Why Do Coaches Teach Systems, And How Do Teams Use Concepts To Gain A Competitive Advantage?
What are the benefits of utilizing systems in hockey? What is the best way to use them for a competitive advantage?
Virtually every organized hockey team has systems in place to manage their team and play style into some level of structure.
Why Teams Use Team Concepts/Systems/Tactics
A system is essentially a set of tactics and strategies that dictate how a team plays. These systems help players understand their responsibilities and improve team organization.
This prepared statement from the University of Michigan’s HC Brandon Naurato is a perfect summary:
“The nature of the game is inherent chaos, two opposing teams trying to achieve the same objective all while preventing each other from completing that objective. Tactics help make this chaos more manageable and predictable. This means that for a team to successfully achieve the game objective, they must create some order within that chaos with the use of tactics.
“When we create tactics, we are creating an order that we are accustomed to. Our tactics are known to us, therefore are familiar and predictable to us. That’s why we want to impose our identity on the chaos, and it’s important that it’s our identity.
“When tactics are properly trained and applied to a game, the game becomes more predictable for players making the players function more energy efficiently, which is a massive advantage in an energy-expensive task like hockey.” (Source: Gulo Gulo)
To summarize, team systems make your team more predictable in order to increase play speed, reliability, and efficiency.
Over-Coaching
Over-coaching is a concept where more emphasis is placed on players to execute a team system at the detriment of their ability to execute in an ever-changing game environment.
The most commonly referred to issue is that overly rigid systems limit players’ opportunities to develop hockey sense and decision-making skills (i.e., hockey IQ). Instead of learning to read the game and adapt, players rely heavily on set plays and positions.
This overall dependence on the team system reduces a player’s adaptability, which is a big deal in a fluid, fast-paced game like ice hockey, where situations change rapidly. Commonly, you’ll hear people talk about players becoming robots on the ice.’
Another issue with team systems dependence is reduced reliance on creativity. Players naturally see what they focus on. If it’s a team system, they tend to have less focus on exploring other possibilities and executing, given the situations they find themselves in. In environments with over-coaching and overly rigid team systems, players become more and more conservative in an attempt to avoid mistakes and stay within the team’s system.
While systems provide structure and order that contribute to great team performances, an over-reliance on rigid systems can hinder a team through limited adaptability and reduced player development, particularly mentally.
Concepts vs Rigid Systems
Having team concepts and styles of play, rather than rigid systems, is a way teams and coaches can best set up their players for success now and into the future.
Key definition… Commander’s Intent = A commander's clear and concise expression of what the force must do and the conditions the force must establish to accomplish the mission. It includes the purpose, end state, and associated risks.
Concepts are effectively a way of communicating the Commander’s Intent. This helps players understand not just what to do, but why it’s important. Concepts help players see their piece in the overall picture, so there becomes an understanding of what needs to be done to help themselves and their team have success.
Rather than being told exactly what to do, ice hockey players develop their hockey sense/IQ via situational awareness that fosters adaptability on the ice. Players learn to recognize patterns within the game and react dynamically to the ever-changing game environment.
For me, the most important positive aspect of using concepts is that players feel empowered to go ahead to assert themselves using the tools they currently have to find the best solution to the situation they are in.
If you are a coach who wants smarter players, more adaptability, or to move toward a more ‘positionless’ style of play… concepts > systems. The player can take on responsibilities based on the needs of the moment/role.
Wrapping Up
On the Hockey IQ podcast with Kenny Rausch, he mentioned a tidbit about the high school team he helped out with. The team had the #1 Power Play in the state, yet never worked on a traditional power play vs. penalty kill in practice! The team used concepts that were universal and often taught them through small-sided games.
While both team systems and concepts accomplish the goals of predictability and creating order out of chaos, modern teams have moved toward concepts where players have a commander’s intent and can be more adaptable, a major competitive advantage.
Further Reading