Coach JeremyIn the last episode of Summer Skills Session, I taught you how to use The Crosby Move. Now, obviously I dubbed this The Crosby Move because Sidney Crosby does it so often, and does it so well. In reality, this move has other names: the Spread Eagle, or the Mohawk; for this video’s purposes, we’ll be calling it the Mohawk. To check out the fundamentals of the Mohawk, check out last week’s video here. This week, we’re going to be adding some skill to the already very effective Mohawk move. Once you’ve got your skating down, be sure to check out this week’s video on how to add in stick handling.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBSAkHiKlxo[/embedyt]
The first variation is super simple. You’ll get into the Mohawk position, and stick handle in front of you. As simple as it is, it may take a few tries to figure it out, especially while keeping your head up. Next, you’re going to want to stick handle, and turn, through obstacles. In the video, I just used other hockey sticks to create a slalom pattern. As you can see, the Mohawk position actually makes my turns quite sharp, all while keeping the puck in front of me, and putting my body in front of the defender. As happens in a lot of puck protection, you’re also going to want to try this drill one handed. Quite often on the ice, forwards use their free hand to keep their balance, or keep a defender off of them, so make sure you get the hang of stick handling (or simply protecting the puck) once handed while you use the Mohawk position.
Next up, you’ll want to do your best to use the Mohawk to skate circles around a stick. This forces you to keep focused on what’s in front of you, all the while keeping a defender on your backside. Be sure to keep your head up, and keep moving. You’ll want to do this going both clockwise, and counter clockwise around the circle to best train yourself for the Mohawk. You want to be able to slide into this position seamlessly in a game situation. To add some variance to this drill, try flipping the puck over the stick when you make a circle. Do this on your forehand, and your backhand, and get used to the feel of lifting that puck off the ground. For all the times to lift that puck too high, or too far, it’ll also help you train to retrieve the puck from the Mohawk stance.
Lastly, you’ll want to combine all of the drills we’ve done today, but use two sticks on the ground, and go in a figure eight motion. This last version of the drill really helps you put all of today’s training into place, and do it in a way that is actually game specific.
Recap of Today’s Drills
- Side to side Mohawk, stick handle
- Slalom Mohawk, stick handle
- Circle Mohawk, stick handle around the stick
- Circle Mohawk, flip the puck over the stick
- Figure Eight Mohawk, flip the puck over both sticks
There you have it folks, this is how you add some serious skill development to an already useful move, the Mohawk.
Free sample lessons from our off-ice skating course on The Pond
If you’re looking for more ways to improve your hockey skills, check out The Pond. The Pond is our all in one hockey training platform designed to continually challenge players. We provide you with the most efficient path to improve the skills you will use the most in game. Use coupon code TRYOUTS to get your first month 100% free!
