Bad Call Response Drill
Composure
Legend
- player
- coach / parent
- movement path
How it works
Practice maintaining composure after a disputed penalty call during a live drill by immediately re-engaging with full focus.
What you need
- hockey stick
- puck
- ice
Your focus
Referee calls , right or wrong , are a constant source of emotional disruption in hockey. Players who lose composure after a call hurt themselves and their team. Training the composure response to a penalty in a structured drill context builds the automatic discipline needed to move on quickly under real game emotion.
Run a competitive small-area game.
Coach randomly calls a phantom penalty on a player who did nothing wrong.
Penalized player must go to the designated box, spend 30 seconds without speaking, and return with a positive verbalization ('Let's go, team!').
Coach monitors body language and attitude during and after the box; debrief on composure performance.
Helpful cues
- Arguing doesn't change the call, it hurts the next shift
- Use the box time to refocus, not to stew
- The referee doesn't remember your composure, your teammates do
Adjust the challenge
Make it easier
Strip it back
Pre-warn players before practice that phantom penalties will happen so they can mentally prepare
UpLVL it
Add the next challenge
Call two consecutive phantom penalties on the same player without warning, testing sustained composure under repeated adversityNo account needed
Build a practice plan
Add drills, keep the plan in this browser, then share a link with your staff or parents.This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.
This library helps you find the right drill. Inside UpLVL the right drill finds the player.After every practice, UpLVL automatically surfaces the drills each player needs to work on most. See it for yourself.