Practice Planner

Step 1

Tap the Practice tab at the bottom of the screen

The Practice Planner is its own tab in Rink Rat. Tap it to open the hub, which shows four action cards: Build Practice Plan, Drill Hub, Saved Plans, and Whiteboard.

Step 2

Check your Practice Focus suggestion

If Apple Intelligence is available, a Practice Focus banner may appear at the top of the hub. This is an AI-generated suggestion based on your players' report card ratings — it highlights the skills your team is struggling with most and recommends a practice focus for your next session.

Step 1

Tap "Build Practice Plan" and choose your method

From the hub, tap Build Practice Plan. You'll be asked to choose how you want to create the plan: Generate with AI (uses Apple Intelligence to build a structured plan from a prompt) or Build Manually (create slots from scratch at your own pace).

Step 2a

If using AI — describe your practice in the prompt field

Type a natural-language description of what you want. Include the duration, age group, and any focus areas. For example: "45-minute bantam practice, warm-up, two shooting drills, a small-area game, and cool-down."

You can also toggle Attach Drills on — Rink Rat will search the 700+ drill library and automatically attach matching Hockey Canada drills to the generated slots.

Step 2b

Fill in the plan details

Whether you used AI or started manually, you'll land on the plan form. Give your plan a name (required), set an optional practice date, choose the age group (U7–U9, U11–U13, or U13+), and add any plan-level notes you want to remember. The total duration is calculated automatically from your slots.

Step 3

Add and arrange your practice slots

Scroll down to the Slots section. Each slot is a block of time in your practice — a warm-up, a drill, a scrimmage, a water break, and so on. Tap Add Slot to create one, then tap any slot to edit it. You can drag slots up or down to reorder them.

Step 4

Edit a slot — set its type, duration, and attach a drill

Tapping a slot opens the slot editor. Set the type (Warm-up, Drill, Scrimmage, Water Break, Cool-down, or Custom), give it a label, set the duration in 5-minute increments, and add any coaching notes you want visible during the session.

Tap Attach a Drill to search the drill library and link a specific Hockey Canada drill to this slot. The drill's rink diagram and step-by-step instructions will appear during the live session.

Step 5

Search and filter drills in the drill picker

The drill picker gives you access to over 700 Hockey Canada drills — all available offline. Use the search bar to find drills by keyword, and filter by age group and category (Skating, Puck Control, Passing, Shooting, Defence, Small Area Game, Goaltending, and more).

Tap a drill to attach it to the slot. Long-press a drill to preview it before committing.

Step 6

Tap Save to keep your plan

Once you're happy with your slots, tap Save in the top-right corner. Your plan is saved to your current team and will appear in Saved Plans, sorted by practice date.

Step 1

Tap "Drill Hub" to open the Hockey Canada drill library

The Drill Hub opens Hockey Canada's full online drill library directly inside Rink Rat. You can browse, search, and explore hundreds of drills by category, skill, and age group — a great way to discover new ideas before building your plan.

Step 1

Tap "Saved Plans" to see all your plans

The Saved Plans list shows every plan you've created for your current team, sorted from most recent practice date to oldest. Each row shows the plan name, scheduled date, total duration, and how many slots and drills are included.

Step 2

Tap a plan to see its full detail

Tapping a plan opens the detail view. At the top you'll see the plan's stats — total duration, number of slots, and number of drills assigned. Below that, every slot is listed in order with its type, label, duration, and attached drill details.

If a slot has a drill attached, you'll see the drill's rink diagram (tap it to expand full-screen) and its step-by-step instructions. If the drill has a video and you're online, a Play Video button will appear.

Step 3

Tap Edit to update the plan

From the detail view, tap Edit in the top-right corner to open the plan in the full editor. You can change the name, date, age group, notes, and any of the slots — just like when you first created it. Tap Save when done, or Cancel to discard your changes.

Step 1

Tap "Start Practice" from the plan detail view

Open a saved plan and tap Start Practice in the toolbar. This opens the full-screen practice runner, which shows you the current slot with its drill diagram, instructions, and a large countdown timer.

Step 2

Press Play to start the countdown timer

Tap the Play button to start the countdown for the current slot. The timer counts down in MM:SS format. Tap Pause to freeze the timer if you need to stop — for example, to answer a question or address the team.

A progress indicator at the top of the screen shows which slot you're on — for example, Slot 2 of 5.

Step 3

Tap "Next Drill" to advance to the next slot

When you're ready to move on, tap Next Drill. The timer resets and the screen updates to show the next slot's drill and instructions. Keep going until you've worked through all your slots.

Step 4

Use the Whiteboard mid-practice to sketch a play

Need to draw something up quickly? Tap the Whiteboard button in the top bar during a live session. A freehand drawing canvas opens over a rink diagram — sketch lines, plays, or positioning notes, then close it to return to the timer.

Step 5

Rate your drills after the session

When practice ends, if your plan included any drills, a feedback sheet will appear. You'll see each drill listed with a thumbs up (⭐) and thumbs down (🚩) button. Tap to rate each one, then tap Save.

Your ratings are saved locally and used by Rink Rat's AI to personalise future plan suggestions — liked drills get prioritised, disliked ones are avoided.

Step 1

Tap the Share button from the plan detail view

Open any saved plan and tap the Share button in the toolbar (the box with an arrow pointing up). Rink Rat will generate a set of landscape images — a cover page followed by a card for each slot — and open the iOS Share Sheet.

Step 2

Send via Messages, Mail, AirDrop, or any other app

The iOS Share Sheet gives you all the usual options — AirDrop to nearby devices, Messages, Mail, save to Photos, or any other app installed on your phone. Choose how you want to send it and you're done.

Step 1

Tap "Whiteboard" from the Practice Planner hub

From the hub, tap the Whiteboard card to open a freehand drawing canvas overlaid on a rink diagram. Use it before a practice to sketch plays and lines, or during a live session to quickly draw something up for your team.

Step 2

Switch between Full Ice and Three Zones

At the top of the screen (or in the side toolbar when in landscape), a toggle lets you switch the rink background between Full Ice and Three Zones views. Pick whichever layout best fits what you're drawing up.

Step 3

Draw on the canvas — choose your colour and tool

Drag your finger across the rink to draw freehand lines. Use the toolbar at the bottom to select your ink colour: Blue, Red, or Black. Tap the Eraser icon to switch to eraser mode — drag over any strokes you want to remove.

Step 4

Rotate to landscape for a bigger canvas

Turn your phone sideways for a wider drawing area. In landscape mode the rink fills more of the screen, and the colour and eraser controls move to a vertical toolbar on the right side.