“We don’t want to play the way you describe in those Youtube clips I watched. Goals aren’t scored from those areas high in the zone. Not big on the movement stuff.”
My thought after hearing this at the interview… Oh no not again…
Another ‘high-level’ coach that doesn’t understand how the game actually works.
Fun Fact (also clickbaity as shit… But true):
Let’s dig into why this statement ‘can’ be true if you’re looking at it the right way.
Offense is BFF
The game is simple. The coaches complicate it.
Goals are scored in the slot.
Goals are scored with space to get off a quality shot.
We need to shoot the puck from the inside.
That’s offense.
But Drew, you literally just said 7 lines ago that goals are scored on the ‘outside.’
Yep, I’ll address that elephant right now.
What the coach that interviewed me failed to see was this…
To get on the inside, you have to be comfortable partying on the outside.
Goals are shot on the inside but set up outside.
Mental Model Time…
A Night at the Roxbury
In the 1998 classic movie, the 2 guys have a goal of opening their own nightclub.
They want the street where you wait to get in, the outside of the club, to look like the inside. With couches and tables.
They want the inside of their nightclub to feel like the outside. With trees and cars.
Partying on the outside with the intention of being on the inside.
The inside is achieved by partying outside.
This is Roxbury offense.
AKA the thing this guy didn’t understand.
Let’s showcase how playing ‘high’ in the zone or partying on the outside isn’t ‘risky’ or ‘senseless’ but necessary if you want to score goals.
Watch this clip…
Roxbury Offense Examples
Number 3 in this clip is acting like the ‘Event Promotor’.
His job is to convince his ‘fake’ friend on the other team (primary check) that the place to be for him is on the outside. “The party is great out here, follow me.”
The event promotor doesn’t have the best intentions for his fake friend.
3 White makes his move and convinces 11 Blue to follow him to the ‘party’ on the outside.
This makes more room on the inside for his real friends in the White Jerseys to occupy better real estate in the middle… You know where the goals are scored…
Moving the puck ‘looks’ great, but moving the defenders ‘is’ great.
Roxbury Offense isn’t to be ‘shunned’. It’s legitimately how to score a goal from first principles…
Be comfortable partying on the outside.
Applied in Practice: Chris Sevier’s Roxbury Game
If you’re looking for more examples and haven’t checked out the course, well… Check it out. Simply click the link below.