There’s nothing better than gameday when you’re a young hockey player. There is a level of anticipation and excitement that is unmatched. So, how can coaches bring that enthusiasm out in practices? By gamifying their practice plans. 

“Gamifying practices is designing training environments that are representative of the game itself – that feel and behave like the game,” Stefan Decosse, Head Coach of the Colgate Women’s Ice Hockey team. “When we gamify practice, we’re looking to replace some of those isolated drills that may not have context of the game with more competitive, problem-solving activities.” 

By gamifying practice, coaches can get more engagement and intensity from players day-in and day-out, which leads to better long-term development and growth. 

Drop the script and gamify 

There are a number of ways that coaches can gamify their practices – keeping score, races or limiting time, moving the playing surface to smaller areas, having players start with a technique before entering play. By adding competitive elements that mimic game-like scenarios, this puts players into situations they’ll encounter during games. 

“One way we like to think about this as coaches is to manipulate various constraints to attune them to rhythms or opportunities that in which we want them to be aware of. So ways to do that is to put time on things, how do you start a drill?” Decosse said. 

Coaches can put in rules that identify areas they want to work on. If a coach wants to practice the breakout, they can play a small-area game where the defending team has to gain control of the puck, go behind the net and make a pass to a teammate before going onto offense. 

“There are various different rules we can put fourth that incentivize certain behaviors and moments in the game we want to see,” Decosse said. “How we utilize the space, we can constrain the space. That’s part of the fun, it’s an art and you’ve got to play around with it and find what works for what you’re trying to get out of it.”  

Embrace the mess 

While repetitive drills and overly structured on-ice sessions might look organized, they don’t necessarily create the best learning environments. 

“It's difficult for youth coaches because gamifying environments inevitably leads to messiness, it doesn’t look clean – which doesn’t feel great for coaches. But you’ve got to lean into that mess because that’s when players learn to adapt, self-organize and ultimately what is awesome, express their individuality,” Decosse said. 

Players learn the game best by doing. And getting reps in game-like situations, where decisions are on them, promotes more learning then moving in predetermined drills or going around cones.   

“Learning is not linear. It doesn’t happen in a straight line,” Decosse said. “For us, it’s about transfer – we want to build adaptable, dexterous youth hockey players and we feel by gamifying practices, it does just that. It puts athletes in positions to adapt to improvise in real time and build robust skill sets that aren’t susceptible to the fragility of linear thinking. For us, gamifying practice develops a deeper understanding of the game, stronger decision making and just more resilient and robust habits.” 

Gamifying is more engaging 

When players are having fun, they are going to be more engaged, work harder and get more out of the activity. 

“Athletes fall in love with the game because they love to play the game. Practices that are a bit more gamified keeps players engaged. It also breeds confidence when learning feels like play,” Decosse said. “Gamified practices, the nature of competition, it brings people in. It provides a blank canvas for athletes to explore and express their individuality, which is a big component for being an engaged athlete.”   

Even less experienced coaches have seen it, when a player is bored and not giving it their all. It can be frustrating to watch, even more frustrating for a young player. Gamifying practice will make players want to stay on the ice longer and be excited about coming back to the rink. 

“That’s when you’re a kid looking up at the clock and like, ‘Ah, there’s only 6 minutes left in practice?’ Whereas, you’re in a line standing around coach wants you to have a really specific route that’s kind of boring, it’s just not as engaging,” Decosse said. 

So, next time you’re designing a practice plan, see how you can gamify the activities. Some additional ideas include adding a story narrative, incentivizing outcomes with points or progressing to a next level. 

“Just explore and have fun with it. There’s no right way to do it, only what’s right for your team and how you want to develop the talent,” Decosse said. “Be patient, gamified environments are messy ultimately at the beginning. But you’ve got to stick with it and over time you’re going to be really impressed with what comes of it.”