Slapshot Help...

nni

Registered User
Dec 29, 2005
1,715
0
if you are taking your slapshot and just trying to kill it, this will happen. you have to finesse it a little more. use your wrists a bit more during the middle to latter part of the swing and you will raise it.
 

McBlaze

Registered User
Jul 4, 2004
34
0
If you're a defenseman, that kind of height on a slapper is ideal, so I would say don't worry too much about it, just keep shooting and the height will come. However, one of the things that I find will bring up my slapshot is really getting low in the release and choking up a little on your stick, but maybe that's just me.
 

maccraken

Registered User
Jan 25, 2007
18
0
Regina
OK, so my slapshot won't get any more than a few inches off the ice. Any help?
Along the ice is great from the point, but if you are looking to ice it or shoot on the goalie coming down the wing here are some tips.
Like was said follow through at the target.
The slap shot is similar to a driver in golf ...where you line up will effect it as well as where you make contact. The best place for me is dead center ( between my legs) and I make contact with the ice behind the puck with your blade flat. Your weight transfer also like golf is the key for getting good velocity.
Way back in hockey school this helped me. Think of it as slapping the ice behind the puck as a way of lifting it evenly...this seems odd but your follow through makes the puck fly flat in the air and this effects your speed and accuracy. Moving your hand lower on the shaft too will help get your weigh through and help you with direction.
With today's new sticks you have to find what feels comfortable for you and blast away.
Good luck let us know how it is coming.
 

Hank19

Registered User
Apr 11, 2005
1,870
1
OK, so my slapshot won't get any more than a few inches off the ice. Any help?


Practice, practice, practice.
I was told to hit the ice/ground 4 inches or so behind the puck.
One summer, I took my parents broken coffee table top, placed it outside, and shot 1000 pucks against the wall of our brick house.
Before the summer I had the worst slapshot on our team. After, I had one of the hardest. Even to this day, I love playing Defense in the one league I'm involved in because they allow slapshots. I just Tee-up all day from the point. Loads of fun.
 

Reckless Abandon*

Guest
I think my problem is balance, or positioning. I have trouble even hitting it decently while standing still. Maybe if I choke up more I'll get more stick on the puck. I'll have to practice tomorrow.
 

Steelhead16

Registered User
Jan 29, 2005
1,610
3
Boise, ID
All good tips so far. Hand down the shaft, hitting the ice behind the puck to cause flex in the stick. What I find a lot guys do is not transfer their weight very well. If you don't transfer your weight your stick will hit the puck at the edge of your blade between the face and the bottom of the blade just into the up swing. You want to load up on your back leg and even bend it a little and then push and drive yourself forward onto your front foot. You want the puck on your blade for a foot or so, so your shoulders need to travel that distance also. It's really a timing thing. Keep working on it but maybe one thing at a time. Exploding with the legs until that feels good. Getting your timing right on the down swing and then a good follow through. And try and not take your wind up past your shoulder. Try just to the waist for a while till that feels good. Good Luck!!!
 

JLHockeyKnight

IMA Real American
Apr 19, 2006
19,438
0
North Central Jersey
I think my problem is balance, or positioning. I have trouble even hitting it decently while standing still. Maybe if I choke up more I'll get more stick on the puck. I'll have to practice tomorrow.

As anyone can obviously agree with, those are key. Make sure you're bent over, you can't hit it standing up. Try to wind the stick up and follow through so that the stick hits the ground with the puck. Try to keep your legs seperated, knees bent a bit.

Keep trying, don't give up. The best way to figure out your key slapshot is to keep trying. If you find something that works well, try to remember what you did and how your body was positioned and keep trying it.

I still haven't perfected it. I can't get a full wind up, I get my stick up as high so that its parallel to the ground and fire, which totally decreases my shot power. Like I said, its something everyone can always work on to improve.
 
Last edited:

Phoenix

Registered User
Mar 26, 2006
306
0
I have that problem still in general.

I've been trying to just practise with no swing, and sometimes I get it great (30%)sometimes i don't (70%), and I can't figure out what I'm doing right and wrong. It's almost like pot luck. I can't camera it either.

Would it be better to practise with a short swing? And try that whole hitting the ice/ground behind the puck then twisting my wrists?
 

JLHockeyKnight

IMA Real American
Apr 19, 2006
19,438
0
North Central Jersey
I have that problem still in general.

I've been trying to just practise with no swing, and sometimes I get it great (30%)sometimes i don't (70%), and I can't figure out what I'm doing right and wrong. It's almost like pot luck. I can't camera it either.

Would it be better to practise with a short swing? And try that whole hitting the ice/ground behind the puck then twisting my wrists?

I don't think twisting my wrists helps me. I just fire. I'd say the 2 most important things are contact with the puck(hitting the ground and puck at the same time) and staying bent over a bit. I always tried to take my shots standing up when I started, the second I bent my back a bit and bent my knees a bit, I was ripping them no problem.
 

nni

Registered User
Dec 29, 2005
1,715
0
well your hands should be further apart from a normal wrist shot to begin with. the motion is feet slightly wider that sholder width with your body facing the puck. as your bring the sitck back you slide you bottom hand down a couple of inches, and then you follow through completely. like i said previously with no wrist action the puck will straight and low, if you use your wrists to slightly "swoop" the puck puck up, then it will raise.
 

94now

Registered User
May 24, 2004
6,454
0
Snow Belt, USA
The proper grip is very important. Make sure your top hand has V-grip, while bottom does the side grip at the shaft middle. Also make sure that your top arm shoulder is up to your chin and the forearm is inline with the shaft when stick is up.
 

WheatiesHockey

Registered User
Dec 19, 2006
585
5
Low sizzlers on the ice are the best! The best thing is if the goalie can't see it.If it's moving 2 miles an hour and goalie does not have any idea where its coming from he is done. If the puck is going 110 mph and he has position on you it won't go into the net.
 

ck26

Alcoholab User
Jan 31, 2007
11,892
2,035
Coyotes Bandwagon
It's already been said, but bottom hand lower on the stick, and bend your knees more.
If you live someplace warm like I do and can't practice on actual ice everyday, get a large sheet (4'x 4') of masonite from a hardware store. It's a composite wood that slides a puck pretty easily. It'll last you a couple months in the garage and you can shoot off of it with some degree of realism. Not exactly like ice, but pretty good.
 

maccraken

Registered User
Jan 25, 2007
18
0
Regina
I have that problem still in general.

I've been trying to just practise with no swing, and sometimes I get it great (30%)sometimes i don't (70%), and I can't figure out what I'm doing right and wrong. It's almost like pot luck. I can't camera it either.

Would it be better to practise with a short swing? And try that whole hitting the ice/ground behind the puck then twisting my wrists?
This has changed with the new sticks and some coaches taught/ are teaching this high back swing. This seems to help keep the puck on the ice as your weight transfer can not be completed. Personally I don't like this techneque because it is very hard to do in a game setting. Also if you want to fake your slap it is hard to twist your body around to make your move. Your back swing should be the same height as your follow through just above your shoulder to shoulder ; this way you are not off balance and can recover if the shot is blocked. The last thing you need is to give the other team a break away with all your mates stuck infront waiting for your shot. :dunno:
 

Samuel Culper III

Mr. Woodhull...
Jan 15, 2007
13,144
1,099
Texas
As a winger who plays the point on the PP occasionally, I never developed a slapper with a full windup. Instead of trying to kill the puck, I tried to have the quickest release possible and the ability to place the puck. Over the years I've learned to really step into my shot and put my weight behind it so that I can get off a pretty heavy shot, but I still opt for the small windup and quick release. Back when I was just a kid with no slapshot to speak of though, I spent my weekends and freetime after school shooting off a piece of plexi glass for hours at a time. This is how I developed my shot:

The way I play, the puck is never stationay when I'm letting a shot go. Shooting off the wing I'm usually pushing the puck ahead or to the side and then stepping into it. Playing the point I'm generally there for puck movement, not the big shot, but when I have an open lane I'm generally shooting the one-timer. Since I rarely ever stop the puck and hold it before tee-ing one up, I developed a shot that is more suited to a moving puck.

I began taking snapshots. Using the toe of my blade to curl the puck back to my personal prefered spot and firing for the middle of the net. The mechanic of the snapshot isn't important to my slapshot, but I did this until the release and followthrough became second nature to me. Once I felt like I didn't have to think about what I was doing at all, I started trying to take harder snapshots while stepping into the puck. I did this for about an hour a day for two weeks, easily. Once I felt like my snapper was really moving, I started taking a small windup and tried to use the same release and followthrough when making contact with the puck. When I pull back on my winup, I still instinctively curl my wrists as if I were pulling the puck to the sweet-spot for a snapshot, but with my stick pulled to a little over waist level, it's just a superfluous motion. I step into the puck and follow through on the shot the same way I did when I was just taking hard snappers. I can keep the puck low and put my back into it or bring it up high and beat a goalie over the shoulder or jam them up on the glove or blocker side. It's effective because the release is quicker with a small windup and I'm still able to put some heat on it if I recieve a one timer or I'm trying to keep the puck low.

Reading through this thread, many of the other technique related tips are sound as well. Part of the snapper which I developed to help my slapshot included shifting my weight to get torque on my stick, following through with my stick pointed at my target, using my wrists to generate a little extra on the shot and getting my blade on the ground a few inches behind the puck. Keep in mind though, that if you intend to hit the ground a few inches behind the puck, but your blade isn't flush when you do it, you will likely snap your twig. It's the number one reason for broken sticks that I've seen watching the Sabres this year and I doubt you have an endorsement deal that's going to supply you with new ones should you damage whatever you have :P
 

notmynhl

Registered User
Jan 30, 2007
96
0
Vancouver
Lots of good tips. Do you hit the puck with the same part of the blade every shot? If not, this could lead to differing heights with the same motion.
 

TBLfan

Registered User
Nov 25, 2005
1,148
0
Tampa, FL
tblfan.wordpress.com
rolling your wrists(closing your wrists) is the key for making the puck fly straight as well as giving you extra velocity. It makes the puck spin for one but it also gives it extra velocity because you're flicking the puck off the toe of the blade instead of just hitting the puck hard. Point to your target with the toe of your blade, helps you roll your wrists and more importantly helps your accuracy.
 

Bileur

Registered User
Jun 15, 2004
18,475
7,194
Ottawa
Practice, practice, practice.
I was told to hit the ice/ground 4 inches or so behind the puck.
One summer, I took my parents broken coffee table top, placed it outside, and shot 1000 pucks against the wall of our brick house.
Before the summer I had the worst slapshot on our team. After, I had one of the hardest. Even to this day, I love playing Defense in the one league I'm involved in because they allow slapshots. I just Tee-up all day from the point. Loads of fun.

1000 over the whole summer?
 

broski

Registered User
Jan 31, 2007
35
0
Blackstone Ma
yeah you need to take a 1000 in one day not just the summer. Is the puck in the right position of your body or are you hitting it with no form? Maybe it is not your position but rather the position of the puck.
 

Hank19

Registered User
Apr 11, 2005
1,870
1
1000 over the whole summer?

I don't know how many? I was just throwing out a number. Why is everyone here so anal?
And I don't care if it was only 1000, it helped my slapshot greatly. I can hit any corner with a hard accurate shot. Maybe some of you with less talent need to shoot 10,000 a summer but I only needed 1000.
 

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