Here’s an easy homework assignment for your young hockey player: Grab a puck. Take it with you. Feel free to talk to it. See if it will tell or show you anything while you take it everywhere you go…
What is puck watching? It is intently watching and following the puck during play, while losing awareness of your surroundings and assignment.
What the Puck Tells You
Say it with me… “The puck told me nothing. The puck showed me nothing.”
How rude of the puck!
Since the puck refused to talk and has no body language to offer, we have a few questions:
Where should your eyes go to gather information?
What or who should you be listening to and for?
If you want to stop puck-watching, you must internalize that the puck gives away no information. You must become attuned to your surroundings and play heads-up hockey while your neck operates like a radar system.
Where To Gather Information
By looking at the opponents and your teammates
Check out our Scanning Series… Scanning in Hockey: Advanced Scanning
By listening to your teammates and opponents
Heads-up hockey is for more than safety. It's also for performance. Watch Macklin Celebrini look before and after receiving the puck.
All great players, no matter their position, are looking around to gather intel and pay listening attention to their surroundings. There are no exceptions.
Goalies understand this as often they cannot react to the puck. The puck is shot too fast from too close. Goalies make educated guesses based on the situation and the shooter’s body language, body shape, and blade.
To stop puck-watching, the players must set a goal of looking around more in all situations.
Coaches can help by discussing this often and utilizing practice activities that stress scanning and steer clear from drills with minimal or no opposition.
Further Reading