Alright, so I’ve been spending some time trying to pick apart this James Duerr guy’s hockey style. Noticed him playing a while back, and something about how he operates stuck with me. Wasn’t necessarily the big highlight reel stuff, more the subtle things, you know?
Getting Started
It kicked off pretty simply. I was watching some games, maybe it was online clips, I forget. But Duerr kept popping up. There was this particular way he handled certain situations, maybe his positioning or how he read the play, that seemed really solid. Not flashy, just effective. I thought, hey, maybe I can try and understand that, see if any of it helps my own game, even just for fun when I mess around on the ice.
The Actual Trying Part
So, I started actively looking for footage of him. Not just casually watching, but really trying to dissect what he was doing. Focused on his movements in specific scenarios. Let’s say, how he approached loose pucks or how he supported his teammates defensively. Seemed straightforward on screen.
Then I actually went out and tried to apply some of it. Rented some ice time, went to stick and puck sessions. Tried to mimic his posture, his pathing. Man, it felt unnatural at first. Like wearing shoes on the wrong feet. Things I thought I understood watching him just didn’t translate when I tried doing them myself at speed.
- Positioning felt off. I ended up out of place more often than not initially.
- Timing was hard. What looked like a simple read on video was way faster in reality.
- Muscle memory fought me the whole way. My body just wanted to do things the old way.
It was frustrating, honestly. You see a pro do something smoothly and think ‘I can do that’, but the reality is layers deep. Spent quite a few sessions just working on one or two little aspects I’d observed. Lots of repetition. Lots of failing. Kept reminding myself it’s just practice, just trying to learn.
Where I’m At Now
Did I suddenly become a hockey whiz channeling James Duerr? Absolutely not. Not even close. Some of the specific techniques I tried to copy? Still feel awkward, probably don’t fit my personal style or skill level, to be honest. It’s tough to just bolt on parts of someone else’s game.
But, the whole process? That was the valuable part. Really watching closely, breaking things down, and then the struggle of trying to implement it… it forced me to think more actively about the game. Instead of just reacting, I started analyzing why I was doing things. Why my positioning felt wrong, why I was losing those puck battles.
So, even though I didn’t master Duerr’s specific moves, the practice of observing and trying definitely made me a more thoughtful player. I pay more attention to the details now, my own and others’. And it gave me a deeper appreciation for how much skill and intelligence goes into playing at a high level, even the parts that don’t look spectacular. It’s not just physical; it’s mental processing speed too. Ended up learning more about learning itself than about perfectly copying James Duerr, I guess. And that’s pretty cool in its own way.
