters in a good mood, and it's a great albeit tedious way to practice communication.  IMO over-communicating at practice = better chance of skaters actually communicating when it actually matters.


Lire cet exercice en français!

2 comments:

  1. Introduced this last night and had good results after everyone caught on to how to do the drill. Will be adding it again in the future.

    Damn Yankee

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awesome drill. The team has enjoyed it every time we have done it.

    Brett

    ReplyDelete