Frequently asked questions
Plans, teams, athletes, the editor, clubs — answered. Can't find it? Ask us directly — we reply within one business day.
Getting started
What is BenchIQ?
BenchIQ is a coaching platform for drawing and animating drills on a true-to-scale rink, sequencing them into practice plans, analyzing game video, and running your team — schedule, roster, stats, messaging and a shared drill library — in one place.
Can I try BenchIQ for free?
Yes. The drill editor is free to try without an account — open it and start drawing. Creating an account is also free, and your first subscription starts with 7 days of Pro free, no card required.
How do I create my first animated drill?
Open the editor, draw your players and movement lines on the rink, then add steps — each step is a frame of the animation, and BenchIQ animates the movement between them. The three-minute video below walks through it end to end.
Does BenchIQ work on iPad and phones?
Yes — BenchIQ runs in the browser on desktop, iPad and phones, and you can install it to your home screen like an app. Coaches typically draw on desktop or iPad and run practices from a phone or tablet at the rink.
Which sports does BenchIQ support?
Hockey is the flagship — the full platform is built around it. Football is available with its own field, tools and marketing pages, and more sports are on the roadmap.
Are there video tutorials?
Yes — the BenchIQ YouTube channel has how-to videos covering drill animation, editor setup and the video analysis tools, with more added regularly. The written coaching guides cover practice planning and teaching concepts.
Plans & pricing
What's the difference between the plans?
Basic covers drawing, animating and saving drills and plans for one team. Pro adds video analysis, playbooks, recordings and narrated exports, more teams, and the Ask BenchIQ AI assistant. Athlete+ is a separate athlete-side plan: the film vault, highlight reels, and IQ Coach — AI skating analysis, training plans and daily hockey-IQ quizzes. Current prices and full feature lists live on the pricing page.
Is there a free trial?
Your first-ever subscription automatically starts with a 7-day free Pro trial — no card needed. If you don't continue, nothing is charged.
Do my assistant coaches need their own plan?
Not for running the team. An invited coach can post to the feed, manage the roster and schedule, enter stats and run games at no cost. A paid plan applies to authoring — creating and saving drills, plans and video content of their own. Clubs can also sponsor seats so assistants get full authoring.
Do athletes and parents have to pay?
No. Athlete and family accounts are free — joining a team, seeing the schedule, watching drills and following stats costs nothing. Athlete+ is an optional upgrade for athletes who want highlight reels, their own development vault, and IQ Coach — AI skating analysis and training tools.
How do I change or cancel my plan?
From your Account page, open the subscription section — plan changes and cancellation go through the secure billing portal, and cancelling keeps your access through the end of the paid period.
I have a code — where do I redeem it?
Enter it at benchiq.hockey/redeem while signed in. Codes apply their plan to your account immediately; club codes also join you to the club.
Teams, roles & invites
What is a “viewer” and what can they see?
A viewer is the follow-along role — built for extended family and fans. Viewers see the team feed, schedule, roster basics, lines and stats, and can chat in Team Talk, react and RSVP. They can't edit anything, see staff-only coaching notes, or open team settings. The shareable team join code adds people as viewers.
What does an invited coach get access to?
Everything needed to run the team: roster, schedule, games and stats, lineups, all feed channels including staff notes, team settings and invites. Only the owner can transfer ownership or archive the team. Authoring drills and plans of their own requires the coach's own plan or a club-sponsored seat.
What roles exist on a team?
Owner and coach are staff with full team management. Guardians follow and manage their own athlete. Players (athletes) have their own login tied to their roster spot. Viewers follow along read-mostly. You can also define custom roles — for example a team manager who can manage the schedule but not coaching content.
Do invites expire? Does team access expire?
Invite links expire after 30 days if they aren't used — but once someone accepts, their membership never expires. People stay on your team until you remove them. The reusable team join code doesn't expire; you can rotate it any time from settings.
How do I remove someone from my team?
In Team settings → Members, use the remove button next to their name. Coaches can remove non-owner members; owners can remove anyone. Removing a guardian or athlete only removes their team access — their connection to their own athlete's page is family data and stays intact.
Can I run more than one team?
Yes — plans include a team allowance (more on Pro), and you switch between teams from the team picker. Clubs can bring many teams under one club workspace with a shared drill library.
Athletes & families
How do athletes join a team?
For minors, the coach invites a parent or guardian, who accepts with consent and can then add the athlete's own login. Adult athletes (18+) can be invited directly from team settings — they confirm they're of age when accepting. There's also a self-serve athlete space that needs no team at all.
What do parents consent to when joining?
Accepting a guardian invite includes explicit consent for your athlete to receive and view coach media (video and images) in the team space. Consent is recorded, and it's required — the invite can't be accepted without it.
How is my child's information protected?
Sensitive profile fields such as birth date, height and weight default to staff-only visibility, and what's shared with the wider team is controlled field by field. Public athlete profiles are entirely opt-in and always a family decision — team staff can never publish an athlete's profile.
My athlete plays on two teams — do they need two accounts?
No. BenchIQ has one central athlete identity, so an athlete on a club team and a spring team keeps one page, one development history and one stat trail across teams and seasons. When you join a second team, BenchIQ offers to link them.
What does an athlete get in their own space?
Their schedule, assigned drills and plans shared with them, their stats and progress tracking, goals, and coach feedback — plus fitness and marketplace features free of charge. Athlete+ adds highlight reels, an own-your-story vault that follows them (not the team), and the IQ Coach tab.
What is IQ Coach?
IQ Coach is the Athlete+ AI tab on the athlete's page: skating analysis from a phone clip (a scored breakdown, skeleton replay and progress trends), training plans and season reports grounded in the athlete's own data, the Hockey IQ Daily 5 quiz with a knowledge report, plus game-day fueling timelines and mindset routines. Everything is age-appropriate by design, and guardians can always review the full history.
Drill editor & video analysis
How does drill animation work?
Each drill is a series of steps. You place players and draw movement lines in one step, add the next step, and BenchIQ animates the transition — pucks ride passes, players follow their routes. Export it as an animated video or a printable drill card.
Can I customize the editor layout?
Yes — the toolbar can dock to any edge, run slim or full, and the steps panel can sit at the side or bottom. Your layout is remembered on your device, so the editor opens set up your way every time.
What video analysis tools are included?
Upload a clip and it becomes the drill background: frame-by-frame playback and slow motion, drawing and telestration that auto-clears as the clip plays, markers, trimming, spotlight tracking, split-screen comparison of two clips, AI skeleton tracking, and angle and distance measurement tools that can pin to a skater's joints and update live during playback.
Can I record a walkthrough of a drill?
Yes — the Record button captures the drill playing on screen, with your microphone if you want narration, and saves it to your library as a video you can share with the team.
I have drills in PDFs and images — can I import them?
Yes. Import your existing drill files into the library, keep them organized alongside BenchIQ drills, and attach them to practice plans. AI-assisted extraction to editable BenchIQ drills is rolling out.
Clubs & registration
What does BenchIQ offer clubs and associations?
A club workspace that brings your teams together: coach seats you assign and reassign, a shared club drill library so every bench teaches the same systems, club announcements and email, insights across teams, and online registration. Seats are pay-as-you-grow — add them as you add coaches.
What does online registration cost?
There's no monthly software fee — just a platform fee per paid registration, disclosed up front. Payments deposit directly into your club's own bank account through a guided Stripe setup that takes about ten minutes.
What can registration handle?
Seasons, camps, tryouts and clinics with online payment — deposits and installment plans, early-bird pricing, sibling discounts, scholarship codes, capacity limits with waitlists, add-on items, and digital waivers. Registered families flow straight into your team rosters.
Can I set up my club before going live?
Yes — new clubs start in setup mode: a safe sandbox where you configure identity, coaches, programs and emails while your public registration page stays hidden and nothing can be charged. Activate when you're ready, and buying seats or completing payout setup activates automatically.
Film study marketplace
What is the film study marketplace?
Athletes and families submit a game or skills clip and get a personal video breakdown back from a vetted coach — annotated video plus written notes, delivered to the athlete's own space. Pricing is shown up front per coach and paid securely online.
Who does the film reviews?
Independent coaches who offer film study through BenchIQ — each with a public profile, sample work and ratings — plus BenchIQ's own analysts. Coaches: you can offer your own film study service and get paid through the platform.
Account & support
How do I get help?
Signed in, use Help & support from the top menu — your request goes straight to our staff and replies appear in the same place. Otherwise, the contact form reaches us and we respond within one business day.
Who owns my drills and my data?
You do. Your drills, plans and recordings are yours; team content belongs to the team, and athlete development history belongs to the athlete and their family. Export runs as portable files and printable cards whenever you want them.
How do I delete my account?
From your Account page. Deleting your account removes your access while preserving the team records your teammates depend on — game results and rosters don't vanish for everyone else. Signing back in within the grace period reactivates.
I have a feature idea — do you take requests?
Absolutely. BenchIQ ships improvements weekly and much of the roadmap comes from coach requests — send ideas through Help & support or the contact form, and check the public roadmap to see what's coming.
Video guides
BenchIQ on YouTube →Drill Animation Tutorial
Build an animated drill in three steps — step-by-step instructions your bench, players and parents can watch.
Setting up your BenchIQ Editor
Arrange the toolbar and steps panel to match your workflow — your layout is remembered every time you open the editor.
Video Analysis Tools
Upload player clips and analyze them with playback controls, tagging, drawing, split screen, skeleton tracking and angle measurements.
Still deciding?
The fastest answer is trying it — draw a drill right now, no account needed.
7 days of Pro, free · no card needed