Extra training, but with a twist: Hockey5’s x X-Skills at MHC Alkmaar

MHC Alkmaar is currently offering an innovative form of supplementary training, combining Hockey5s and X-Skills. Every Friday, around 40 players are on the field for a dynamic 90-minute session, where short skill challenges and match-play formats continuously alternate. The result: more ball touches, quicker decision-making, and a training format that better aligns with how children want to train today. For clubs, this means a shift from solely team training to a broader and more flexible training offering.

Extra training session for youth

In this pilot, players from U10 to U14 have the opportunity to train an extra session in addition to their regular team training. Every Friday, approximately 40 players participate in a 90-minute training block. This is completely voluntary and accessible to players who are intrinsically motivated to develop further.

During these sessions, players also train with children outside their own team, which creates new dynamics and an extra challenge.

This extra time on the field gives players more ball touches, more repetitions of technical skills, and more situations where they need to act quickly, with fun and development at the core.

X-Skills: a perfect combination with Hockey5’s

X-Skills perfectly complements Hockey5’s.

Hockey5’s, with its small field and boards, ensures continuous play, many ball touches, and little downtime. The X-Skills challenges directly connect to this. Players train their technique in short challenges and then apply it immediately in the game. Skills such as ball control, passing, receiving, and speed of action are directly tested in real game situations. This creates a training format that is accessible, intensive, and highly educational for young players.

From individual skills to game situations

An important part of the sessions are the X-Skills challenges. During each training session, players complete four short, intensive drills where they work on skills such as passing, receiving, dribbling, and speed of action. Each player receives a personal Skill Tag which registers scores and makes progress visible. This adds a game element to the training: players try to improve their scores, challenge each other, and work on their individual skills.

The training constantly alternates between challenges and small-sided games, allowing players to directly apply their skills in the game.

This generates extra energy on the field and motivates players to continuously improve themselves.

What does this bring the club?

The initial results at Alkmaar show that this setup is more than just extra training:

• 40 players per week
• Efficient use of field capacity
• Supplementary training offering alongside team training
• Accessible entry for intrinsically motivated players

Furthermore, it creates a structure that enables clubs to organize flexible and future-proof training offerings.

Curious how this could look at your club?

More and more clubs are exploring ways to refresh their training programs. This pilot shows what that could look like in practice.

Curious how this could look for your club? We'd love to discuss it with you.