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Do right-handed shooters play left wing?

mikeylikey

Registered User
Jun 22, 2008
35
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Tampa, FL
I have only been playing for about 7 months now, and in my first beginner season, my coach stuck me on right wing. I have developed a pretty nice shot in 7 months...but with my new season about to start in a week, I am wondering if I should try left wing out.

My reason for thinking this is...when I shoot from the right side, my shot almost always goes to the top or bottom right of the net. I can't get it to go anywhere else. Maybe on left wing, I would have "more net to shoot at"? Does that make sense to anyone else, or just to me in my head? :laugh:

Even in pickup I always float towards the right side of the ice. I am going to try to go to the left in pickup this week...but any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
Yeah, you would have a better angle if you shot from the left side, but it's harder for you to keep the puck in on the boards, which is why almost all defencemen play their stick side.

If you were wondering whether there were any other players that played on the opposite wing, just look at Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Gaborik, etc some of the best players play on their opposite wing.
 
i shoot right, and always played RW. but, i can easily make the switch to LW, i just feel more comfortable on the right side
 
For a sniper/shooting type player, Right Handed Shooters have a big advantage while playing on the left side.
 
Most of my goals have come from one timers...I am starting to think I would fare better on the left side. The only problem is that I suck at catching backhand passes. I am very excited to try it out and see what happens though...
 
mikeylikey said:
Most of my goals have come from one timers...I am starting to think I would fare better on the left side. The only problem is that I suck at catching backhand passes. I am very excited to try it out and see what happens though...
Click to expand...

Let me put it like this, it's natural for lefties to have their shots go right, and obviously it's natural for righties to see their shots going left. You're still pretty new to the game and that is why you're realizing this. You haven't completely developed your shot yet. Within a couple years, the problem will be much less mild.
 
I'm a righty and I play any were on the ice needed. But I'm most comfortable on the left wing. I like the step to the right and shoot and have a hard shot. I have played on the right but the team I played on at the time the wingers floated lanes. We also did alot of behind the net cycle work. But It all depends on what type of player your are. I'm more of a sniper/power fwd type. I like to play a hard nose physical type of game im not really to fond of the tic tack toe type of hockey.
 
I've played every position on the ice. I love playing LW as a rightie, but I don't stick to the boards as much as I should when we're on the attack. I'll kind of drift from the faceoff dot to the high slot in kind of a triangle.
 
Left handed RW here. One timer says hello :yo:
Also, cut into the slot, you have both corners available. Hopefully you have a center to hook you up with passes in front of you, as they are easier to catch. Its all by choice though, some people like playing their wing instead of their offwing to MAKE passes. A sniper will always want to play their offwing though imo.
 
im a right handed shot and i love the left wing cuz yea you have a way better angle to shoot at and when you cut into the middle your on your forehand not backhand... the only downside is taking pucks off the board across your body on the backhand and also some passes are harder to corral on the backhand as well but u get used to it and you need to make more backhand passes cross ice but you once again get used to it
 
mikeylikey said:
Most of my goals have come from one timers...I am starting to think I would fare better on the left side. The only problem is that I suck at catching backhand passes. I am very excited to try it out and see what happens though...
Click to expand...

So practice your backhand.
Assuming you play in a competitive league for a coach who wants to win -- as opposed to an instructional league where it's more important for you to learn and experiment -- you might have to win the LW position from somebody else. If you can't catch the breakout pass on your backhand, if you can't handle passes in the offensive zone on your backhand then you won't be effective at LW. And don't underestimate the importance of cycling the puck along the boards and cutting off the other team's breakout pass. If you're unable to do that on your backhand side then other guys are going to have to work harder to cover for you. Lastly, as a RH shot on the RW side you'll have a much better angle for passing to guys in the slot.

I know you want to score goals but there's a lot more to the game, more to offense even, than scoring goals. On the other hand, there's nothing to stop you trying to cut to the middle once you enter the offensive zone with the puck. It WILL improve your shooting angle and the goalie will have a lot more net he has to cover.
 
Triguy said:
If you were wondering whether there were any other players that played on the opposite wing, just look at Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Gaborik, etc some of the best players play on their opposite wing.
Click to expand...

Seems to be very common among Russian players -- Samsonov is a RH shot playing LW and Kovalev is a LH shot playing right wing. Of course it helps that they all have extraordinary puck control. I was just looking at Tampa Bay's roster and noticed both Mark Recchi and Martin St. Louis are good Canadian boys with LH shots playing RW, so it's not exclusive to Eastern Europeans.

To the OP -- It might be worth watching a few of these guys play and looking for the adjustments they make that allow them to be effective on the off wing (if you haven't already).
 
mikeylikey said:
Most of my goals have come from one timers...I am starting to think I would fare better on the left side. The only problem is that I suck at catching backhand passes. I am very excited to try it out and see what happens though...
Click to expand...

I find this interesting, because as a RH shot, a one-timer from the RW would require you to take the shot as the puck comes across your body. This is in my opinion one of the hardest things to do in hockey (unless you're talking tap-ins from in close). If you are good at the cross body one-timer, I would imagine you would be great at the traditional one-timer, so it would make a lot of sense for you to be playing LW.
 
Russians pioneered playing on the "off-wing". It gives you a much better shooting angle, but to do it you need to be able to send/receive passes on your backhand. I use a very flat blade so I can play either wing, but if you're going to be using a Kovalchuk/Thornton blade it's something you'll have to work on.

I've seen some "power forward" type players play the off-wing, but they'd often wind up skating backwards in the offensive zone so that they could use their forehand to receive/send passes.
 
mikeylikey said:
My reason for thinking this is...when I shoot from the right side, my shot almost always goes to the top or bottom right of the net. I can't get it to go anywhere else. Maybe on left wing, I would have "more net to shoot at"? Does that make sense to anyone else, or just to me in my head? :laugh:
Click to expand...

Ok, look at my post that I did last week on this thread.
http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=610108

Then, if you have any questions, PM me and I will help you out.

Head coach
 
Gordie Howe was right handed and played the right wing.
Most goals are scored from around the net anyway, where the handedness hardly matters.
 
BrianNYR said:
Most goals are scored from around the net anyway, where the handedness hardly matters.
Click to expand...

This is true, however, if you shot right and you are on the left side of the net, it's easier to get that one timer shot off with some speed with that fore hand. However, timing is very important to make this work.

Where as if you are right handed on the right side of the net, you are kind of limited on the shot do to the speed of the puck on the defection. You can increase the puck speed off your stick by kind of shoveling the puck when it makes contact with your stick. Again timing is very important.

Head coach
 
Right-handed right-winger here.

I haven't played much LW, but I'm starting to think I should give it an honest try, as I've been getting a little frustrated with my 'options' as I enter the zone on a rush via the RW. Seems as though I always hang on to the puck for too long, and I usually end up doing a loop around the net before dishing it off to the point...
 
noobman said:
Russians pioneered playing on the "off-wing". It gives you a much better shooting angle, but to do it you need to be able to send/receive passes on your backhand. I use a very flat blade so I can play either wing, but if you're going to be using a Kovalchuk/Thornton blade it's something you'll have to work on.

I've seen some "power forward" type players play the off-wing, but they'd often wind up skating backwards in the offensive zone so that they could use their forehand to receive/send passes.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I wondered where Rocket Richard got the idea from.:sarcasm:

Seriously, your points are good. I can think of very few examples of Canadian left wingers from the past that shot right. The fact that 75% of players shoot left, mostly right handed people that prefer the dominant hand at the top of the stick, necessitated that some RW playing their off wing, even with virtually all left wingers shooting left.
 
to be honest with you, i score a decent amount of goals and i find myself on both sides of the ice. i play all 3 forward positions and dont notice much of a difference between when position i am playing and the amount of goals i score. to be honest with you, it depends on your linemates haha.
headcoach - i dont disagree with you that a one timer is easier from an off wing on a rush or however you find yourself in the offensive zone, but you usually find yourself opening up your feet towards the coming pass, and in essence slowing yourself down, or skating backwards and away from the pass(giving the goalie more time to set themselves). for a one timer for a righty on the right side, (or lefty on the left side) a skater can be hit in stride and put the puck right on net. i know my team practices this constantly and is one of the most dangerous things a goal scorer can know how to do.
sorry if this sounds like mumbo jumbo but it makes sense to me hah
brian
 
I don't have a preference for either wing... though I've admittedly played more LW than RW. If I lived in Russia, the opposite might be true.

On the left wing I have my forehand facing the pass receivers. I can also receive passes on my forehand, and I can go backhand a lot easier.

On the right wing I can cut to the net on my strong skating side, and I have a better angle for the forehand shot.

So I'm going to make a wild statement and say that playing the off-wing benefits shooters, while playing the regular wing benefits passers.
 
Playing the off wing has many advantages. Lots of NHLers have make careers out of it.
 
I wanted to bump this thread -- noticed something interesting at last night's pickup game.

I'm a left handed shooter who's recently been moved to the LW (from defense). In a recent game I missed an empty net goal by shooting wide from just inside the blue line. Since that time I've noticed I have a big accuracy problem in shooting from the left wing and that I have no such problem shooting from the right side. I understand about puck sight, that I have a bigger target when shooting from the off-wing, but I wonder if there's more to it than that.

If I'm skating along the boards I need to shoot at a diagonal across my body. Seems more complicated than skating down the center and shooting straight ahead. Also, I need to adjust the angle according to where I release the puck -- the closer to the goal line, the more severe the angle. Meanwhile, even if I skate at an angle from the boards to the net I have skate toward the right post so my (straight) shot clears the left post.

Or am I completely overthinking this?
 
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