General Ball Hockey Thread

[HockeyThoughts]

Played my first game of the season last night and wow can I not shoot a ball. Everything either low and wide or right into the bread basket. Any tips?

Practice, practice, practice.

You've got to continually shoot and stickhandle the ball both stationary and in motion to get a better idea of things like: how hard you want to strike the ball, where you want your hands to be on the stick for a slapper or wrister, or how much to toe drag to pick corners.

Shooting the ball is a lot different than shooting a puck. Kind of. It doesn't take the same strength and full body movement that a puck takes, but integrating what you know about shooting a puck (torquing..etc) into your ball hockey will only help in the accuracy and power of your shot.

Other notes:
-Don't tape the blade like you would for ice. You don't want the friction of the tape rubbing against the floor.

-Make sure you stick is a few inches smaller than your ice hockey stick.

-Try not to get under the ball, but rather try to push through the ball on a shot or hard pass.

-Ask your teammates to be vocal and communicate. It makes it a lot easier when you get the ball and someone on your team yells "TIME" and you know you can take an extra second or two to look up and really get some power into the shot you want. And on the flipside, it also helps to avoid some turnovers that occur when you try to pick a corner but really you only had time to one-time the ball.

 

[izzy]

Lost our first game like 11-7... Goalie usually does really well but he let in the easiest shots.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Won 3-2 in a shootout against the only undefeated team left in the standings. Our team killed a 5-3 in OT. Big win for us.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Had our first ball hockey playoff game last night. We lost 6-3 but the game was a lot closer then it seems like. This was by far the best game we've all played together. I unfortunately started the game out with a knee injury so my speed was brought down for nearly the whole game. The other team sure took up their physicality though. When I was chasing a dump in against their defender I notice he lowers his shoulder as we get closer to the boards which don't move much and the top half is a fence with metal poles, not something I want to hit into at full speed.

He got a piece of me but not enough to end my night thankfully. I gave him a cross check to the side because I was upset(mod edit) he tried something that stupid. 3rd period while racing for another ball, another one of their defenders tried to rub me out against the boards by their bench. My chest ended up by my knees.

Anyways I think we have a good chance next game. It's a best 2-of-3 series. Their 5th goal didn't even go in and the 6th was an empty netter. I think as long as my knee cooperates next game we'll have an even better chance. My line would be more effective if I could run properly.

 

[Brock Boeser]

Practice, practice, practice.

You've got to continually shoot and stickhandle the ball both stationary and in motion to get a better idea of things like: how hard you want to strike the ball, where you want your hands to be on the stick for a slapper or wrister, or how much to toe drag to pick corners.

Shooting the ball is a lot different than shooting a puck. Kind of. It doesn't take the same strength and full body movement that a puck takes, but integrating what you know about shooting a puck (torquing..etc) into your ball hockey will only help in the accuracy and power of your shot.

Other notes:
-Don't tape the blade like you would for ice. You don't want the friction of the tape rubbing against the floor.

-Make sure you stick is a few inches smaller than your ice hockey stick.

-Try not to get under the ball, but rather try to push through the ball on a shot or hard pass.

-Ask your teammates to be vocal and communicate. It makes it a lot easier when you get the ball and someone on your team yells "TIME" and you know you can take an extra second or two to look up and really get some power into the shot you want. And on the flipside, it also helps to avoid some turnovers that occur when you try to pick a corner but really you only had time to one-time the ball.

Thanks for the tips! Hopefully this helps me during our league and PlayOn. Too bad Edmonton sets it up with the most shoddiest cement you can find

 

[Boreal01]

It appears I haven't updated my progress for quite some time. So far we are 11-3-1 on the season.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Well my season is done. Have to wait until June for the next season to start. We lost 4-3 in OT in game 2 of the series to be knocked out. I scored the first goal of the game and got my first penalty of the season in the game as well. I'm surprised there wasn't a fight. Things got rough and lots of words and pushing were happening. We were a new team and finally came together for the last two games. Hopefully everyone is ready to go for the Summer season and we can do better. I know I'll be working on getting my left knee back up to speed.

 

[iFishyHD]

1 more game, then playoffs. I have one 2 straight championships. I don't see this team going very far, our 2 most "skilled" players have a knack not to pass, even when we could have the easy cross crease.

 

[maroon 6]

How do u guys put speed into a pass without the ball going up. I can handle and shoot perfectly fine but I'm having a lot of troubles in passing properly.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

How do u guys put speed into a pass without the ball going up. I can handle and shoot perfectly fine but I'm having a lot of troubles in passing properly.

Keep your stick on the ground on the follow through. But it's okay if the ball comes an inch or two off the ground.

 

[Lisze]

I find my team being outplayed constantly. we have some quality guys, and we should be able to at least compete with teams, but I find us getting outplayed often. Its a 4 on 4 league, and the main problem were having is we cant score goals. any tips on how to score more goals, or maybe just play better all round?

 

[JoeyBeans]

Starting Summer ball hockey tonight. full size court just like nhl size ice. 4on4.. cardio wont be able to handle it

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I find my team being outplayed constantly. we have some quality guys, and we should be able to at least compete with teams, but I find us getting outplayed often. Its a 4 on 4 league, and the main problem were having is we cant score goals. any tips on how to score more goals, or maybe just play better all round?

Since you can't move as fast as you would on the ice, it's harder to score goals on the rush. However, the goalie won't slide across the crease fast enough if you do a tic-tac-toe passing play. Go to the net, get some rebounds, deflect shots from the point and try to take hard, quick snapshots as much as possible. Keep your shots low, because the goalie will have a hard time to extend the pad. Nothing new here.

 

[nightfighter]

Starting Summer ball hockey tonight. full size court just like nhl size ice. 4on4.. cardio wont be able to handle it

have never heard of 4 on 4 on a nhl size rink that wasn't roller. Sounds insane.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

have never heard of 4 on 4 on a nhl size rink that wasn't roller. Sounds insane.

I used to play ball hockey 5 on 5 on a NHL sized rink when I was 14. I couldn't run for more than 3 laps around the rink

 

[JoeyBeans]

have never heard of 4 on 4 on a nhl size rink that wasn't roller. Sounds insane.

5on5 my mistake

 

[Jets]

i know this thread is slightly older and most leagues have started already but for goalies:

http://mitchellhockey.com/goalie-pad-covers/

saves your pads and can get sliders inside the legs to help with butterfly. Not quite the same as ice but I've been rocking them this year and last and they help a ton. A bit pricy though.

 

[NativeHockey77*]

Just wondering, anyone find people treating pickup games like they're Stanley Cup playoffs and being excessively rough? Lol

I love playing ball hockey but in fun pick up games where I live people take it too serious and are always on the verge to fight. People around here hack like their Phil Kessel and are intense like Lucic vs Weise. Is this isolated or is it like that everywhere?

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Just wondering, anyone find people treating pickup games like they're Stanley Cup playoffs and being excessively rough? Lol

I love playing ball hockey but in fun pick up games where I live people take it too serious and are always on the verge to fight. People around here hack like their Phil Kessel and are intense like Lucic vs Weise. Is this isolated or is it like that everywhere?

It's like that everywhere. Take it easy, and plant them in the scoreboard.

 

[izzy]

Eh, some people enjoy winning more than getting beaten.

 

[nightfighter]

i know this thread is slightly older and most leagues have started already but for goalies:

http://mitchellhockey.com/goalie-pad-covers/

saves your pads and can get sliders inside the legs to help with butterfly. Not quite the same as ice but I've been rocking them this year and last and they help a ton. A bit pricy though.

I prefer a slippery tape + leather cleaner solution. A lot less conspicuous and on polished concrete/wood floors I slide just as well as on ice.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Summer season is about to start. I kind of want our team to get new jersey's because our current shirts are black and we're playing outside in the sun. We're adding some new players and I've joined a gym to finally fix my knee and fitness issue. Our only win last season came in a shootout. This season I'm hoping we win at least one in regulation.

 

[izzy]

Anyone familiar with playon? Entering 19+ but not sure which we are going with division wise.

We are thinking bottom level since we have no idea what it's like, but I don't want to go down there just to beat a bunch of terrible teams...

 

[Boreal01]

Regular season is now finished, 20-8-2 record. Playoffs start Thursday.

 

[nightfighter]

Regular season is now finished, 20-8-2 record. Playoffs start Thursday.

Wow that's a long season.