Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Ohio State - Thoughts From A Day With The Coaching Staff

January 14, 2015 - Ohio State 
One of the best parts of club coaching is getting to visit the college coaches.  This allows us to watch the latest drills, pick their brains on new developments, and hear from them what they are looking for in future recruits. On Jan 14 we caught up with the Ohio State staff.

Practice
Fast paced and intense.  There was very little down time.  The coaches name the drills, touch on the focus points, and the players got to work at full speed.
  • Warmups: Dynamic stretching, star drills and goalie shooting.
  • Individual skills: Offense - shooting, Defense - approaches
  • Individual skills: Outlets / approaches / Slides / GBs
  • Unit Work: Dodges / Footwork / Positioning
  • Unit Work: FO / Wing play
  • Team Work: Full field drills

Takeaways - We picked up a couple of GB drills that will help with getting the ball up and moving.  We also gain some insight into how to increase the tempo of practice.


Recruiting 
After practice we had a chance to meet with the coaching staff and discuss several topics of interest.  One of the topics was recruiting.  Specifically, what they looked for in a commit and where they were in the process.  We were thrilled to hear that they had just committed a 2015 from the Midwest.  Given the sped up recruiting cycle it is good to know that late developing players can still find a home at top Division 1 schools.  (see our article on recruiting).  So what are they looking for?  The coaching staff was clear as to what players could do to gain their attention:
  1. Play fast - Players who can make decisions faster / under pressure have an advantage.  This is one of the reasons they and others look to the hotbed areas for recruits.  Those players play faster and face tougher competition which enables them to get up to college speed sooner.
  2. Great fundamentals - Have the basics down cold.  The means having your stick vertical and up at all times, thrown tight passes (no loops), using two hands on GBs, dodging heard to the cage, having you footwork down on defense, correct body position for goalies, etc.
  3. Hustle -  Stand out on the field for your hustle / drive. This impresses the coaches and tells them that you are willing to work hard.  At the college level there is not a big skills set difference between players (some teams have 40+ All-Americans on their rosters).  What separates the best is their effort, dedication to practice, and desire to make plays on the field.  Show the coaches that you have that desire to work to be the best.

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