One theme
Pick one thing the session is about, for example the forecheck. Every clip has to serve it. If a clip is about something else, it goes in another session.
Build a video session for your players.
A good session is short, has one theme, and shows what worked as well as what did not. Below is how I run one, and how I build it in Pelaa video analysis for Mac: tags to Stack, stop frames, Presentation, the room's TV, and clips for the players afterwards.
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Keep it short and keep it to one theme.
Three clips is plenty
I take the forecheck clips, scrub through them, keep three, and build a meeting out of those. A short session that lands beats a long one the players sit through.
Show it done right
Include a clip where the play worked, not only the ones where it broke down. Players need to see what the good version looks like before the fix means anything.
Stop on the teaching point
Pause on the frame where the decision happens and talk about that frame. Then play the next clip. Say what to watch for before the clip runs, so nobody has to guess.
A long session loses the room. Stop earlier than you planned if the theme is done.
From tags to the room's TV.
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Tag and send to the Stack
Tag the moments during or after the game. On the Track, select the ones you want and press =Equal sign. They land in the Stack, same-category clips on one row.
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Order the clips
Drag clips into the order you will talk about them. ⌫Delete removes a clip from the Stack and leaves the tag on the Track. Everything is undoable. ⌘ICmd+I and ⌘OCmd+O move a clip's start and end.
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Add stop frames and sections
Press ]Closing bracket to insert a stop frame, then draw on it with arrows, circles, a spotlight or text. A drawing on a stop frame stays and is exported with the clip. ⌘⇧]Cmd+Shift+Closing bracket adds a title card, so the session has sections instead of a pile of clips.
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Present it
(⌘⇧FCmd+Shift+F) goes full screen with only the video. Annotation tools stay live, so you can draw the point while the room watches. Those scribbles are never saved and vanish when the video moves on. escEsc returns you to the editor.
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Use the Second Screen
Connect the room's TV or projector as its own display and start Presentation. The big screen shows the video, your drawings and clip notes. The laptop keeps the editor, so the room only sees what you want it to see.
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Send the clips afterwards
⌘ECmd+E opens the export chooser: the whole Stack as one video, one video per row (useful when each row is a player or a unit), or individual clips. Stop frames, title cards and drawings are part of the file. You send the files yourself, by email or upload.
The full tag-to-export loop is on the hockey video analysis for Mac page. If one player needs their own file, see cutting one player's shifts. If you tag the game as it happens, see live tagging.
What it does not do.
Pelaa runs on Mac only. There is no player portal, no cloud sharing and no automatic clip picking: you tag the moments and you send the files. Files stay on your Mac and nothing uploads unless you send it. Second Screen is a local display, not a broadcast to other rooms. If a player is not in the building, you can record a walkthrough and send that instead.
Questions about video sessions.
How long should a hockey video session be?
Short enough that the players are still with you at the end. One theme, about three clips, and stop when the theme is done instead of filling a time slot.
Should a video session show only mistakes?
No. Put a clip where the play worked next to the one where it did not, so players see what the right version looks like.
Can I put the clips on the room's TV while I keep my editor on the laptop?
Yes. Connect the TV or projector as its own display, not mirrored, and start Presentation. The TV shows the video and your drawings. The controls stay on the laptop.
How do players get the clips afterwards?
You export them from the Stack as video files and send them yourself by email or upload. Pelaa has no player portal or cloud sharing.
Build your next session on your own footage.
Pelaa video analysis is €19.99 a month, with a 14-day free trial and no card. Download it, open a game, and build the session before the next practice.
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