Hockey Shooting Tips : All Drills
This is the most important shot. It's the shot that so many young Canadians/Americans learn in their living room at a very young age. The most important thing is the weight transfer. The weight transfer is like a lot of other sports such as baseball and golf. Your weight will transfer from your back to your front leg, as shown by the green circle in the illustrations.
Stand perpendicular to your target with your stick cupped on the puck and the puck behind your back foot. Transfer your weight as you move the puck forward, and follow through. As you are sliding the puck forward on the ice, quickly reverse your wrists to make the puck rise more.
A low or a high follow through will determine how high the puck goes. When you finish your follow through, your stick should be pointing towards your target. I find that I get more power on my shot when I start with the puck closer to the heel of my stick (than to the toe).
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--artist's note: Discs have pretty cool, unique physical properties. If you've played ultimate frisbee (or played with gyroscopes), you'll know that the more spin you have on the disc, the more power and control you'll have on your throw. It's the same with shooting the puck. The farther the puck travels along the face of the blade before it takes off, the more spin it has, and the better the shot. |
The backhand wrist shot uses exactly the same technique as the forehand wrist-shot. The most common problem, however, is that people often start with the puck positioned too far forward (here we refer to "forward" relative to the direction in which the puck travels). When the puck is too far forward before you shoot, you cannot drag the puck as far with your stick as you are shooting, thus you cannot get as much power and control when you shoot.
.\ (puck too far forward - no power)
\
\
L R
. / (puck further backwards -
/ much better puck position!)
/
L R
<------------ Direction of travel of puck
Notes: 1. puck is shown as a "." on back side of stick
2. left and right feet are shown with L & R
Like the forehand wrist-shot, you must also cup the puck as you begin your backhand wrist shot. Drag the puck backwards (relative to the direction in which you are shooting). Then drag the puck forward, reverse your wrists, and follow through. Be sure to lean into the shot and to bend your knees to help raise the puck off of the ice surface.
Again, as in the forehand wrist-shot, weight transfer is very important. If you shoot left, begin with your weight on your right foot, and transfer it to your left foot as you take your shot.
To increase the control of your shot, position the puck near the heal of the blade of your stick. Not only will this give you more power because it is closer to the shaft of your stick, but it will make it easier to control your shot since this part of the blade does not usually have as much curve.
Having a good backhand shot can be very useful in deking. If you only have a good forehand shot, you are very easy for the defense to stop. They don't have to worry about you deking so that you are ready to take a shot on your backhand. They know that you are only interested in going to your forehand, so it makes you easy to stop.
As a left-handed shooter on the left wing, I would skate down the left side of the ice, and then deke to my backhand. When I make the deke, I must bring the puck in close to my body so that I shield it from the defender. Then I dig my skates in and let a backhand wrist-shot go at the net.
This is an effective quick-release shot. It can be used in the high slot area. When the puck comes from the corner, if you can use the snap-shot to get a quick shot to the far side of the net (since the goalie will be hugging the opposite post), then you'll have a very good chance of scoring.
The technique is just a quick reverse of the wrists. There is no wind-up at all. Follow through in the direction of the target.
It's very effective when you can let a shot go quickly off your wrong foot. This will allow you to skate towards your target and release very quickly. You will also be balanced and ready to protect yourself from that 250 lb defender who is on you as you let your shot go from the top of the slot.
If you shoot left (sorry about the bias towards leftys, but that's the way I shoot!), the way to practice this is to have someone pass the puck to you from the left corner of the rink. You stand in the slot, and take the snap-shot towards the left side of the goal, as the goalie will be still covering her right side (since the puck just came from the corner).
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<|>
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_/ z z
*
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pass .
. __
. |\ )_
~o . o | \__)
<|> . <|> | | |
<\ \ . goalie | |
z z \/* . . . . . *|_/
snap-shot scores!
This is one of the least effective shots. It is mainly important for the defense on the powerplay. People like to use it because it looks impressive, but sometimes it's not the best shot in a situation (it does not have a fast release).
When you contact the puck, you should contact the ice one inch behind the puck. It is this impact which causes your shaft to bend, thus giving your shot power. If you are really strong, then you can contact the puck about 3 inches behind it. This will cause the shaft to bend even more, causing an even more powerful shot. Some people like to slide their bottom hand down a little as they take the slap-shot.
The puck should be a little bit lower than the centre of the blade of your stick (closer to the heel than the toe) (see "+" in diagram below). As you shoot the puck, the puck will sort of roll up and propel off the toe of your stick, as shown by the arrow in the diagram below:
//
_______//
|____+__/
<---
You don't need a big wind-up when you take a slap-shot. Keep your stick cupped (closed) in your backswing, as you do with the wrist-shot. Like in the wrist-shot, the height of your follow through will determine how high the puck goes. Also, like in the wrist-shot, the most important thing with this shot is the weight transfer. This is where you get a lot of the power. Your weight will shift from your back to your front leg. Keep those knees bent! Click here for Tim Falconer's Six Stages of the Slapshot.
So often the defense take shots from the point, which leave rebounds lying in the crease area, and the forward comes in and shoots it right into the sprawling goalie's pads. If you can lift the puck into the "roof" of the net, over the goalie, you'll get a lot more goals. Dave Andreychuck of the Devils (formerly of the Leafs) stays after practice working on this skill, and it sure pays off for him, as he scores a lot of his goals from the crease area.
The way to practice this is to line up a number of puck around the crease. A left-handed shooter starts from the right side of the goal. One by one, pull the puck in towards you with the tip of your stick (this will give the puck momentum) and reverse your wrists very quickly to lift the puck up into the top mesh part ("roof") of the goal.
You will be very dangerous in the crease area if you can also do this on your backhand. It will also come in very handy when you deke the goalie to your backhand on a breakaway. You'll make the goalie have to guess which way you are going if you can deke equally well to both your forehand and backhand.
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