Post Your Slapshot Video - Improve your shot

[Jarick]

Looks great, I'm still really jealous of the radar gun!

I was on kid duty all weekend, girlfriend took him out to her mom's for the night/day so I'll be at the shooting range as soon as the hangover subsides

I plan on trying two things whilst I'm there:

- keep top arm more straight, a HS hockey coach passed that along last week via one of my teammates

- generally using more shoulders and less arms, at least consciously

- instead of hitting the ground behind the puck, I'm going to just pretend the puck is several inches ahead of where I'm hitting, maybe that'll help me load up the stick more. I can flex it easy, and I know I have the strength, but I still don't see/feel it.

 

[FinHockey]

I think I have improved a lot. I shot new videos today:

 

[pistolpete31]

Nice velocity on those.

I noticed that you fall forward after your shot which means you are unbalanced, if you coiled back on your rear leg and use your legs more this will remedy this as well as adding about 15-20 mph on your shot.

I've seen small guys or tall skinny guys get lots of power and look surprisingly good for their body size with their shots because they use their legs.

What I mean by coiling back is like when you see a baseball player shift his weight to his hind leg just before swinging at the baseball. baseball batting is very similar to hockey shooting with respects to leg drive, weight shift and followthrough.

Power requires all body parts in an all in one motion from start to finish.

When I am done shooting a ton of shots my hamstrings, quads, rib muscles, hip muscles, shoulder muscles and lower back muscles feel the burn.

It is a total body shot for power. You'll know when you get it right when you shoot one and stop to look at your stick with a smile on your face muttering something like 'Wow ... that was awesome!'.

Thanks for the advice I will try it out, good point because I do feel unbalanced after i shoot so hopefully this helps

 

[Dump and Chase]

I think I have improved a lot. I shot new videos today:

Work on turning your hips to get some power. You are all arms in your shot.

When your power comes from below your belly button you will get more accurate. When all your power comes from your upper body you have no control and that is why your shot is all over the place.


PS - throw those shoes in a fire or at least give them to a homeless guy

 

[FinHockey]

PS - throw those shoes in a fire or at least give them to a homeless guy

No way. I just got them and they cost 45€. And they are legendary here in Finland.

E: And my shots were not the best I can get because I took some 100-150 floorball shots before shooting this vid and it kinda messes my shots everytime. I'm not going to shoot floorball ever again. + My hand started to hurt like hell for some reason in the middle of the videos.

I'll shoot new videos at wednesday/thursday because I'm getting a net to the backyard then.

 

[Jarick]

Took another video, measure this time, 28 feet, most of my shots got there in about 9 frames, equals 63.6 mph. One did get there in 8, which was 71.6 mph.

Overall, they're feeling a lot better...keeping the arms outstretched is an improvement and my balance seems better. Watching the video, I still think I need my bottom hand higher on the shaft and to hit before the puck, and I still need to rotate my torso a bit more. I also think I'm starting to figure out how to get the shoulders involved...maybe dipping the front shoulder a bit before the shot helps, I'm not sure.

With the wristers, I'm now flexing the stick a lot more, but my top hand is just tucked under my elbow and I need to be flexing the stick way earlier in the shot. Frankly, my wristers were awful today, way off, and I have no idea what was going on. Nothing felt good at all, not the weight transfer, not the wrist snapping, not the stick flexing, and they just felt super weak. Seems I've been neglecting them...or the weekend was too long.

This whippy stick has been fun, but what I'm learning is it's just about too whippy and the blade is a bit too curved. A lot of my shots are getting scooped up way too high. I tried a Forsberg blade and didn't like it at all, so I might either try my old #4 blade or try and raise funds for a #5. I've heard the Harrow 60 flex is not too whippy, so someday if they get that sale going again I'll pick up one of those combos, since my 75's are too stiff and need to be sold off.

 

[Hockeyfan68]

Took another video, measure this time, 28 feet, most of my shots got there in about 9 frames, equals 63.6 mph. One did get there in 8, which was 71.6 mph.

Overall, they're feeling a lot better...keeping the arms outstretched is an improvement and my balance seems better. Watching the video, I still think I need my bottom hand higher on the shaft and to hit before the puck, and I still need to rotate my torso a bit more. I also think I'm starting to figure out how to get the shoulders involved...maybe dipping the front shoulder a bit before the shot helps, I'm not sure.

With the wristers, I'm now flexing the stick a lot more, but my top hand is just tucked under my elbow and I need to be flexing the stick way earlier in the shot. Frankly, my wristers were awful today, way off, and I have no idea what was going on. Nothing felt good at all, not the weight transfer, not the wrist snapping, not the stick flexing, and they just felt super weak. Seems I've been neglecting them...or the weekend was too long.

This whippy stick has been fun, but what I'm learning is it's just about too whippy and the blade is a bit too curved. A lot of my shots are getting scooped up way too high. I tried a Forsberg blade and didn't like it at all, so I might either try my old #4 blade or try and raise funds for a #5. I've heard the Harrow 60 flex is not too whippy, so someday if they get that sale going again I'll pick up one of those combos, since my 75's are too stiff and need to be sold off.

Damn good balance ther mista! You have a nice shot mechanics too.

 

[The Benchwarmer]

Hey guys, England calling....

How do you get height on your slap shots? I think my technique is getting there and I've got pretty good speed but they almost always go along the ice or about 6" above. I'm 6ft with 87 flex Malkin curve stick. Sorry no vids.

 

[The Benchwarmer]

...and while I'm at it, is 87 flex about right for me? A lot of people talk of 60 and 70 flex sticks on here.

 

[Hrad]

...and while I'm at it, is 87 flex about right for me? A lot of people talk of 60 and 70 flex sticks on here.

We don't know your height/age/weight.

Unless I just missed it somewhere

 

[The Benchwarmer]

We don't know your height/age/weight.

Unless I just missed it somewhere

6ft, 39, 220lbs on a bad day.

 

[Synergy27]

Hey guys, England calling....

How do you get height on your slap shots? I think my technique is getting there and I've got pretty good speed but they almost always go along the ice or about 6" above. I'm 6ft with 87 flex Malkin curve stick. Sorry no vids.

It's nice to go top cheese, but honestly, it's best to keep slappers right in the height range yours are going right now. Low level goalies have a harder time blocking shots with their legs than with their gloves, and you'll get all sorts of rebounds at that height.

If you really want to get the puck up though, just think about the mechanics of the shot. You want to make contact with the face of your blade "open", i.e., slanted slightly up rather than down towards the ice. The net result is that you are essentially digging under the puck at contact and imparting some upward momentum. Try moving the puck towards your front foot and rotating your bottom wrist towards the sky a little on the follow through.

 

[Jarick]

With all the comments about my stick being too short (even though it's at my nose in bare feet), I tried a stick that was about eye height last night. As I said in the other thread (damn I wish that stick didn't break, I was going to put a nasty toe kink on it), it was 87 flex, so quite a bit stiffer.

First thing I noticed was that it felt a lot better. I have abnormally wide shoulders, and I'm not sure what my "wingspan" is but I wouldn't be surprised if it's for somebody a lot taller than my height. As such, I've always been told to keep my hands shoulder spaced apart, and when I do that I'm halfway down the stick, but when shooting I naturally drop the hand much lower.

So with the stick 2-3" longer, I noticed I don't have to consciously move the hands around and I'm bending the stick closer to the halfway point, plus I can flex it more due to the additional length. I'm really curious to see how this works on ice too.

Velocity - seemed to go up for both slap and wrist shots. Don't know if it's the length or the flex (probably the flex), but the shots were very hard. Definitely going to bring the camera out and try again.

Accuracy - at first it was way off, since the only curve was a 5 lie PM9 and I'm used to a 6 lie mid hook, but by basically cupping the blade almost flat on the ground, I was able to hit within 3" of my target 9 out of 10 shots on wristers. With slappers, it was a little more hit or miss, but I wasn't focused on them so much.

The other thing I did with wrist shots was try and emulate the Cammalleri video more. Notice when he sets his stick down, it goes up to his nose in skates, a longer stick. He brings the puck back quite a ways but his arms are low to the ground and the blade is cupped way over the puck, almost flat to the ice. But his shot itself is fairly quick, he doesn't have a big exaggerated motion, he just stays in one spot and makes a quick and efficient shooting motion. And frankly, that's how I typically shoot without thinking, which of course was a lot more comfortable and natural.

And as I said elsewhere, I also took some wrist shots standing on one foot, and frankly they had more velocity and accuracy than the ones in the above video. I'm refining my theory of weight transfer to split forward momentum and stick loading, so it's not just moving forward but moving weight into the stick. And that means quicker and harder release.

Busy tonight, but if it's nice out I'll bring the camcorder out on Thursday and see how it looks on film. Very cool stuff.

 

[Jumbo*]

Took another video, measure this time, 28 feet, most of my shots got there in about 9 frames, equals 63.6 mph. One did get there in 8, which was 71.6 mph.

Overall, they're feeling a lot better...keeping the arms outstretched is an improvement and my balance seems better. Watching the video, I still think I need my bottom hand higher on the shaft and to hit before the puck, and I still need to rotate my torso a bit more. I also think I'm starting to figure out how to get the shoulders involved...maybe dipping the front shoulder a bit before the shot helps, I'm not sure.

With the wristers, I'm now flexing the stick a lot more, but my top hand is just tucked under my elbow and I need to be flexing the stick way earlier in the shot. Frankly, my wristers were awful today, way off, and I have no idea what was going on. Nothing felt good at all, not the weight transfer, not the wrist snapping, not the stick flexing, and they just felt super weak. Seems I've been neglecting them...or the weekend was too long.

This whippy stick has been fun, but what I'm learning is it's just about too whippy and the blade is a bit too curved. A lot of my shots are getting scooped up way too high. I tried a Forsberg blade and didn't like it at all, so I might either try my old #4 blade or try and raise funds for a #5. I've heard the Harrow 60 flex is not too whippy, so someday if they get that sale going again I'll pick up one of those combos, since my 75's are too stiff and need to be sold off.

Slap shot is ok, Wrist shot needs a lot of work.

 

[Hrad]

Hey guys I was thinking about getting a radar gun but I'm not sure if it's worth nearly $150.

How do you guys count the frames to get the speed? I posted my video a while back...

Like I get that you do the #Frames X Distance = Speed (or something) but where do you find out how many frames your camera does/takes per second?

 

[Whiplash27]

Hey guys I was thinking about getting a radar gun but I'm not sure if it's worth nearly $150.

How do you guys count the frames to get the speed? I posted my video a while back...

Like I get that you do the #Frames X Distance = Speed (or something) but where do you find out how many frames your camera does/takes per second?

I believe most cameras allow you to set it, otherwise, 25-30 fps is your standard video.

 

[Hrad]

I believe most cameras allow you to set it, otherwise, 25-30 fps is your standard video.

Ok well I just tried using a stopwatch while looking @ the video and I'm getting speeds between 74.25MPH and 49.5 MPH

So I'm going to guess I'm right around the 60MPH mark...Maybe I should get a radar gun...

 

[dre2112]

man, a lot of you guys have your head down way too long. If you're good enough you should be eying the net and not the puck when you make contact

 

[The Benchwarmer]

No way. I just got them and they cost 45€. And they are legendary here in Finland.

LOL that still doesn't make them right!! Mulletts were fashionable once, that doesn't mean you should ever have had one. Sometimes you just need a big slice of common sense and resist a fashion fopar.

 

[Jerry Lundegaard]

wingmanrob,

a hard, low slapshot is key..

If you want to add height, dont for get to follow through and aim where you want the puck to go. Personally, I make contact with the ice a little further back for a low shot and closer if i want height.

 

[The Benchwarmer]

wingmanrob,

a hard, low slapshot is key..

If you want to add height, dont for get to follow through and aim where you want the puck to go. Personally, I make contact with the ice a little further back for a low shot and closer if i want height.

Yeah I hear you, but I guess because I cant get the puck high makes me wonder why. The only thing I can think of that I need to try is getting the puck closer to my leading leg, currently when I hit the puck it's pretty much inbetween my legs evenly.

 

[MJAYK]

I received my x40 today. It's a 77 flex with a P92 backstrom blade. It has also got a new color scheme. The shaft is white and black with some red text. Looks sexy as hell. I didn't even have to cut it, which is a bonus since my last 2 sticks went from bearable to unbearably stiff when i cut them (the x40 is below my lower lip with my skates on, uncut!).

Took some wristers and boy, i always knew i had the mechanics down, since i played hockey as a junior but i had always had akwardly stiff sticks that only allowed my slapshot to be decent. I'll tell you what, they were CANNONS, i mean damn. Must suck for the goalie when i join the team next season for practice, and he expects the new guy to have a rusty wristshot and a snapshot.

I can honestly tell you that im a beast shotwise compared to what it used to be with my 90+ flex sticks. I currently weigh 77 kilos so me and the stick are a match made in heaven.

 

[Razzmatazz]

If you had the strength to get enough flex on a 105 flex stick, the shot would be much harder than that of a 75 flex stick, am I correct?

 

[Jarick]

Seems that way, yeah. If you're ultra efficient with your mechanics, you can get more out of a whippier flex, but I think for the majority of people that like to power through their shot at least somewhat, a stiffer flex certainly can produce a harder shot if you can still flex it.

I'm going back to my 75 flex sticks for shooting this weekend (if I ever get over this cold). An extra 2-3" in length and the stiffer flex should really be fun.

 

[jsykes]

If you had the strength to get enough flex on a 105 flex stick, the shot would be much harder than that of a 75 flex stick, am I correct?

Not necessarily, its all about how you use the stick. Ovi uses a 70ish flex stick and I'm sure he is more than strong enough to use a 100+ if he wanted, but he finds that he likes the whip he gets from the soft stick. I think the speed of his shots is quite clear.