Customer Reviews

The Baffled Parent's Guide to Coaching Youth Hockey (Baffled Parent's Guides)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first ordered this book I thought it would be just be another "How to..." book. This book is DETAILED. From the advise on managing your team to the skating, shooting, puck handling and checking fundamentals to the instruction for each and every position on the ice. And to top it all off there are countless detailed drills for every situation and level of team and player developemnet. As a USA Hockey Coach at the Bantam level, this book will go into my briefcase as a handy reference. This should not be the "Baffled" parents guide, but the "Detailed" Parents guide to Coaching Youth Hockey. This should be mandatory reading for every parent and coach before they enter the rink. This is truly an awesome effort.

Coaching Youth Hockey: The Baffled Parent's Guide is the perfect book for coaches, parents and young players. Each chapter is essential reading with detailed information, great pictures, and invaluable diagrams that make understanding the game a simple task. This book offers tips on how to coach effectively and how to build good sportsmanship. This is by far the best written and most detailed guide about coaching youth hockey. It also offers its reader the choice to read chapter by chapter or to refer to a particular chapter for a specific skill. This guide is a must for your sports library!

This book answered more hockey questions than I knew to ask. The material is presented in a clear, straight-forward manner with plenty of helpful diagrams and hints to make anyone successful at coaching hockey. If you're a coach, it will serve as your ultimate guide. If you're a hockey parent, it will show you what the coach can and should be doing for your child and the team.

Overall, this is a great book that touches on all aspects of hockey. I am a high school hockey coach and this book has some really nice drills and information in it. We are using a couple already in practice that work great. One thing that I was hoping for (4 stars instead of 5)was a little more intense drills or more detailed info for the higher levels of hockey. Also, it only has 3 goalie drills which was a little disturbing. As a goalie coach as well as an assistant, I find that upsetting since the position is so important, but yet it's the most overlooked. However if you are a parent or coach looking for a book that touches on every aspect of hockey as well as drills this is definitely the one. I do find the parts on dealing with parents and setting up practice plans also helpful. It was well written and has a lot of great info from an NHL player and Stanley Cup winner. It is one of the best books that puts it all together for you to learn the sport of hockey. I would suggest picking up the book: Complete hockey instruction by Dave Chambers with this book and as far as goaltending is concerned, go to www.hockeygoaltender.com. That has some of the best info concerning that position. With these 3 items you would have a pretty good arsenal on coaching and understanding the sport.

Having become a hockey fan in the last couple of years, I was drawn to this book in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the sport. It's a perfect book for a newcomer - not only for coaching - but new fans as well. The book clearly and precisely explains the many rules of the game as well as the coach's role in developing young players. Diagrams are very well done and I would recommend the book to coaches, parents and new fans as well!

I highly recommend this book! It is a well-written, well-organized book for the youth hockey coach and parent as well as for the avid youth hockey fan. It covers all apsects of coaching youth hockey, from teaching the basics of the game through developing hockey skills and finally to playing the game itself. Most importantly, the book teaches the youth hockey coach and the parent how to develop the most important element of the game - the hockey player!

If you've wondered what's happened to Stanley Cup winner Bruce Driver since he wrapped up his illustrious 15-year career playing hockey with the New Jersey Devils, you'll find the answer in the new book, "The Baffled Parent's Guide to Coaching Youth Hockey". Admirably, Driver has been teaching young, would-be hockey stars the secrets of the game.
Don't be put off by the long title - in this volume, Driver, and co-author Clare Wharton have scored a major goal with this highly readable and entertaining offering. If you've stumbled across it, you've found treasure. Driver has wisely teamed up with Wharton, a skilled writer with an extensive background in Hockey. She has taken the shoulder pads, the knee pads, the helmet and skates of the material and, with humor, molded them into a star of the ice.
With sections on everything needed for first-time and veteran coaches alike, NHL drills appropriate for youth hockey, proven team-management techniques, tips on teaching and understanding hockey fundamentals and so much more, Driver lets us in on all of his secrets.
Hockey moms (and they are legion) who have had to spend endless afternoons - and early mornings, if time on the ice is limited - driving their little Drivers to the ice rink for practice, and dads, stuck at work but footing the bills for all that expensive equipment, will be happy to learn, through this enlightening tome, what happens to junior once he gets there.
"The Baffled Parent's Guide to Coaching Youth Hockey" is a winner! Anyone with even a passing interest in hockey, or sports in general, will find Bruce Driver and Clare Wharton's book a delightful experience.


Art Scott
Mystery writer
And Historian

I was floored by thoroughness of expertise and professionalism in this book, which goes hand-in-hand with the sheer passion for the game and wisdom in teaching children that comes through on every page. No detail of technique, sportsmanship or strategy is left out here, and the book is as useful a guide for would-be coaches inexperienced in the ways of the game as it is for veteran coaches looking broaden their knowledge base.

Bruce Driver's talent both as a former Stanley Cup winner and a long time coach combined with Clare Wharton's flawless and engaging writing style makes this book an absolute must for hockey lovers new and old.

As a USA Hockey certified Referee I recommend this book to anyone involved in youth hockey at any level.This is how hockey should be taught.

A complete resource for coaches, yes, but also something every hockey fan and parent should read too. Presented in a concise and logical manner, with no detail left out. Extensive photos and drill diagrams for all situations. I found it to be very well written.