Body Contact vs. Checking: The Great Debate

Body Contact vs Checking: The Great Debate

Hockey is statistically one of the most physical games on the planet. Players move at speeds most humans can’t obtain in shoes. They collide at forces that mimic car accidents. There is nowhere to hide, as you are entrenched in a glass case of emotion. Contact is what makes this elegant and at some times poetic game, so beautifully savage.

Over the years we have seen many changes to the game to take away the big, punishing hits. That’s not to say the game itself is any less physical, it is just done so in a smarter, and safer way. Body contact should be promoted at each level with appropriate training. Players as young as mites should learn how to embrace different types of contact to help create a confidence within themselves that they should not fear another player coming towards them. Squirts and Peewees should be taught proper angles, board battle positions, and how to properly separate a player with the puck using their body, but not checking a player.

Over the past month, and as we’ve highlighted in a recent blog post, our National Women’s Hockey Team is one of the best teams in the world and participate in one of the most heated rivalries in sports. The girl’s and women’s games are no check, but if you watch these amazing games, players utilize their bodies to gain advantages all over the ice, without throwing any body checks. Well, maybe there are a few scattered in there.

Too often games get heated and the illustrious “That’s a check!” is thrown around, in non-checking games. While sometimes this may be the case, it is wise that if there are any questions about the difference of Body Contact and Checking, is to ask your coach or hockey director. There are many ways that contact is promoted in the game that is not always checking, each player should know it, but the parents should too. Make sure the next time you are at one of our outstanding Michigan hockey tournaments, that you embrace the contact your player may give or take. Respect the Game.