Quote:
Originally Posted by Tippas  I guess what I'm saying is there are 2 schools of thought on how defending is played.
One guy might adopt the 'I'm going to smash you to hell' approach of defending not allowing you a second, and is quite prepared to swim through you (risking a foul)
Others are more subtle, and don't go diving in but would rather shepherd you to the wall and seem to effortlessly squeeze you out of the puck.
I'm after the best of both |
You can't do it all alone. You have a team to play with. Usually that is what makes the desicion to attack hard or "play soft" defense. If you are the last man... er.. person back you want to slow them down with body position and mild pressure, when your teamates catch up to the play one of them will either attack the puck hard, or you switch from soft D to smash D.
To play soft, you must be aware of pool position and the position of the opponents. You must let them do something with the puck, the key is to "let" them do what you want through body position. By getting into a passing lane, pressuring one side, showing your stick ready to knock down a pass in one direction, give them one and only one easy option, like swimmig to the wall... mmmmm safe wall.
To play smash D. HIt the one in the middle and don't stop kicking.