Circle Warm Up Series

By: Newedge Hockey

The Circle Warm Up Series is a series of skating & puckhandling exercises that helps a player practice common movements that appear during the course of a hockey shift (forward & backward skating, tight turns, escapes, pivots, stopping, and more. All you need is a puck and the lines of the circle. No cones are needed!

The video above from NewEdge Hockey Development shows 10 movements that can be practiced. However, it should be noted that a coach can pick as many or as few of the movements above that they want. Coaches can also add in modifications based on skill level. Only use one puck during the warm-up. If a player loses a puck, they are responsible for getting it back into the warm-up.

Coaching Points

• Underhandle the puck
• Head-up
• Verbally communicate with teammate (call for pass) and use non-verbal communication (show where you want the pass by having your stick on the ice).

Warm Up Movements (Shown In Video Above)

1. Stop at top of the circle, tight turn at hash & wheel
2. (Same as above, but opposite side) Stop at top of the circle, tight turn at hash & wheel
3. Skate to top of the circle, pass & receive, skate to hash, tight turn & wheel
4. Skate to top of the circle, pass & receive, escape to hash, 10 & 2 footwork
5. Receive pass, stutter stop step at top, wheel
6. Receive pass, stutter stop step at top (wide reach), wheel
7. Skate to hash, face-off dot, top of circle, hash, face-off dot
8. Pivot at hash, face-off dot, pivot at top circle, hash, pivot at face-off
9. Backwards skating one touch passes
10. Overspeed wheeling around the circle