Защитник. Выбор позиции BODY POSITION John Wooden, one of the most successful basketball coaches ever, used to tell his players that two of the keys to being a good basketball player are to “be quick, but don’t hurry” and that “you play defense with your feet.” These concepts certainly apply to being a good defenseman in hockey. Earlier in the chapter, I discussed taking away time and space while defending. What often happens to a defenseman when he is pursuing a puck carrier is that he goes to the player out of control, trying to take away as much time and space as possible. He is so anxious to play through his man that he forgets the importance of body positioning. Defenders must go through a thought process. The first objective for the defender is to keep his body between the net and the offensive player. His second objective is to get to his man as quickly as possible (but under control), taking away time and space, but not at the expense of being beaten one on one and allowing the opponent to get between himself and the net. How often have you seen a defenseman defend a forward with the puck along the boards, but he gets beaten because he defended so aggressively that when he hit the forward, he lost his balance and fell to the side of the opposing player? It is a mistake. The defenseman has worked hard to gain a defensive advantage by having his body between the net and the offensive player. He needs to keep that advantage. Most offensive chances are created because the defenseman loses his main objective of body positioning (remember: “You play defense with your feet”). The longer a defenseman battles an opposing player along the boards, the harder it is to maintain body positioning. When this happens, the defenseman should use the forward as leverage and push off him to recover his own body positioning. This will create some space between the defenseman and the opposing forward and allow the defenseman to attack again. By pushing off the opposing forward along the boards, the defenseman puts himself closer to the net while also pushing the opponent farther from it. A defenseman rarely will get beaten one on one if he keeps moving his feet and is constantly aware of keeping his body between the net and the offensive player. Another important aspect of successfully defending a one-on-one attack is protecting the Grade A area. The Grade A area (figure 8.4) is the space between the two circles in the defensive zone (sometimes referred to as “the house”). When protecting this area, the defenseman must establish good body position, with his body between the net and the offensive player, and then beat the opponent he is responsible for to the point of contact. For example, when an opposing defenseman has the puck on the blue line, he must establish good body position first and then initiate contact FIGURE 8.4 Grade A area. with the man he is responsible for. It is hard to defend in front of the net if the defenseman isn’t going to his man. Waiting for the opponent to come to him puts the defenseman at a disadvantage, because the opponent will be the one dictating the contact. If the defenseman initiates the contact, he can engage the opponent outside the Grade A area, and the opponent will be less of a threat to tip a shot or pick up a rebound. The defenseman always wants to engage his responsibility outside the Grade A area. This also holds true when covering during face-offs. The defenseman must make sure he is the one initiating the contact as the puck is being dropped.
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