Changing from right shot to left shot?

[Phoenix]

Anyone ever done so?

So I'm tempted to try - played for about 2 years. Only reason I thought I might is because it seems heaps of people who are right-handed play with a left shot and it works well for them becos of the power hand etc.

Do you think its wise to now? I'm an adult learner, average player. It doesn't feel terribly strange puckhandling, but shooting it does, more so with adjusting body weight, and winding up.

Anyone an ambidextrous shot? Lol.

Click to read more...

 

[Harv]

Well, I can somewhat do it.

I have been shooting left for 10 years in goal, but only because I have to. So when I pick up a normal stick, shooting left handed in no big deal. I often flip the stick around to make a pass in inline hockey if need be and sometimes take shots left handed just to throw the goalie off.

But yeah, it's going to take some time for you body to learn a new side to shoot from.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Anyone ever done so?

So I'm tempted to try - played for about 2 years. Only reason I thought I might is because it seems heaps of people who are right-handed play with a left shot and it works well for them becos of the power hand etc.

Do you think its wise to now? I'm an adult learner, average player. It doesn't feel terribly strange puckhandling, but shooting it does, more so with adjusting body weight, and winding up.

Anyone an ambidextrous shot? Lol.

What made you pick right to begin with?

 

[Pangolin]

Why would you change your stick handedness if that's your only reason?
Sounds kinda crazy to me..

 

[Church Hill]

Why would you change your stick handedness if that's your only reason?
Sounds kinda crazy to me..

He's probably looking to find the handedness that will maximize his power, accuracy, and what is far more important: his comfort. It's like when you learn to skate for years, but realize you have a poor technique, then you have to relearn how to use the outsides of your edges and all that crap - it benefits you long term.

 

[frito]

It can't hurt to give it a try. I'd try it in stick time or jsut piddling around at home. Get yourself a cheap wood stick or used one from play it again sports. The last thing you want to do is buy an expensive stick jsut to find out you don't like it.

I think you'll find you have more control while stickhandling but shooting may be challenging. You will have to totally re-learn how to shoot.

 

[Headcoach]

Anyone ever done so?

So I'm tempted to try - played for about 2 years. Only reason I thought I might is because it seems heaps of people who are right-handed play with a left shot and it works well for them becos of the power hand etc.

Do you think its wise to now? I'm an adult learner, average player. It doesn't feel terribly strange puckhandling, but shooting it does, more so with adjusting body weight, and winding up.

Anyone an ambidextrous shot? Lol.

Let me ask you this...

Which hand do you write with?

Which ever hand you write with, goes at the top of the stick! This is the artistic side of the stick. The hand down the shaft, is the power side / leverage side of the stick.

If you make the change, your shot will only improve!

Please read these threads:
http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=2821
http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=2820

Sorry, I'm just being lazy at this point. This will keep me from having to rewrite these tips.

Headcoach

 

[Crosbyfan]

Let me ask you this...

Which hand do you write with?

Which ever hand you write with, goes at the top of the stick! This is the artistic side of the stick. The hand down the shaft, is the power side / leverage side of the stick.

If you make the change, your shot will only improve!

Please read these threads:
http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=2821
http://forums.internationalhockey.net/showthread.php?t=2820

Sorry, I'm just being lazy at this point. This will keep me from having to rewrite these tips.

Headcoach

As a headcoach you should know that is not always right.

 

[Whiplash27]

Changing hands is almost impossible. I tried it and I couldn't even stickhandle, forget shooting. It would probably take a lot of time and practice to do it.

 

[Phoenix]

What made you pick right to begin with?

I was right-handed, was handed a right-handed stick, and uh never realised that a lot of right-handed people had a left shot until about a 1.5years into playing (I did however think that hockey had a LOT of left handers). I just thought that was the way things were done!

But I bat right-handed, use the mop right-handed...don't really do anything left-handed.
I thought of changing simply because I've since noticed a lot of really good players shoot left.
But yeah, I'm worried my shot is going to be totally stuffed because that feels pretty strange now. And don't have a lot of practice time (which may mean I only do change when I'm fooling around at home).

 

[mattihp]

I'm ambidextrous.

I'm a much better stickhandler playing with a leftie though, which is kinda weird because I've mostly played with a righty. Shooting is pretty much the same. But I prefer to play with a righty for some reason. In goal I play with the leftie stick though.

I was left-handed as a kid, but broke my left arm when I was 10, and went to be right-handed.

 

[Crosbyfan]

I was right-handed, was handed a right-handed stick, and uh never realised that a lot of right-handed people had a left shot until about a 1.5years into playing (I did however think that hockey had a LOT of left handers). I just thought that was the way things were done!

But I bat right-handed, use the mop right-handed...don't really do anything left-handed.
I thought of changing simply because I've since noticed a lot of really good players shoot left.
But yeah, I'm worried my shot is going to be totally stuffed because that feels pretty strange now. And don't have a lot of practice time (which may mean I only do change when I'm fooling around at home).

That one is the key IMO. Hand a kid a broom and see how he holds it.

 

[Trepanated]

Which ever hand you write with, goes at the top of the stick! This is the artistic side of the stick. The hand down the shaft, is the power side / leverage side of the stick.

If you make the change, your shot will only improve!

Heh. 690 career goals. 1033 assists. 6 Art Ross trophies. Now just think how much better Mario Lemieux's career would have been if only someone had taught him to shoot the right way! (Lemieux writes and golfs right-handed, and of course was a right-handed shot when he played hockey).

On a more serious note, I don't know nearly as much about this stuff as HeadCoach does, but I will make the claim that it's not as cut-and-dried as he makes it out to be. Regarding ambidexterity, I think people get caught up in a false dichotomy. That is, they think "either you are ambidextrous or you are not". I don't think that's true. I think there's a continuum. Some people have a strong preference for one hand or the other, some people have almost no preference, and many people are somewhere in between.

Personally, I'm somewhere in between. I do most things right-handed (including writing), but some specific things feel more natural to me left-handed. When I started playing hockey, I bought both a lefty and a righty stick. I alternated them from one practice to the next, to see which one I felt better with. I was interested and surprised to find that with regard to stick-handling, I really could not choose. Both lefty and righty felt pretty natural to me, and I didn't seem to perform any better one way or the other. Shooting was a different story however. I was okay shooting lefty, and I'm sure if I had stuck with it I could have gone on to do fine with it. But it definitely did not feel as natural as shooting righty.

So, a right-handed shot I became. As a partially (mildly) ambidextrous person, I feel very comfortable that in the end I made the right decision for myself. I think the biggest caveat for a person who plays hockey with their writing hand on the bottom of the stick (instead of the "correct" way, with the writing hand on top) is that you need to make sure you are using good stick-handling technique. You can't let your bottom hand do more than it's supposed to. For me it doesn't seem to be much of a problem though.

edit: I should mention that when I originally bought those sticks, there was a hockey coach who happened to be in the pro-shop, who was helping me decide. The test he did was, he said "If I were to hand you a hockey stick, which hand would you be inclined to grab it with?" For me, it was my left hand (which surprised him, since I am mostly right-handed). So he ended up being the one that suggested I buy both lefty and righty sticks, to try them both out.

 

[Whiplash27]

Heh. 690 career goals. 1033 assists. 6 Art Ross trophies. Now just think how much better Mario Lemieux's career would have been if only someone had taught him to shoot the right way! (Lemieux writes and golfs right-handed, and of course was a right-handed shot when he played hockey).

Brendan Shanahan raises you 649 goals and 689 assists

 

[speedway]

Better tell Jarome Iginla about that. Hes' been shooting right all this time and having a rotten season!

 

[MikeD]

guys, you can pick out the elite all you like. These guys have been exposed to the greatest players on the planet, Coached by the best becomeing some of the best.

Lets return to earth and look at youth hockey. One of the former teams my son played with was in Olean NY. It was a tier III team. my youngest had moved up to play AAA In Buffalo by htis time. I do not recall the Coaches name but he had been transfered to the area by his work but was a major youth Coach up in Montreol prior to taking on the team in Olean. I knew all these kids. Average kids from a small draw pool location. When they traveled northward to play in Buffalo and Canada they got Smoked.

This guy pretty much did what Headcoach talked about with his shooters. Many of them he converted to lefties(94's at Squirt age) in the first few days of practices. Parents were bent etc etc. This team finished the season winning the NY state A championship. One season, One Coach. How many on this board can say they hold a state champion patch? Anyone? This concept that you mock gave 17 young players who never dreamed of having one, something that can be cherish forever.

 

[Church Hill]

guys, you can pick out the elite all you like. These guys have been exposed to the greatest players on the planet, Coached by the best becomeing some of the best.

Lets return to earth and look at youth hockey. One of the former teams my son played with was in Olean NY. It was a tier III team. my youngest had moved up to play AAA In Buffalo by htis time. I do not recall the Coaches name but he had been transfered to the area by his work but was a major youth Coach up in Montreol prior to taking on the team in Olean. I knew all these kids. Average kids from a small draw pool location. When they traveled northward to play in Buffalo and Canada they got Smoked.

This guy pretty much did what Headcoach talked about with his shooters. Many of them he converted to lefties(94's at Squirt age) in the first few days of practices. Parents were bent etc etc. This team finished the season winning the NY state A championship. One season, One Coach. How many on this board can say they hold a state champion patch? Anyone? This concept that you mock gave 17 young players who never dreamed of having one, something that can be cherish forever.

hahaha jk

 

[deanosaur]

guys, you can pick out the elite all you like. These guys have been exposed to the greatest players on the planet, Coached by the best becomeing some of the best.

Lets return to earth and look at youth hockey. One of the former teams my son played with was in Olean NY. It was a tier III team. my youngest had moved up to play AAA In Buffalo by htis time. I do not recall the Coaches name but he had been transfered to the area by his work but was a major youth Coach up in Montreol prior to taking on the team in Olean. I knew all these kids. Average kids from a small draw pool location. When they traveled northward to play in Buffalo and Canada they got Smoked.

This guy pretty much did what Headcoach talked about with his shooters. Many of them he converted to lefties(94's at Squirt age) in the first few days of practices. Parents were bent etc etc. This team finished the season winning the NY state A championship. One season, One Coach. How many on this board can say they hold a state champion patch? Anyone? This concept that you mock gave 17 young players who never dreamed of having one, something that can be cherish forever.

so these kids were like... what 6 when they converted over?
OBVIOUSLY ITS EASIER to change a kid whos just learning shooting and what not, its next to impossible if youve played hockey more than just a couple years.
state championship= canada provincail <--ive won many so i can say ive won something like that.
except for the fact that it happend when i was so young to be honest i dont overly care.

 

[Crosbyfan]

guys, you can pick out the elite all you like. These guys have been exposed to the greatest players on the planet, Coached by the best becomeing some of the best.

Lets return to earth and look at youth hockey. One of the former teams my son played with was in Olean NY. It was a tier III team. my youngest had moved up to play AAA In Buffalo by htis time. I do not recall the Coaches name but he had been transfered to the area by his work but was a major youth Coach up in Montreol prior to taking on the team in Olean. I knew all these kids. Average kids from a small draw pool location. When they traveled northward to play in Buffalo and Canada they got Smoked.

This guy pretty much did what Headcoach talked about with his shooters. Many of them he converted to lefties(94's at Squirt age) in the first few days of practices. Parents were bent etc etc. This team finished the season winning the NY state A championship. One season, One Coach. How many on this board can say they hold a state champion patch? Anyone? This concept that you mock gave 17 young players who never dreamed of having one, something that can be cherish forever.

What exactly did he do? Did he ask them which hand they write with, and make them shoot that way?

If so, your anecdote holds anecdotal weight.

If not....?

 

[Trepanated]

guys, you can pick out the elite all you like. These guys have been exposed to the greatest players on the planet, Coached by the best becomeing some of the best.

The point of picking out elite players was to rebut the unqualified assertion that switching to writing-hand-on-top would definitely make you a better shooter. He didn't say "many youth players can benefit from switching to this method". He didn't say "most people are better off with their writing hand on top, but it's still an individual thing that can vary from person to person". No, he simply said, in effect, make the switch, and you'll be better. Although in this case it came from a very knowledeable poster, I'm very wary of people who say "this method works for 100% of people in 100% of circumstances. Do it." I deliberately chose a dramatic counter-example simply to illustrate that there do exist some players who can be successful hockey players with their writing hand on the bottom of the stick.

Lets return to earth and look at youth hockey.

What does youth hockey have to do with anything? The OP, the one asking the question, is an adult rec league player who has been playing for 2 years (correct me if I'm wrong Phoenix). It's an entirely different situation than teenagers playing youth hockey, and must be treated differently.

edit: to be perfectly clear, I have absolutely no opposition to anyone switching shots. I have in no way mocked the idea, which I'm sure is beneficial in many situations. My point is simply that it is not beneficial in *every* situation.

 

[Headcoach]

What exactly did he do? Did he ask them which hand they write with, and make them shoot that way?

If so, your anecdote holds anecdotal weight.

If not....?

Ok Habitant, let's compare. I will, within the next couple of days, try to find out, how many stick are sold to left shooters compared to right shooters. I'm pretty sure a stick manufacture will have these figures on this.

I would guess to say, that more Canadien's shoot left and more American's shoot right. I will check this out and get back with you.

Head coach

 

[Trepanated]

Ok Habitant, let's compare. I will, within the next couple of days, try to find out, how many stick are sold to left shooters compared to right shooters. I'm pretty sure a stick manufacture will have these figures on this.

I would guess to say, that more Canadien's shoot left and more American's shoot right. I will check this out and get back with you.

Head coach

There was a recent thread on this forum that listed some sales figures for both. Far more lefty sticks are sold in Canada, and for more right sticks are sold in the US, as I recall. In the same thread I believe someone posted a link to an article that theorized that a lot of it is to do with when you first start playing. It basically said that if you start when you are very young (which is far more likely to happen in Canada), you will also be more inclined to put your dominant hand on top, because you need the strength to do so. If you pick don't pick up a hockey stick until later in life, and after you've already played baseball or golf -- which is the case for most Americans -- you're more likely to put your dominant hand on the bottom.

I don't know if that's true, but if it is it would add support to the idea that it's probably worthwhile to change a youth player to the "right" way, but it may not be worthwhile to try to change an adult player.

edit: I should really try to find that thread.

 

[Headcoach]

No, he simply said, in effect, make the switch, and you'll be better. Although in this case it came from a very knowledeable poster, I'm very wary of people who say "this method works for 100% of people in 100% of circumstances. Do it." I deliberately chose a dramatic counter-example simply to illustrate that there do exist some players who can be successful hockey players with their writing hand on the bottom of the stick.

If I am not mistaken, I think I said: "If you make the change, your shot will only improve!"

I don't recall saying that it was 100% a guarantee that it will work. And please don't mistake this for weakness thinking that I am recanting. This is not the case. However, from my past experience, I have come to recognize how players shoot, stance, leverage...etc, that they have been shown the improper way of shooting and generally it comes from poor coaching.

Generally this poor coaching starts in the pro-shop. Just because this guy (whomever) works in a pro-shop, doesn't mean that he / she knows what he / she is talking about. Mainly they are there to sell equipment, not teach you the fundemental and mechanics of shooting.

However, it would be logical for the seller to take a shooting course so that they make sure to ask the right questions. And, maybe a shooting course isn't the answer. Maybe just asking the right question and listening might be more important.

What does youth hockey have to do with anything?

This is generally where you see most of the problems. Yes, it doesn't pertain to this posting. I think he was trying to make a point that if this type of correction needs to be made, it should be at the youth level, where you see this problem all the time.

 

[Whiplash27]

Just go to a proshop, there are more lefthanded sticks. Kids who begin playing organized hockey at a young age will tend to play lefty because they are told so when they start.

However, kids/parents who don't know any better and never really played organized hockey will have their kid start out righthanded which is why you see many more mens league players playing righthanded. I shoot righthanded because my father brought me home a righthanded stick when I was a kid. I never played organized either, just pond & roller hockey. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I started playing organized hockey, so I was always used to playing righty and no one ever told me it was wrong since I was never coached.

I personally think people put way too much stock into the whole right/left handed thing. It may make a bit of a difference, but I think that if you're good, you're good. Playing one way or another isn't going to make that big of a difference. Players like Shanahan, Lemieux, and Iginla prove that point.

 

[Trepanated]

If I am not mistaken, I think I said: "If you make the change, your shot will only improve!"

I don't recall saying that it was 100% a guarantee that it will work.

Ehhh, no need to get into a big semantic thing here, but when someone says to me "your shot *WILL* improve" (emphasis added) I take them to mean it's a 100% chance. Otherwise, they would have said "your shot will probably improve" or "your shot is very likely to improve". But if you are claiming that you didn't intend it to mean that, no biggie. I'm certainly not going to make a huge thing out of it just because I think your choice of wording could have been better.

And please don't mistake this for weakness thinking that I am recanting. This is not the case. However, from my past experience, I have come to recognize how players shoot, stance, leverage...etc, that they have been shown the improper way of shooting and generally it comes from poor coaching.

I don't doubt that. Of course, for people who don't start until they are adults, the problem usually isn't poor coaching, it's no coaching.

Generally this poor coaching starts in the pro-shop. Just because this guy (whomever) works in a pro-shop, doesn't mean that he / she knows what he / she is talking about. Mainly they are there to sell equipment, not teach you the fundemental and mechanics of shooting.

Pro shop employees are so hit-or-miss it's incredible. And it can be very difficult for parents, or novice adult players, to know who is trustworthy.

This is generally where you see most of the problems. Yes, it doesn't pertain to this posting. I think he was trying to make a point that if this type of correction needs to be made, it should be at the youth level, where you see this problem all the time.

Well, if folks want to expand the original topic to discuss handedness in general and the problems of youth hockey instruction, I don't really have a problem with that. But let's be clear that we are no longer talking about the OP's question and have moved on to an entirely different topic.