I was 20 years late to this movie, but I watched it last night, and yes, I’ve already connected it to the concept of underloading:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Make the other person (opponent) do the work
Little Chef them
2:48 PM · Aug 11, 2026 · 3 Views
One of the key messages that was repeated from the late founder of the restaurant was his mantra that ‘anyone can cook’, dude wrote the book on it:
Listen, some of these ‘experts’ out here shitposting people trying to bring EcoD and other complex systems concepts (relationism, conceptual offense, synergies, co-adaptation, etc) to more people by putting together videos like this…
So here it is.
This is how a professional club develops synergies between players. Without instructions. Without principles of play.
Organisation emerging from the bottom up.
Video available (for free) through the link below 👇📺
8:41 PM · Aug 10, 2026 · 38.2K Views
3 Replies · 27 Reposts · 342 Likes
Are the problem… If someone partners with a club in Sweden that’s just like, ‘come in, here’s what we do’… Then maybe we don’t shitpost that over semantics.
I watched a video from yesterday about how a professional team develops “synergies” and I have to admit I found myself getting more and more irritated watching it. Not because the training was bad. The training actually looked perfectly sensible. It was the
6:50 AM · Aug 11, 2026 · 12.2K Views
5 Replies · 4 Reposts · 94 Likes
Let’s agree that you can argue that a ‘concept’, ‘principle’, and ‘intention’ CAN be the same thing. ‘Draw 2’ fits all 3 of those… If we need an example.
Let’s agree that a 20 min video isn’t a dissertation where every thought process can go to the bottom.
Let’s also agree that if people are trying to get this sort of information out to people who still throw kids in lines and weave them through a cone course, we don’t shitpost them.
To quote a famous Mighty Duck in D2, ‘pick another target’.
Shitpost the people who aren’t even trying at this point:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
No Connection = No Power
Opponents are your connection to the game
Two years in a row, Zellers has to do this stuff...
Like says, just go to the dog park
Brian DeFelice @briandefelice_
Will Zellers
9:05 PM · Jun 29, 2026 · 39.3K Views
7 Replies · 4 Reposts · 26 Likes
Okay, I’m done with that… On to the next.
Back to Chef Gusteau. Anyone can cook using EcoD theory and the CLA framework. Let’s talk Newell first w/ a graphic from Philip O'Callaghan :
As coaches, we can most easily manipulate ‘task’ constraints. To use a screencap of the Swedish soccer club video from above, making the field smaller is a common task constraint. The cones on the field are not for dribbling with your head down through, they are a boundary, and when you manipulate a boundary, different things become more and less likely to emerge:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Create Favorable Conditions
Design Cheat-Sheet
Cutbacks = tight spacing and defenders (tag, 2v2 below goalline,etc)
Transition Moments = Narrow east-west space, lengthen north-south space
One-Timers = numbers adv, make them worth more or mandate them as the only way to score
1:49 PM · Jul 6, 2026 · 3.58K Views
1 Reply · 3 Reposts · 6 Likes
A long narrow field might afford more transition moments; see here with the Sabres:
IceHockeySystems.com @icehockeydrills
🔥 3 v 3 Play Fast
🏒 A fun & high tempo small area game from Dev Camp that gets the WHOLE TEAM involved!
📋 The game is 3 v 3 in the middle of the ice, but players in the game can pass to their teammates on the perimeter.
➡️ This gets everyone involved and
2:01 PM · Jul 7, 2026 · 6.51K Views
7 Reposts · 52 Likes
A small, one net area created conditions for more creativity:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
To echo what is saying in this great thread...
The most creative solutions attempted per kid in the 14 and under evening skill group emerged last night
and I ran an entire session in this space
Joel Cressman @JoelCressman
Sports scientists analyzed the effect of small-sided games vs. 11-on-11 training
On the creativity of pro soccer players.
Here’s what they found:
12:53 PM · Jan 14, 2026 · 4.06K Views
2 Replies · 4 Likes
If you’re space and speed poor, you create condtions to be deception rich:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Deception is a Dawinian fitness upgrade to make players more 'fit' in the game
The ability to desync from a check is trained and improved by inhabiting conditions where space and top speed is scarce
The organism knows it needs space to make plays, so it learns to create inches
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Deception to Finishing (hitches, fakes, windups, etc) = play with smaller nets or make goalies play at aggressive depth
Deception Passing = tight space, underload as intention, calm down as a coach, don't engender fear
Use video, osmosis = real thing
https://t.co/UAE8wFziow
3:32 PM · Aug 13, 2026 · 1.36K Views
1 Reply · 2 Reposts · 4 Likes
You can manipulate equipment:
“They’re just playing with a foam puck”
2v2 1hr 10min games.
Turnover, take it back, add must attack onside.
Tracked 1 team 10 min.
13 breakouts
13 zone entries
8 hard 1v1 battles
14 shots
5 goals
Small net and goalie adds challenge
Lots of mistakes, lots of fun
Play, compete, create, invent, learn to THINK THE GAME.
I've been criticized by other coaches, "You're just going to have them play a bunch of little games?"
Young coaches -- don't worry what it LOOKS like. Worry about what it PRODUCES.
12:01 AM · Jul 6, 2026 · 19.6K Views
1 Reply · 5 Reposts · 25 Likes
You can manipulate rules:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Thread:
One way to work draw to hands, attack space behind
Give and Go 2v2+2
Draw playing area boundary in high ice ( can be larger than this)
Possess, pick, create space until you can catch a puck with space to draw a check to hands
⤵️
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
For anyone practicing it on air
This is a give and go in a game
12:20 AM · Aug 11, 2026 · 3.3K Views
1 Reply · 2 Reposts · 13 Likes
Can’t exit until you create the conditions for give and go.
Or, first team to pick gets an extra player:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
We did a 3v3 where the first team to pick got a 4th player
And a few times, the other team didn't agree when the 4th player jumped as his teammates off-puck said, 'you're in!'
Shouts of 'THAT'S NOT A PICK!' could be heard throughout the entire building from the opposing team
8:25 PM · Feb 11, 2026 · 383 Views
1 Reply · 3 Likes
Or, first side change gets you an extra guy:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
3v3
First team to change sides (passing or skating across slot line behind net) gets an extra player
If you can score within 3 seconds of activating the high ice player, goal counts as 3 points.
12:04 PM · May 17, 2026 · 7.54K Views
4 Reposts · 43 Likes
You can even give your constraints names to guide attention and intention to be like Patrick Kane:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Patrick Kane rush constraint is a fun one to experiment with
Show some of his entry clips before you head out on the ice
2:30 PM · Aug 11, 2026 · 174 Views
1 Reply · 2 Likes
Possibilities are endless; just keep offense AND defense. Content AND context. Problems to solve. Multiple ways to solve them.
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Loose Rule of Thumb:
If you wouldn't say aloud, "nice play" at any point during the rep...
What you're doing won't transfer
Thought Process: They can't make a play if the drill is pre-patterned, unopposed, etc...
4:55 PM · Aug 26, 2024 · 2.3K Views
2 Reposts · 13 Likes
Anyone can cook. Chef also adds to the quote…
“Anyone can cook but only the fearless can be great.”
Norman adds, trying to talk the fear of failure out of you:
“If designers and researchers do not sometimes fail, it is a sign that they are not trying hard enough—they are not thinking the great creative thoughts that will provide breakthroughs in how we do things. It is possible to avoid failure, to always be safe. But that is also the route to a dull, uninteresting life.”
― Donald A. Norman
In this world, it’s okay to try things. It’s okay to fail. Iterate and go again.
You can manipulate surfaces:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Beach Hockey w/ Jaxon Cover
"Change the ball, change the surface."
2:54 PM · Jun 28, 2026 · 2.25K Views
1 Reply · 1 Repost · 11 Likes
Beach hockey.
Or maybe you fancy… Pro Beach Hockey:
Pro Beach Hockey @ProBeachHockey
Coast to Coast for Chris Nelson!
The '98 PBH MVP did it all himself on this beautiful goal.
6:16 PM · Apr 11, 2026 · 340 Views
1 Repost · 8 Likes
Floorball: Different ball and surface
The winning goal by #7 Kim Nilsson 🇸🇪 🙌 Watch the full highlights of Final on the IFF Youtube
8:42 AM · Jul 31, 2017
18 Reposts · 35 Likes
You can manipulate footwear: Skate tightness or no skates (boot hockey practice) or socks at basketball practice
Charlie Mahoney @chasmahoney
Pavel Datsyuk on playing hockey in felt boots with a ball back in his native Russia. "Playing in felt boots really helps you to develop balance, as it is slippery. Also, you develop an understanding of distance and learn how to read and anticipate the game by making fake moves...
2:59 AM · Feb 3, 2025 · 183 Views
3 Likes
Dispatch from Portland Fire practice: The team is currently doing a shooting drill without their shoes on, stepping off their tippy toes. Can’t say I’ve seen that before.
8:52 PM · May 13, 2026 · 20.8K Views
7 Replies · 12 Reposts · 145 Likes
Tommy Everson @TommyEverson
I’ve been playing floorball with my kids in our basement on a concrete floor, super fun for smaller spaces. Wearing socks makes it even more challenging. Feels like the box lacrosse equivalent for hockey.
2:52 PM · Jul 5, 2026 · 1.31K Views
1 Reply · 2 Likes
You can manipulate who starts with the puck or how the game starts:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Adding Variability to SSGs
One way is... How does it start?
In the OZ of a 4v3 SSG, you could give the puck to the defense to start
This would elicit a forechecking/cause turnover moment
1:12 PM · Jul 19, 2025 · 3.15K Views
1 Reply · 2 Reposts · 12 Likes
You can play cross-ice and change how many players go each rep. 3v3, 3v4, 4v2, 4v4, etc
You can do just about anything you can dream up, quickly change the space and the intention:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Same content (focus on draw and attack space behind defender), different context
Different playing area of OZ
2v2+1 (extra player can support anywhere outside the grey area to create passing angles
Additional constraint idea: 1 pick plus draw a check to hand and kick to exit
12:27 AM · Aug 11, 2026 · 73 Views
1 Reply · 4 Likes
If you want to get more in the weeds, you can check out our series on the process we use here:
Watch that video from The Purist; regardless of what David Garcia says, there’s some value and some things that will make most people think… Which is a good thing. Here it is again if you don’t want to scroll up:
patreon.com
How Teams Develop Synergies | Inside a Professional Club | The Purist Football
8:42 PM · Aug 10, 2026 · 5.21K Views
8 Reposts · 47 Likes
P.S. I promised this would be the SAS post; that will be the next one. After starting to write, I knew I needed to break the Local and Global aspects of How to EcoD into 2 posts… Next time:
Drew Carlson @drewcarlsonhp
Skill Acquisition Specialist
Skill Adaptation Specialist/Director
Director of Environment Design
Director of Hockey Development (MTL current job title)
Call it anything but have a position
Part 6 of the EcoD series
"The How"
A lot of stuff from this article soon⤵️⤵️⤵️
Dr. Tyler Yearby @TylerYearby
https://t.co/oMDfMHQoZS
12:31 PM · Aug 9, 2026 · 3.48K Views
1 Reply · 2 Reposts · 16 Likes
Other great places to ‘How EcoD’ here:
What to read
10:45 PM · Aug 10, 2026 · 2.71K Views
2 Replies · 7 Reposts · 27 Likes
Enjoyed that Drew, the credit for the graphic is from the paper “Understanding How Athletes Learn: Integrating Skill Training Concepts, Theory and Practice from an Ecological Perspective” Well worth a read for coaches