GDT: Four Nations Face-Off

[majormajor]

I may speak only for myself but I don't really understand how baseball (of any kind) has any relation to stick handedness... People throw the baseball on their dominant hand, right? And you want the dominant hand control the stick in hockey, not being the "shooting hand"...

People tend to swing a baseball bat with their dominant hand being the one closer to the middle of the bat (the non-dominant hand at the fulcrum).

I started with hockey first so I shoot left and bat left, but most Americans go the other way.

 

[majormajor]

In America most people who are right handed swing baseball bats and golf clubs with their non dominant hand at the end of the bat or the club. Then they pick up a hockey stick and do the same thing. In hockey you want your dominant hand at the end of the stick. A hockey shot is sort of like a tennis backhand. But to most Americans, it is more like a tennis forehand. I raised my kids the right way. Their dominant hand is always on the stick. It meant my kids (especially the one who really took to hockey) struggled with shooting at first compared to their peers (because everyone had played tee ball) but they were much better defenders with the stick.

I would hesitate to say one handedness is the only correct way to go - a disproportionate number of the best shooters are RH shooters.

Though if I had to pick one it would be right hand on top. The analogy I make for using a hockey stick is as a screwdriver - the twisting motion is the basis of proper stickhandling. All of that twisting comes from the top hand, while the bottom hand should be loose and able to move up and down freely.

Have you tried the toilet paper roll trick for stickhandling training? It gets kids to stop gripping and lugging with the bottom hand and starting twisting from the top.

Edit: I will add that I don't think tennis backhand is the right analogy - in hockey when a LH shooter is shooting the puck, their top hand is acting as more of the fulcrum while the lower hand does the sweep. It's closer to the tennis forehand. But the hand placement isn't primarily about shooting, it's more about handling the puck.

 

[KCbus]

I love (and have missed) seeing the big boys play in international competition. After one period last night, I thought that game was going to be a snoozer, but it turned out to be quite fun. And I haven't had an excuse to wear a Team USA hockey jersey on a gameday for a long time.

 

[Monk]

In America most people who are right handed swing baseball bats and golf clubs with their non dominant hand at the end of the bat or the club. Then they pick up a hockey stick and do the same thing. In hockey you want your dominant hand at the end of the stick. A hockey shot is sort of like a tennis backhand. But to most Americans, it is more like a tennis forehand. I raised my kids the right way. Their dominant hand is always on the stick. It meant my kids (especially the one who really took to hockey) struggled with shooting at first compared to their peers (because everyone had played tee ball) but they were much better defenders with the stick.

I've been a hockey fan since 2000, played for a number of years there in the middle (nothing serious, adult beer league stuff), and I had no idea.

 

[Youngguns1380]

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

Aaaah swinging the bat. Yeah in Finland it's the same, the dominant hand is closer to the middle of the bat. Okay that makes some sense now. Yeah swinging the bat and some basic local baseball is practiced at every school here unless things have changed in recent years.

Looking forward to the game. Normally I'd just hope we don't get dominated completely, but heck, we got some players here too. Not sure if our defense is up to snuff, but offense should be fun. Hope it's a good game like the first one!