by Cameron Scott

Created on: February 03, 2009

A gauntlet drill is one of many advanced drills used in hockey training. During the gauntlet drill, one hockey player is blocked or checked by the entire team in sequence while trying to maintain control of the puck. The purpose of the gauntlet drill is to practice how to maintain control of the puck while exposed to stick checking and hits. This drill involves the entire team.

To practice the gauntlet drill, set up a stick handling lane between two lines of teammates. The stick handling lane should be at least twice as wide as the player's height. The teammates should be staggered, as far apart as the width of the stick handling lane.

One player skates down the stick handling lane, trying to maintain control of a puck while teammates take turns stick checking them. Teammates may not step into the stick handling lane while trying to stick check the player running the gauntlet. This makes it almost impossible to steal the puck, only to dislodge it. The teammate who is successful in stick checking the player running the gauntlet becomes the next player to run the gauntlet, while the player who was successfully stick checked takes their place in line. In another version of the gauntlet drill, every player goes through the gauntlet in turn. Depending on the skater's speed and the number of teammates, it takes about a minute per player to run the gauntlet.

Other variants of the gauntlet drill are introduced at higher levels of hockey. An advanced version of the gauntlet drill designed to build body checking skills requires a much narrower skating lane of just over shoulder width (with hockey pads). Instead of using two lines of teammates, the skating lane is created between a single line of teammates and the rink boards, and the object is to body check the player running the gauntlet into the boards. If the player running the gauntlet is fast and skilled, teammates attempting to check him or her may miss altogether, sometimes sending them into the boards instead. The object is to teach the correct way to body check another player, as well as how to handle such a body check.

Gauntlet drills should never be introduced in hockey training until the players are old enough to be able to give and absorb body checks safely. The Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine recommends that no player younger than 14 practise checking, while the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a minimum age of 15. However, most hockey associations allow checking from age 12 and up.

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