xeric716x
Born To Expire
Happy Pony
Registered User
Yea whenever I have the tv on in the dorm I sit there and stickhandle with a golf ball...works like a charm.
talk to your coach about implementing more stickhandling drills, and when you're practising on your own (on ice), use pylons and stickhandle at top speed with plenty of turns, dekes, etc.
it's one skill you can keep developing throughout your hockey career, even when you're in your 40's, 50's. keep up the dedicated practice and you'll get there !
(if necessary, while on your own, tie the back of your helmet down to the back of your jersey, to help prevent you from lowering your head to look down while doing the drills.)
edited for: pilon, lol
it's one skill you can keep developing throughout your hockey career, even when you're in your 40's, 50's. keep up the dedicated practice and you'll get there !
(if necessary, while on your own, tie the back of your helmet down to the back of your jersey, to help prevent you from lowering your head to look down while doing the drills.)
edited for: pilon, lol
Last edited:
EmptyNetter
Registered User
Here's a quick tip, then a long set of questions:
You can still look at the puck so long as you don't stop looking around you. Bend your knees enough that you can see the puck in your peripheral vision. The lower your stance (also the further in front of you the puck is) the easier it should be to see the puck.
BTW, how's your stickhandling when you are looking at the puck? If it's not great then you need to practice your technique and possibly build up your arm and wrist strength. I'm naturally right handed but shoot left. I can stickhandle pretty well with just my right but adding my left sometimes does more harm than good, so I'm putting more emphasis on weight lifting on my left side. I'm hoping to gain more control and range of motion as a result.
As you practice, remember that you're trying to build muscle memory. Your hands learn to anticipate where the puck will go by repeating the movement over and over. This is what will allow you to stickhandle without looking. If you practice with a ball that's too light it could affect your timing when you play with a puck.
Seth Lake
Registered User
USA Hockey has video clips of 20 stickhandling drills on their website that I have found to be very useful.
http://www.usahockey.com/ntdp/ntdp_features/main/ntdp/off_ice_drills_home//
Also, watching TV is great while stickhandling because it will keep your head up and make you multi-task or you can also try stickhandling in front of a mirror or even if really desperate...go out to the local store and buy yourself an inexpensive neck brace just to keep your head up. That might sound really funny, but it's effective.
http://www.usahockey.com/ntdp/ntdp_features/main/ntdp/off_ice_drills_home//
Also, watching TV is great while stickhandling because it will keep your head up and make you multi-task or you can also try stickhandling in front of a mirror or even if really desperate...go out to the local store and buy yourself an inexpensive neck brace just to keep your head up. That might sound really funny, but it's effective.
get a sheet of plexiglass (3'x5' or so) and sprinkle it with baby powder. you can practice stick handling on that whenever you can
Mr Jiggyfly
Registered User
- Jan 29, 2004
- 34,252
- 19,341
Even when you skate with your head up, you still look at the puck.
The trick is to take quick glances down at the puck without moving your head.
You just move your eyes down for a split second, to make sure you know where the puck is...don't tilt your head down.
Eventually it will become second nature and you can "feel" where the puck is without glancing down much at all.
LordHelmet
Registered User
I'm not that great, but one thing that really helped me was to stop over-handling the puck.
If you're moving the puck up the ice, you're generally skating fairly straight and you don't need to be tick-tacking the puck back & forth from your forehand to your backhand.
Just rest it on the forehand of your blade and skate up the ice. That'll allow you to skate straight ahead and even turn in the direction of your forehand. You don't need to take the puck on your BH until you turn in that direction..
If you're moving the puck up the ice, you're generally skating fairly straight and you don't need to be tick-tacking the puck back & forth from your forehand to your backhand.
Just rest it on the forehand of your blade and skate up the ice. That'll allow you to skate straight ahead and even turn in the direction of your forehand. You don't need to take the puck on your BH until you turn in that direction..
Mr Jiggyfly
Registered User
- Jan 29, 2004
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Actually, it is alot easier to skate up ice with the puck on your backhand..and push it along with one hand.
Simply push the puck with the back of your blade.
If no one is around me I do that all the time heading up ice. It allows you to skate at top speed pretty easily.
Jason MacIsaac
Registered User
Lyons71
Registered User
Seriously, just practice more.
I've also found that in a game while playing I don't have to look any higher than everyone's hips to know who they are and where they're going. That way, the puck is completely in my vision and I still see everyone.
I've also found that in a game while playing I don't have to look any higher than everyone's hips to know who they are and where they're going. That way, the puck is completely in my vision and I still see everyone.
Get crushed a couple times and you'd be amazed how well you learn to stickhandle with your head up.
I figured that out plenty fast lol, a few years ago back in my first year of Peewee checking.
In all honesty though, just practice as everyone else has said, get a feel for the puck, it'll eventually come.
I'm a goalie, but I am a good puck handler and I play shinny as a forward a lot so my hands are pretty good. So let me offer something completely different than what everyone else is saying, I hope it works....
Start thinking about it differently. Kids are taught to knock the puck back and forth and that is stickhandling. That's fine and all, but really it's deeper than than.
If you can learn to think about it differently and you will suddenly start to 'feel' the puck. When you do that, you'll never need to look at it again.
In reality, the puck is not capable of moving itself - so every time it moves it's because someone made it move. Learn to make it move places in a way that ensures you know where it is all the time. Don't just knock it around, forhand to backhand. Take it on your stick and move it a few inches. You are the one telling it where to go, so you need to learn how to meet it there and move it again. Once you learn how to anticipate its every move (which should come naturally because you are the one making it move) you should be able to feel it and know where it is all the time. That's what puck handling is, and that's how I feel when I have the puck.
Maybe this is a dumb post, but I hope it helps.
Start thinking about it differently. Kids are taught to knock the puck back and forth and that is stickhandling. That's fine and all, but really it's deeper than than.
If you can learn to think about it differently and you will suddenly start to 'feel' the puck. When you do that, you'll never need to look at it again.
In reality, the puck is not capable of moving itself - so every time it moves it's because someone made it move. Learn to make it move places in a way that ensures you know where it is all the time. Don't just knock it around, forhand to backhand. Take it on your stick and move it a few inches. You are the one telling it where to go, so you need to learn how to meet it there and move it again. Once you learn how to anticipate its every move (which should come naturally because you are the one making it move) you should be able to feel it and know where it is all the time. That's what puck handling is, and that's how I feel when I have the puck.
Maybe this is a dumb post, but I hope it helps.
I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I've searched before and I still have no idea what "shinny" is. Can someone explain it to me?
AND1 hockey...
It's just pick up hockey, no contact, nobody taking it too seriously. It's usually all offence and guys just playing for fun.
Thanks, I couldn't tell if it was some variation special variation of hockey with different rules, no goalies, on foot, with a ball, or any combination of those.
"Shinny" is basically what we used to call "keep away" or just plain open hockey. Get the puck and rag it around (carry it). Playing one-on-one with a friend a lot will help also. You will learn how to make curl-in moves, cut-backs, and etc. without worrying about being blasted by another player. When you are confident in some of your moves, try them in games or practice. But simply WORK at keeping your head (or eyes, at least) up whenever possible. Even in the pre-game skate, look into the crowd or at yourself in the glass while carrying the puck. Turn and head for the goalie and see if it is still there. If it is, good job, you're getting there!
EmptyNetter
Registered User
I thought it was a very good post.
I guess it's like thinking of your stick and the puck as extensions of your arm. The more time you have the puck on the blade of your stick the more aware you are of where it is -- you can feel its weight. The trick is in pulling the puck in one direction then redirecting it without losing control. Hopefully I'm not taking what you said out of context.
I still think knocking the puck/ball back and forth is valuable practice, but it may be more related to passing and receiving passes. You're essentially passing to and accepting a pass from yourself on your forehand and backhand.
Mr Jiggyfly
Registered User
- Jan 29, 2004
- 34,252
- 19,341
Alot of newer/novice players make a huge mistake when stickhandling, by knocking the puck back and forth like you say.
A little trick I learned when I was younger was to tilt my blade at an angle, so that when the puck is on the back of my blade, sometimes I almost lay the blade flat on the puck.
This allows you to really control the puck and pull it in towards my skates if I have to.
I can drag the puck in different directions this way, and it really cuts down on the movements I have to make.
94now
Registered User
One good practice tip is to move the puck back and forth with the heel of your stick alternating it with the toe of your stick. The difference in feel would be obvious due to higher vibration at the toe. Eventualy you will know what part of your blade the puck is at any given time without looking.
Boy Hedican
Homer Jr, friends call me Ho-Ju
does this work really well with a real puck? currently I use a plastic computer mat (the one you put under your chair). It works ok, but the puck will still flip pretty often.
Does this work well for practicing wrist shots n' such? If not, whats a good way to practice wristers OFF the ice? THANKS!
Ti-girl
Registered User
Invest in a stick handling ball.
I use mine all the time. With my old wood sticks (on their last legs) I just wander outside my building and just play around. Do a lot of stick handling tricks, back and forth stickhandling, just a lot of fun.
I use mine all the time. With my old wood sticks (on their last legs) I just wander outside my building and just play around. Do a lot of stick handling tricks, back and forth stickhandling, just a lot of fun.
Boy Hedican
Homer Jr, friends call me Ho-Ju
Will do. I've been messing around with a tennis ball with my dog and its been good fun (when I loose the ball she brings it back to me), but I wonder if using it gives me bad habits (weight, etc..?).
