Shooting Practice: Off ice to on ice transition

[32leaguer]

Hey there!

I was hoping to get some advice on shooting practice. I'll spend time practicing my shot in the basement or driveway or whatever, do reasonably well, but then I get into games and find that I'm just wristing pucks into the goalie's chest and just generally feeling uncomfortable shooting on skates (compared to shooting in shoes, etc.). Of course, I can get out and practice skating at public skating (low attendance, its great), and play in my men's league games, but I can't find ice time to practice shooting.

Any drills or suggestions to help out? Thanks!

 

[Grave77digger]

Shoot in roller blades and aim for the corners?

 

[Hank19]

Try practicing shooting with your head up. That helped me a lot.

I did nothing but shoot an old roll of packing tape against an object with the same dimensions as a hockey net.

I never had the most accurate shot before this, but that year I scored over 30 goals in 25 games in my mens league.

 

[Icer]

Have you called the local rinks to see if they have any stick and puck? There are 3 rinks in my area that have it at least a few times a month.

 

[EmptyNetter]

I'm finding the same problem. My wife got me a slide board for last Christmas and it's been great to shoot off of because it's a nice slick surface. I didn't count on the difference between practicing in sneakers and playing in skates on ice, though. I'll start practicing in roller blades and see if that helps.

As for hitting the goalie in the chest. . . I'm not sure what you're after. Trying to pick corners? Do you practice your backhand? How about your snap shot from in close? Shooting around a screen? Don't just practice your wrist shot. Try to create game simulations and practice them until they're second nature.

 

[vexXed]

I think it's mainly a mental thing. When practicing in your garage or somewhere similar, you have all the time in the world to take your shot with your head up looking at your target. In a game situation there is hardly any time to do this and the mentality is to just get the shot off as quickly as possible so your head will be looking at the puck to make sure it just gets on net.

I reckon it's better to do that during certain situations - like when you have 2 defenders on you and looking up means you will lose the puck, plus the goalie won't expect it when you are looking down and you pull off a quick snap shot. Try to have a quick look at where to put your shot even if it is right at the goalie, then look back down again. Also, if your other forwards have crashed the net, they can get a rebound or deflection. I'm sure all of us have seen goals scored on weak shots just because it was taken at the right time. I've scored from the point a few times not even looking at the net and with lame 'under pressure' shots, but the goalie was screened.

When you actaully do have time in a game, try to think about shooting to score instead of just shooting. Look at the gaps and then conciously shoot towards it. Think to yourself *top left* or where ever and keep doing it until it becomes a habit.

 

[32leaguer]

Thanks for all the tips!

Certainly practicing on rollerblades made a huge difference, just in trying to mimic the feel of being (at times) slightly off balance when trying to shoot. Also, I think I need to practice shooting more from a position where my chest is facing the net head-on, rather than being at a 45 degree angle in a traditional windup. As someone mentioned, rarely do you have the luxury or time to pivot into perfect position.

When skating down the ice, and say you are one-on-one with the goalie, you are primarily skating with your chest facing the goalie in forward motion. Do folks more often shoot from that stance, with stick directly out to the side, or is it better to practice trying to drop back your back foot, shift weight backwards (against direction of motion), and then shoot that way?

Also, any tips on where/what to buy something for smooth driveway shooting practice surfaces with pucks? They have the stuff you can buy online specifically for hockey, but that seems pricey for a piece of smooth plastic. Any cheap substitutes?

Thanks again!

 

[Grave77digger]

When skating down the ice, and say you are one-on-one with the goalie, you are primarily skating with your chest facing the goalie in forward motion. Do folks more often shoot from that stance, with stick directly out to the side, or is it better to practice trying to drop back your back foot, shift weight backwards (against direction of motion), and then shoot that way?

I either snap a quick shot when my chest is facing the goalie, or if i have an extra second or two i pull the puck back towards my back foot and away from my body so that im shooting across my body in a more traditional wrist shot position.

 

[32leaguer]

Thanks again! I spent some time outside, straight on the net, seemed to help, but it took a while to get into the swing of things. When shooting (snap/wrist), it seems like NOT rolling your wrists over makes it harder to control the shot, even when pointing your stick for good follow-through. Put differently, if I don't roll my wrists fully and perhaps let the shot off with more of an open face, accuracy is harder to come by. Is that how it generally works? Just seemed that way today!

 

[Phoenix]

Yeah I have that same problem and I've just had to learn the hard way slowly through my trainings and game times on ice. Would love it if we ever had just a stick/shoot sessions here. Don't have rollerblades, space is restrictive, I live on a hill, what could be worse?

I actually found trying to practice shooting in the house with restrictive space - whilst it improved me somewhat, it made me get a bad habit too in technique becos I was trying not to hit things, and couldn't get the space for a proper swing.

BTW if anyone has suggestions for ice subsitute boards I'd love to hear about them too!

 

[HML]

I picked up a sheet of plexiglass (approx 4x3 ft) at Home Depot for about $20. The surface is decent but could be slicker. I thought of spraying it w/silicone but I think silicone is a dust magnet.

 

[Jarick]

I shoot off ice 2 to 3 times a week. I'm improving slowly. It doesn't translate perfectly, but it's better than nothing.

I find the increased friction of off-ice shooting tends to make the puck get up easier. This is probably because the puck drags along the ground instead of gliding so it stays on the blade easier. BUT, since the friction on the ice is a constant and the friction off ice is a constant, you should hopefully be able to translate with a bit of adjustment (in warmups).

What should translate 100% is the mechanics of the shot. Wrist shots, backhands, slap shots and snap shots should all be similar, even if the puck takes a different path. I would focus on proper weight transfer, stick loading, and follow through. Doing this commits the action to muscle memory and you will instinctively reproduce this on the ice in a game.

So doing that and a couple stick and puck sessions or warmups and hopefully you can make improvements.

 

[MikeD]

You didnt mention where your looking when you do shoot. If head down and then picking up your eyes OR if heads up entirely, be sure to look at your spot. newer players with some shot control tend to shoot right where they look. Look at the goalie and thats where the shot will prob go.