[Training] Mplasse's Good Practice

[mplasse]

A practice written by mplasse for the 2007 version of EHM. Note that this was previously mistakenly referred to as Malhotra's Good Practice Guide when in fact it was cretead by mplasse.

Download: http://1drv.ms/1qmuGqY

This post was from the old SI forums powered by eve. It is not an actual tsh file but a description of how to set up the schedule:


INTRODUCTION

The two most important aspects of any EHM game are tactics and practice. Successful tactics can take many forms depending on the player’s preference for offense or defense. Practices however, require a much more linear approach. A team practice schedule is all about pushing players to t= heir maximum potential (and insuring they stay there) while keeping them from becoming tired and injured. So, while there are numerous ways to set up your team tactics, there is only one effective way to set up team practices for maximum efficiency. This guide aims at providing all the necessary informat= ion towards understanding and effectively setting up a maximized team practice schedule.


COACHING THE PRACTICES

First step to setting up a practice schedule is assigning the coaches to the appropriate practice areas. It is important to analyze and break down every coach into their strengths and weaknesses. Before analyzing the coaching st= aff however, it is necessary to understand what certain coaching attributes do, along with how they relate to the practice schedule. There are seven practi= ce areas, and the relevant attributes required for each are listed below;

Conditioning - Level Of Discipline, Motivating
Skating - Coaching Defensemen, Coaching Forwards
Shooting - Coaching Defensemen, Coaching Forwards
Off. Skill - Coaching Defensemen, Coaching Forwards
Def. Skill - Coaching Defensemen, Coaching Forwards
Tactics - Tactical Knowledge
Goaltending - Coaching Goalies

Aside from the list above there are a few more very important attributes th= at help flesh out a coach’s ability to train players, and these are list= ed below;

Determination: A coach’s level of determination will indicate how har= d he will work to improve players. The higher the determination, the higher the improvement in player attributes. A coach weak in this attribute will cause player attributes to improve by a small amount or not at all.

Man Management: A coach’s level of man management will indicate how w= ell he manages the players. The higher the man management, the faster player attributes will improve. A coach weak in this attribute will cause player attributes to improve slowly or not at all.

Working w/Youngsters: A coach’s level of working with youngsters will indicate how well he interacts with young players (players of age 22 or les= s). The higher the working with youngsters, the more likely it is for young pla= yers to reach their maximum potential. A coach weak in this attribute will cause young players to only reach a certain percentage of their maximum potential attribute values.

Naturally, if you have a strong coach and a weak coach in a practice area t= hen the weak coach will drag the strong coach down and slow the progress of the players in that practice area. It should also be noted, that technique based coaches help players progress faster and should be hired whenever possible. Every practice area should have two coaches assigned and a coach should nev= er be assigned to more then four practice areas at one time. This will insure maximum coaching effectiveness.

Taking all the above information into consideration should now simplify the process of selecting the appropriate coaches for each practice area. It is = not uncommon to see certain coaches assigned to only one or two practice areas. Goalie coaches are a perfect example, as they commonly specialize as goalie coaches only. As long as every practice area has two coaches assigned and no coach is assigned more than four practice areas then maximum coaching effectiveness will be achieved.


SETTING UP THE PRACTICES

Second step to setting up a practice schedule is assigning the practice area intensities to the different practice drills. Before assigning the intensit= ies however, it is necessary to understand what the different practice areas improve and how they relate to the various practice drills. The seven pract= ice areas and the relevant attributes they improve are listed below;

Conditioning - Agility / Stamina / Strength
Skating - Acceleration / Balance / Speed
Tactics - Teamwork
Shooting - Deflections / Slapshot / Wristshot
Off. Skill - Deking / Passing / Stickhandling
Def. Skill - Checking / Hitting / Pokecheck / Positioning
Goaltending - Blocker / Glove / Positioning / Rebound Control

The difficult part of setting up a practice schedule lies in correctly identifying the intensity levels required for each practice area per practi= ce drill. There are ten practice drills in total and the intensity levels for = each practice area per drill, followed by a proper explanation are listed below;=


Resting:
Conditioning - None
Skating - None
Tactics - None
Shooting - None
Off. Skill - None
Def. Skill - None
Goaltending - None

General:
Conditioning - Medium
Skating - Medium
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - Medium
Off. Skill - Medium
Def. Skill - Medium
Goaltending - None

Fitness:
Conditioning - Intensive
Skating - Intensive
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - Medium
Off. Skill - Medium
Def. Skill - Intensive
Goaltending - None

Skating:
Conditioning - Intensive
Skating - Intensive
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - Intensive
Off. Skill - Medium
Def. Skill - Medium
Goaltending - None

Shooting:
Conditioning - Medium
Skating - Intensive
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - Intensive
Off. Skill - Medium
Def. Skill - Intensive
Goaltending - None

Off. Skill:
Conditioning - Medium
Skating - Intensive
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - Intensive
Off. Skill - Intensive
Def. Skill - Medium
Goaltending - None

Def. Skill:
Conditioning - Medium
Skating - Intensive
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - Medium
Off. Skill - Intensive
Def. Skill - Intensive
Goaltending - None

Tactics:
Conditioning - Intensive
Skating - Medium
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - Intensive
Off. Skill - Medium
Def. Skill - Intensive
Goaltending - None

Goalies:
Conditioning - Intensive
Skating - Intensive
Tactics - Medium
Shooting - None
Off. Skill - Medium
Def. Skill - Medium
Goaltending - Intensive

Unused:
Conditioning - Intensive
Skating - Intensive
Tactics - Intensive
Shooting - Intensive
Off. Skill - Intensive
Def. Skill - Intensive
Goaltending - None

Examining the setup above will bring about a realization. Almost all the practice drills include three ‘intensive’, three ‘medium’ and one ‘none’ with regards to practice ar= ea intensities. The three drills excluded from this setup are the resting, gen= eral and unused drills. These three particular drills each serve a unique purpose and a brief explanation of each follows.

The resting practice drill is not a real practice drill per say but it does serve two purposes. First, any injured player will automatically be placed under this drill until the player is able to play once again. Secondly, this drill is where any fatigued player should be placed until properly rested. Before each game, the player’s condition rate should be checked and a= ny player whose condition rate falls below 90% should be taken off their curre= nt practice drill and placed on the rest practice drill for a day or more if necessary. The general practice drill is fairly generic and of very little = use. Typically, players called up from a farm team (who are only expected to fil= l in for a short time period) are placed on this particular drill. The unused practice drill is actually… well, used. A team will typically have a = few players (spares) who are on the roster but only play under certain circumstances (injuries and fatigue being the usual reason). These players, regardless of lack of ice time, need to be game ready at all times and so a= re placed under the unused practice drill.

As for the practice area intensities, setting them up as above has proven t= o be the most efficient way at maximizing a player’s increase in attributes versus their fatigue/injury proneness.


USING THE PRACTICES

Next step to setting up a practice schedule is assigning players to the different practice drills. Before assigning players however, it is necessar= y to understand the relationship between players and the various practice drills. Each drill has its purpose and in the run of a season, all ten drills will = be in use at one time or another. A full explanation regarding the use of prac= tice drills during a season follows below.

For the purpose of this guide the date of August 15th will be recognized as= the beginning of a new season. Reason for this, is two-fold. First, a start dat= e to a new season is required so a general time-line can be established and followed. Second, August 15th (give or take a day or two) is the date playe= rs will begin to raise their condition levels in preparation of the upcoming season.

The number one priority for a team at the beginning of every season is gett= ing the players back into game shape. From the season start (August 15th), all players should be placed on the general practice drill. If players are plac= ed on the other drills, you will see attribute improvement quite quickly but at the cost of extreme fatigue (likely leading to injury) due to the players l= ow condition rating. Players need to work at becoming game ready. They cannot = be thrown into intensive practice drills and expect to come out unharmed. A te= am will want to keep its players on the general practice drill for approximate= ly a month.

After a month of the above practice schedule, players conditioning ratings should be up to par to commence the real practice drills. At this point the goal still lies in getting the players back into game shape. It is time to = step up the physical aspect of training and get the players sweating! The fitness and skating drills are considered the physical practice drills and the play= ers will be placed on these two drills. Defensemen will be placed on the fitness drill while forwards will be placed on the skating drill. Placing all the players on these two physical practice drills will improve the agility, stamina, strength, acceleration, balance and speed of every player. Players should be kept on these two practice drills for approximately a month (or t= wo if necessary). This will insure they are in shape for the upcoming year!

Following the month (or two) of physical training mentioned above, it will become time to again make adjustments to the players practice schedules. Fr= om this point on, the focus switches from physical training to technical train= ing and players will be placed under the practice drills which will maximize th= eir individual potential levels. It is very important that players do not become stereotyped into certain roles such as centers, wingers, defensemen etcR= 30; Stereotyping players can and will lead a team to incorrect assumptions and players will not reach their full potential. Do not for example, place wing= ers under the shooting drill, centers under the off. skill drill and defensemen under the def. skill drill. Following this method of thought may see player improvement but will not see maximum player improvement which is the ultima= te goal of this guide. A more detailed explanation follows below:

For the purpose of this example, Alexander Svitov will be the player examin= ed. Svitov is a 2001 first round draft pick who is currently playing in the AHL= but is ready to make a break into the NHL.

A player such as Alexander Svitov is very unpredictable. Svitov can become a very good two-way player (3rd line), a defensive specialist (4th line) or e= ven a reliable 25-30 goal scorer (2nd line) and this is all dependant on his development through the practice schedule. Examining Svitov’s attribu= tes will clarify a few things of note. First, it is very apparent that he is a = hard working and determined individual. Secondly, his technical and physical attributes are average. Based on his attributes it is not readily apparent = what role Svitov would play on a team. As mentioned above he could play many different roles dependant on his progression as a hockey player through the next few years.

If a team were to use the ‘stereotype’ approach then Svitov, be= ing a center, would be placed on the off. skill practice drill. Sure enough, Sv= itov would see improvement using this practice schedule but Svitov’s maxim= um potential would never be reached, thus significantly lowering the usefulnes= s of this first round draft pick. Here is the reason why; under the off. skill practice drill Svitov will improve his attributes in the relevant areas (skating, shooting, off. skill) but that is the only place he will see improvement. His other attributes, mainly his defensive attributes will bec= ome stagnant or in some circumstances, even begin decreasing! Continuing on with this practice schedule for Svitov will result in a player who will eventual= ly fill one of the roles mentioned above but he will never come to realize his full potential.

The key (and this is very important) to avoiding players from not reaching their full potential is in knowing each and every player. It cannot be stre= ssed enough, how important it is that each player be treated as a separate individual and not simply placed in any stereotypical group. This is easier said then done but with time it becomes easier. A team can closely observe = how a player progresses through the practice area and as the months and years g= o by it will become apparent what a player is good at naturally and what they ne= ed practice on. Again, let’s continue the example with Svitov:

Since Svitov’s defensive attributes seem to stagnate (sometimes even decreasing) it would make sense to try placing him on the def. skill practi= ce drill. Reason being, is that the only difference between the off. skill and def. skill practice drill lays with the shooting and def. skill practice ar= eas. On closer inspection, it will be noticed that switching Svitov from one dri= ll to the other will cause him to practice shooting on medium (originally intensive) while practice def. skill on intensive (previously medium). This will hopefully keep his attributes that were already improving, to continue improving (or at the least stagnate and not begin lowering) while beginning= to increase his defensive attributes. Sure enough, after a month or two, it wi= ll become evident that Svitov is improving drastically. His offensive attribut= es are still increasing (even after placing his shooting practice area from intensive to medium!) while his defensive attributes are finally increasing also! Svitov will have almost every attribute increasing! Now he is beginni= ng to reach his maximum potential and can play any of the three roles mentioned above dependant on the teams needs! Now that is a first round draft choice = who reaches maximum potential!

Understanding a player on an individual level comes through examining the player during their training over the months and years (as Svitov’s example above). Switching Svitov from the original off. skill to def. skill practice drill made a huge difference in his improvement levels. Svitov was able to switch his shooting practice area from intensive to medium and yet still improve his shooting attributes. This in turn gave room for Svitov to practice his def. skill attributes on intensive hence increasing his defens= ive attributes where previously on medium they were stagnant or even lowering.<= br>
That is the KEY,

Specifically, what practice area on medium will still increase a playerR= 17;s attributes so that the attributes that are stagnant or lowering can be practiced on intensive and hence increased?

A team that answers the above question for every player will see an increas= e in almost every attribute for that player.

Continuing on with placing players from the fitness and skating physical dr= ills to the more technical practice drills, you will want to use the above philosophy to place players in the correct practice drills. As an aside, a = team may find some players are best suited for the fitness and skating practice drills even after the first month (or two). Some younger and older players usually can be found in this category. Younger players need to continue developing their physical attributes to get up to NHL standards while the o= lder players find it harder to stay in top physical shape and need the continued physical training just to stay competitive.

Once players have been placed on their proper practice schedule they can re= main on said schedule until the end of the hockey season including play-offs. It should be mentioned, that some teams and players may notice an increase of injuries during the play-offs. If this happens to be the case then it is recommended during this time to shift all players from their current practi= ce drills to the general practice drill. This should insure that most attribut= es will remain the same or lower very little while the practices will be of lighter intensity, hence keeping player’s injury free for the rugged = and more injury prone play-off games.

When the play-offs are finished for a team or if a team does not make the play-offs then all players should immediately be placed from their current practice drills to the resting practice drill until the beginning of the ne= xt season (August 15th give or take a day or two). From there, the cycle comme= nces anew with the added addition of knowing your players for a year longer!


CONCLUSION

Taking everything mentioned above into consideration might be a daunting ta= sk and more so, it is important to realize that not everything is 100% guarant= eed or foolproof. There are a lot of factors that dictate what kind of player a player will be along with how well or much a player’s ability will improve. Using the philosophies from this guide however, will hopefully cre= ate a drastic improvement in everyone’s ability to understand and improve their team through their players and their training.

[nashmc]

I can't open this file. After downloading and opening it sayserror start of central directory not found; Zip file corrupt. Possible cause:file transfer error. I've tried plenty of times, but no luck. Anybody knows how to open it or can anybody upload this file somewhere else?

[timmy_t]

To be honest, you don't really need a file to run your practices. It's really easy to change and rename them in the game. Most of us that have been playing a long time have modified Malhotra's practice system to one that fits our needs. It is a great place to start though.

[Tasku]

This is probably a case of attachments getting corrupt after the server move. Maybe Archi forgot to re-upload this one?

[nashmc]

Thanks for your replies! I walk through the text and applied practice part by myself according to it. You might be right because none of the links attached work. Only those uploaded to skydrive work. Is there any other working site dedicated to EHM? Because I've only found one for Franchise Hockey Manager, I play EHM since 2007 but I came back after about 4 years now and see no new facepacks, just one with NHL players . Still, I'm very happy that finally someone could manage to change the starting date, because it was tirying to change the dates to pics just to get an image in the game

[Tasku]

I believe thebreakaway.net has some EHM downloads as well. Although you do need to register an account to get to them. Other than TBL I can't think of any other (English) sites completely dedicated to EHM. Except Fhockey, but that's for the freeware version mainly.

[archibalduk]

This is probably a case of attachments getting corrupt after the server move. Maybe Archi forgot to re-upload this one?

Yeah unfortunately all of the attachments were somehow corrupted in the server move. I've been looking into whether this is simply an incorrect file/folder permissions setting on the server or whether the files are well and truly corrupt. On top of this, our very old SkyDrive links no longer work because SkyDrive re-branded to OneDrive (this doesn't affect newer links).

Anyhow, I have uploaded all of our tactics and practice schedules to our OneDrive. You'll find download links in the first post of each download thread. I still need to go through all of our other older downloads however.

[Duranium]

very nice Practice guide but is it still valid for EHM: EA ?

[archibalduk]

very nice Practice guide but is it still valid for EHM: EA ?

I'm not sure if anybody has tested.

Try it out and let us know!

[Knoeppel]

When i first started doing the trainingschedules for EHM:EA i had everthing on medium and one on intensive. (And goaltening set to NONE. exepct the goaltending schedule ofcourse)

I have trained them on this for two season now and the players never seems to drop in stamina.

So now i´m trying out to add goaltending on medium on every schedule. I have done this to get the player to train positioning on every schedule. (do i remember right when i say that players train positioning when they train goaltending?)

I could have choosen to train 2 intensive and the rest medium, and goaltening set to NONE. but if i can get my players to train positioning on every schedule i think that is better.

I have also made on schedule called Pre-Season where i train every category on instensive during the summer.

What do you think. Was the goaltening good for positioning even for forwards and defensmen?
Should i train 2 instensive and rest medium and NONE on goaltending?
Or should i do it like i have now, with one instesive and the rest on medium including goaltending?

[CeeBee]

yes, goaltending trains positioning afaik for everyone. I use it on all my practice schedules

[Satyr]

Setting up an all 'intens' schedule doesn't effect stamina. Yes, in August and September the condition drops below 65, but as soon as they hit 90+, you can set them to the 'intens' schedule again. There is a downside, you do have some more trainingrelated injuries. But I like to rotate a lot and injuries help me make easy decisions , so I accept that and let the guys work hard.

[batdad]

YEah not concerned so much about stamina as to whether or not the practices are working to increase players skills. My feedback so far is that development of attributes is much slower to start off the game, and may in fact also be more tied to the coaches you have, as I am not seeing as quick a curve to develop for some of my younger guys on the old method of pratice break down. And even some of my young guys (Couturier) have dropped a little in some areas of skill, and when I switch them to make up for that...it does not come right back like it did in the old game. Couts had his offensive skills (PHandling and passing) drop a notch for me on his Shooting practice (from old model) so switched him to offensive skills....and it has not yet come back.

Vinny had his skating drop and it has not come back and likely never will, but he is only 34.

[TurboJ]

Can someone confirm if this method still works with the current EHM 1?

[Canadian Passport]

Can someone confirm if this method still works with the current EHM 1?

From what I've seen no, it doesn't work well. This method requires a lot of fatigue management. There is little upside and a lot of downside. You may have very productive practice sessions but you also need more days off in order to manage fatigue and you run the risk of fatiguing players to the point they won't be able to get back to 100% condition.

[Carnicero]

This works really well. No fatigue problems at all! And I've used this training guide every year for my Preds and it's now 2040.