Lock in Current Prices before Next Season
Lock in Current Prices before Next Season
A backyard rink is one of the best things that can happen to a hockey family. No waiting for ice time, just step out the back door and play. But the families who get the most out of their rink are the ones who balance free play with some intentional skill work.. A mix of skill work and fun games turns open ice into real improvement, and keeps everyone coming back.
This guide covers the drills that build skills, game ideas for solo skaters and groups, and simple ways to squeeze more value out of every session on your EZ ICE rink.
To get the most out of a backyard rink, use it for both focused skill work and free plays. Skill work includes stickhandling, skating, passing, and shooting drills and free play is exactly that - just let your kid(s) play!. Keep skill sessions short and frequent rather than long and rare. Even 10 minutes a day builds noticeable skill over a winter.
You do not need a full sheet of ice to get better. So much of the game happens in tight spaces — puck battles in the corners, quick shots in front of the net, and protecting the puck while maintaining possession. A smaller rink helps players improve at critical parts of the game that directly translate to real game play.. Rotate through the four skill areas below so every session covers a bit of each. The table gives you a quick reference, and the sections that follow explain how to run each one.
|
Skill focus |
Drill |
What it builds |
|
Puck control |
Stickhandling around cones |
Soft hands, control in tight space |
|
Skating |
Tight turns and edgework circles |
Balance, agility, quick direction changes |
|
Passing |
Bank passes off the boards |
Passing accuracy, board awareness |
|
Shooting |
Target practice on the net corners |
Accuracy and quick release |
Smooth hands are the foundation of every other skill, and stickhandling needs almost no space. Set some cones on the ice and weave the puck through them, first slowly, then faster as you get comfortable. Change cone spacing and placement. Add toe drags (pulling the puck from the tip of the blade to the heel), and practice keeping your head up instead of staring at the puck. Try going forward, backward, or always facing one direction. A lot can be done with cones and some creativity.
Edgework is what separates confident skaters from cautious ones. Practice C-cuts and tight circles in both directions, using your inside and outside edges, then progress to figure-eights that switch edges on each turn. Work on quick starts and hard stops at the boards, and spend a few minutes skating backward. Skate with and without a puck!
Grab a friend and work on crisp one-touch passes and saucer passes that lift the puck off the ice. Practice both forehand and backhand so your passing game is not one-sided and focus on landing the puck on your partner’s stick.
Set up targets in the corners of the net, or aim just under the crossbar, and take shots from different spots and angles. Work on wrist shots, slap shots, snap shots and shooting in stride while skating. Add backhand shots to round out your release. Shooting a high volume of pucks with a focus on form is one of the fastest ways to improve, so keep a bucket of EZ ICE pucks nearby and keep firing. EZ ICE’s Arena height boards and Pro-Netting keeps pucks in-play which means more repetitions.
Drills build skills, and games put skills to work.. Here are ideas for every situation.
Obstacle Course: Using multiple pucks, cones and a hockey goal, build a course that includes collecting pucks, skating, stopping, passing to a target, and shooting. Time each rep.
Puck golf: Pick a "hole" (a cone or spot on the boards) and see how few triesit takes to hit it from across the rink. Mix up your types of passes.
1-on-1 and 2-on-2: Small-area scrimmages are the closest thing to real game pressure, and a backyard rink is the perfect size for them.
Keep-away: One player in the middle tries to steal the puck while others pass around them. Great for puck protection and quick passing.
King of the rink: Everyone has a puck, and players try to knock others' pucks “out” of the rink while protecting their own. Last puck standing wins.
P-U-C-K: Like HORSE in basketball. Take turns shooting and trying to hit the posts or crossbar and if you do, the next person has to match your shot. If they miss, they “earn” a letter. Once you spell PUCK you are out. The last one standing wins.
Red light, green light on skates: Builds starts, stops, and balance while feeling like a game.
Sharks and minnows: One or two "sharks" try to tag skaters crossing the rink. Fun for edgework and agility.
Clean your room: Split the pucks between two sides and race to shoot or push them all onto the other side before time runs out.
For young skaters, keep it safe and simple: a properly fitted helmet is a must, and an adult should supervise. The goal at this age is confidence and fun on the ice.
Short and often beats long and rare: Twenty focused minutes most days does more than one long weekend session.
Use the boards: Roughly 80% of puck play in a real game happens within a few feet of the wall, so partner-passing near the boards and tight games to promote board battles are some of the most game-realistic reps you can get.
Contain your pucks: Backstop netting or higher boards keep pucks in the rink, so less time is spent chasing them. EZ ICE's Arena upgrades let you add height and netting.
Light it up: A few lights extend your rink into the evening, which is also a pretty magical experience..
Set a goal each session: Pick one skill to focus on, then reward the work with a game at the end.
If you want to keep the drills and games going after the thaw, or you live somewhere it never freezes, EZ ICE synthetic ice brings a realistic skating surface to a garage, basement, playroom, or outdoor sport court. The same stickhandling, passing, and shooting drills work on synthetic ice, so skill building does not have to stop when winter does.
The families who get the most from a backyard rink treat it as both a practice space and a place to play. Rotate through stickhandling, skating, passing, and shooting drills, mix in small-area games that mimic real hockey, keep sessions short and frequent, and use your boards for game-realistic reps. When the ice melts, synthetic ice keeps the season going.
Ready to build the rink that makes all of this possible? Design yours with the EZ ICE rink builder and get skating in as little as 60 minutes.
Plenty. Stickhandling through cones, shooting at targets, edgework circles, and timed courses are all solo-friendly.
Smaller than you would think. Stickhandling, shooting, and edgework need very little space, and tight rinks actually sharpen close-quarters skills. Larger rinks help most with full-speed skating and multiplayer games.
For drill specific work, short, frequent sessions work best. Fifteen to twenty minutes most days builds more skill over a season than occasional long sessions, and it keeps skating fun rather than a chore. As for free play - there really is no limit if they have the desire and energy!
Add backstop netting behind the net and consider taller boards. EZ ICE's PRO Arena system lets you increase board height and add nets so pucks stay in play.
Yes. Synthetic ice panels let you skate and run the same drills indoors or in warm climates, and off-ice stickhandling and shooting also transfer well to the rink.
Lots of options exist from kits that require tools, staking, and some mechanical aptitude to an EZ IC Rink which doesn’t require any tools and sets up in 60 minutes or less.
