A Lisa Brown Ringette Tip

There are 3 secrets to keeping the ringette ring when you’re being checked:

1. Skate. And by that I mean, really skate – move your feet at top speed and “head for daylight”.
2. Get to the middle of the ice (away from areas where you can be trapped by checkers).
3. Hide the ring by “building a wall” with your body.

Most athletes have practiced #1 and #3 (skating and hiding the ring). Many athletes are not even aware how important it is to get to the middle of the ice when trying to keep the ring under pressure.

Smart checkers will force the ring carrier towards the boards and trap her there. No matter how much you move your feet and hide the ring, you’re still probably going to get checked if you are right along the boards.

Even if you do not get checked, you will only be able to see a tiny part of the ice. If one of your teammates is wide open on the far side of the ice you won’t be able to get the ring to her.

Next time you work on your break-out in practice ask your coach to put two pylons on the ringuette line right in the middle of the ice (the pylons should be about 15 or 20 feet apart). The rule is that you can’t pass the ring over the first blue line until you skate through the two pylons.

Doing this exercise will force you to move your feet like crazy and fight to get to the middle of the ice.

From the middle of the ice you’ll be able to make a smart break-out pass to anyone on your team who is open. Notice how many fast breaks your team gets when you make smart breakout passes!

Check out these examples of getting to the middle of the ice: