Advice: Slap Shot advice

[JR97]

Lots of good advise. Where the stick flexes makes a difference as well. I'll echo someone's comments that the low kick stick took lift off of my slapper. I get much more lift with my mid-kick. The only time I take slappers is warm up and from the point, so keeping them is my objective anyway so I've just stuck with the low kick stick.

 

[ChiTownHawks]

I find that grabbing the shaft lower and taking a little less backswing helps get those slappers up. When I get long and loopy with the shot it stays on the ice.

 

[panner20]

Haven't had achance to read the entire thread... but people think I have a pretty good slap shot, and if I was giving advice the one thing I would mention is "CONFIDENCE". You need to have a confidence or belief when winding up and taking a a big slap shot. I know it sounds a little wishy-washy... but I strongly think you need a to believe in your ability. I see too many people that don't bring enough "violence" to the slap shot. Don't be tentative, f*/cking (((BLAST))) that thing with everything you got!! Good Luck!!!

 

[Wilch]

Haven't had achance to read the entire thread... but people think I have a pretty good slap shot, and if I was giving advice the one thing I would mention is "CONFIDENCE". You need to have a confidence or belief when winding up and taking a a big slap shot. I know it sounds a little wishy-washy... but I strongly think you need a to believe in your ability. I see too many people that don't bring enough "violence" to the slap shot. Don't be tentative, f*/cking (((BLAST))) that thing with everything you got!! Good Luck!!!

To sort of elaborate on your point.

1. People are afraid of being too hard on their stick. Don't be. They're made to take these kind of punishments.
2. Confidence roots from practice. So practice, if my point wasn't obvious enough.

Some other advices.

Like others have mentioned, you can try grabbing a bit lower with your bottom hand and taking half swings.

Try digging around on Youtube, there's quite a few useful tutorials on there.

 

[Ruhnie]

Haven't had achance to read the entire thread... but people think I have a pretty good slap shot, and if I was giving advice the one thing I would mention is "CONFIDENCE". You need to have a confidence or belief when winding up and taking a a big slap shot. I know it sounds a little wishy-washy... but I strongly think you need a to believe in your ability. I see too many people that don't bring enough "violence" to the slap shot. Don't be tentative, f*/cking (((BLAST))) that thing with everything you got!! Good Luck!!!

I totally agree that confidence is huge with making things work on the ice. However I have to disagree with the sentiment that more "violence" in your shot will magically make it better. Proper shooting mechanics are infinitely more important than how hard you smack the puck. In fact, if you use a low-kick stick it's even more important to not try to hit it too hard unless you have perfect mechanics, you really have to let the stick do the work for you. I often find that when my adrenaline is going and I try to kill the puck, it ends up fluttering or going reeeeally wide. Just my 2 cents though.

 

[Jarick]

Try switching to a heel curve...worked for me. I started using the Lidstrom curve religiously but can't get it anymore. The getzlaf curve is nearly identical.

FYI it is the same curve, just a different name as Lidstrom switched to Warrior.

 

[gosinger]

This is how our coach explained the slap-shot to beginners a few days ago during practice, you might try it:

1) Attack the puck at an angle (about 45°), head for it in the middle of your body - this way you don't have to twist awkwardly and still get plenty of power in
2) When shooting, get your body over the puck, if you lean forward into your stick you get increased flex
3) The point of contact for the blade and the puck determines the lift (on most mid-/heel- curves), towards the toe results in more lift and power, towards the heel in a grounded puck
4) Find the best lower hand position for your stick (depends on knee-bend, stick-length, and so on), just shoot a couple pucks and once you get one where you think "holy ***** how did I do that?" just look at your stick where your lower hand is (most sticks you'll end up between some letters on the brand-label). It might also help to single-wrap some stick-tape around that area so you feel the perfect spot without having to look.

I hope that helps, a few newer players really benefited from this advice and were finally able to get some lift out of their shots.

 

[r3cc0s]

outside of having time on the point... usually you never really have the time to line up a slapper as you would during practice...

though I agree with the traditional setup... i.e. puck 3 inchess off the front toe area, the appropiate weight transition and typical contact...

if you are taking a shot on the rush, or a one timer, without much time, I'd suggest you setup as best as you can, where you know you have a proper hockey positon and can transition your weight to your front stick

if coming in, ya... at an angle will give you better options

getting good wood on the puck is the most important...


1. lower your bottom hand to the point on your stick where you maximize your accuracy and your power... this is different on different sticks, lengths and for different players

2. hit the puck with the heel of the blade just before the puck, the slapshot is more of a shaft loading shot, and you transition the most power through the heel...
It feels as if you are hitting the shot with the puck right on the shaft, right on the palm of your lower hand

the release is where it comes off your stick, through the blade... where you point where it to go (unless you leave it open blade to get the puck up fast)

3. biggest one for me is making sure you are cupping the blade, by bending your wrists and keeping the blade closed

usually if my shot fails me, its this... even if I make partial contact with the puck, it will still fly better than if I attempt to hit a puck with a partially open blade

its called a clapper, of think of clapping the puck with a closed blade...
there are people who dont' have to do this, as they have good enough timing to close the blade at impact, but for consistancy sakes... keeping the blade closed makes me more consistant

 

[nolan91]

Make sure you've got solid balance and are going from your back leg and driving through by twisting your torso and shifting to your front leg. I also find that for more power it helps if i focus on keeping my elbow tucked close.

You shouldn't need overwhelming power to raise the puck unless you're in peewee, so i suggest if raising slappers is your goal to focus on shifting your weight making good contact before the puck and following through high.

 

[krax]

Maybe the problem is that we dont "follow through" enough.

Very important point.

To the OP: can you do a decent wrister? Work from there. Just add a little more slap and do follow through. The body/leg work is not that different whan comparing a wrister to a slapshot.

 

[Jarick]

After working on my slapper for nearly two hours the other night, the "drive through with the bottom hand" thing is huge.

I found that keeping the bottom arm straighter and bottom hand lower on the shaft was big. So much that I added a couple inches to my stick to make it more comfortable with wider hands. I feel like I'm flexing my bicep and forearm muscles, not dead straight but closer to 150 degrees or so, and then with my windup it's more vertical than it was before. Kind of like my golf swing, seems better when I'm more vertical and less horizontal.

Not perfect, but better. Maybe approaching respectability.

 

[jazzykat]

Mine are moving towards reasonable. However, the stick seems to rotate causing the blade to open a bit when I strike the ice causing me to lose a bit of power and "loop" the shot up instead of blasting it like a laser. I am holding the stick as tight as I can.

Does my bottom hand need to be stronger?

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Find the proper stick for you. Make sure it isn't cut to a forwards length, some guys will cut their sticks around their chin if they play forward for stick handling(also makes it stiffer). Figure out where you like the puck in your stance, you can figure this out pretty easily by getting a buddy to throw you some one time passes in practice. Some guys like it in the middle, some closer to the front or back. While doing this try taking it slow and taking half slappers, only go up to your waste on the backswing until you really get the feel. It's surprisingly effective only going half way and it's a much quicker release.(Cody Franson). The last part I'd say is try keeping the puck low. Say, 3.5 feet and lower. It's harder,easier to tip and you won't take someone's head off.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Mine are moving towards reasonable. However, the stick seems to rotate causing the blade to open a bit when I strike the ice causing me to lose a bit of power and "loop" the shot up instead of blasting it like a laser. I am holding the stick as tight as I can.

Does my bottom hand need to be stronger?

Never hold the stick as tight as you can. You want it firm but don't "choke" it. I used to teach golf and that's actually the biggest mistake people make. That goes for golf,hockey,tennis etc. Too much tension in your hands is bad because it locks up your muscles, tends to make you stop breathing(holding your breath) which leads to bad hand-eye coordination. When you think of the term "soft hands" referring to a slick hockey player, you definitely don't think of a tense player gripping his stick really hard, right? I'd look at doing some forearm workouts. I used to do a pretty simple one that's common. Tie a shoelace to a weight(water jugs work too) and tie the other end to a bar/hockey stick/whatever you can find. Have the weight on the floor, roll your wrists so the lace tightens and the weight starts coming towards your hands, then when it gets to the top, do the opposite motion so it goes back down to the floor. It's extremely tiring.

Sorry If I gave a bad explanation but that's an example of what I was talking about.

 

[jazzykat]

Find the proper stick for you. Make sure it isn't cut to a forwards length, some guys will cut their sticks around their chin if they play forward for stick handling(also makes it stiffer). Figure out where you like the puck in your stance, you can figure this out pretty easily by getting a buddy to throw you some one time passes in practice. Some guys like it in the middle, some closer to the front or back. While doing this try taking it slow and taking half slappers, only go up to your waste on the backswing until you really get the feel. It's surprisingly effective only going half way and it's a much quicker release.(Cody Franson). The last part I'd say is try keeping the puck low. Say, 3.5 feet and lower. It's harder,easier to tip and you won't take someone's head off.

My stick is to my top lip in bare feet. Everything else is ok. The rotation happens about 50% of the time.

 

[VaughanBender72]

I have my stick inbetween my nose and lip on skates could that be a problem, my slappers have good power but they're on the ice and not being raised.

 

[STC]

I would say just don't take them. You don't need a slapshot to play adult hockey and odds are if you haven't played your whole life and learned how to do it as a kid you won't ever get good enough at them to be accurate or effective with them. You'll just end up being another bender getting his shots blocked most of the time and the ones that get through will be head high into traffic.

A good accurate wrist shot from the point is much more affective than a novice clapper.

I have a good slapshot and play forward. If I take 3 slappers a year that's a lot for me.

 

[Xavier Laflamme*]

You may be hooding the blade to much as well? Everyone else has given you great advice and provided video tutorials and what not, so I would just follow that advice. However, I noticed when I hooded the blade, it kept the puck much lower to the ice and when I would open the blade, I would get plenty of elevation on the puck. It was all about practicing after that.

 

[sanityplease]

I have my stick inbetween my nose and lip on skates could that be a problem, my slappers have good power but they're on the ice and not being raised.

That's pretty long.

http://www.cuthockeysticks.com/
http://crosseduphockey.blogspot.ca/2013/03/hockey-stick-length.html

 

[wehojp84]

I was having a similar issue as the OP, not being able to get my slap shots off the ice.

I figured out I wasn't getting enough flex on my stick because I was standing up a little bit on my down swing (kind of like golf, you need to make sure your torso stays down and doesn't jerk up at all). Make sure you have a good knee bend, weight transfer, and don't stand up!

Once I focused on hitting behind the puck and not standing up I noticed I was getting the proper flex on my stick and the puck was lifting off the ice to wherever I was aiming.

Also while you're honing in on your technique, make sure you're not taking too big of a back swing, nothing higher than your waist/shoulder level. If your technique is right you should still have plenty of power and you will also have a faster release.

 

[karihinta]

After re-taping my blade with white tape and doing a couple of slappers, I see that the puck always hits the heel of the blade, thus not getting any lift.

Is this a puck placement issue or something to do with the blade itself? I place the puck around the middle of my skates with a decent amount of distance from them.

I'm 5"10/170lbs and sporting a crappy composite with 90 flex.

 

[jazzykat]

After re-taping my blade with white tape and doing a couple of slappers, I see that the puck always hits the heel of the blade, thus not getting any lift.

Is this a puck placement issue or something to do with the blade itself? I place the puck around the middle of my skates with a decent amount of distance from them.

I'm 5"10/170lbs and sporting a crappy composite with 90 flex.

can you borrow a stick from a friend with a lower flex? if so try it.

I'm your height and 195. I use a 75 flex cut down so it has an equivalent of 90 flex.

my guess is that you cut your stick too, putting it over 100 flex. so unless you have awesome technique I imagine you're not flexing the stick enough.

 

[karihinta]

can you borrow a stick from a friend with a lower flex? if so try it.

I'm your height and 195. I use a 75 flex cut down so it has an equivalent of 90 flex.

my guess is that you cut your stick too, putting it over 100 flex. so unless you have awesome technique I imagine you're not flexing the stick enough.

Mine is actually a cut-down 85er. The stick's chart indicates that it's currently at 91 flex.

I'll get a spare 75 flex stick from a good friend of mine soon and see how that affects my slapper.

 

[jazzykat]

That's more reasonable if your stick is an actual 90. Fundamentally, it's all about practice and repetition of good things but I can tell you from experience if you try to learn with a stick that is too hard it is veryr frustrating.

 

[CarpeNoctem]

I like to think power through the bottom hand. I'm top hand dominant and try to get too much top hand involved on my slappers which makes them suck more. When I grip tight with my bottom hand and drive through, they have more power and a quicker release.

I also flex the muscles in core and arms just before shooting. Like to think that helps me power through the shot.


What stick, flex, and curve are you using?

Good advice. The bottom hand does a lot of the work. But I wonder if the shooter is feeling some strain in his lower back after taking a lot of slappers. If not, he's not rotating his trunk enough. That's where the real power comes from.

I know exactly where you are coming from. Even though i try to slap the ice "behind" the puck it still always never gains flight. Ill be watching this thread closely

Maybe the problem is that we dont "follow through" enough.

You should only be looking 1-2 inches behind the puck. Look at where you want to strike the ice, NOT the puck. Once you strike the ice and make contact with the puck, turn your wrists over, same idea as the wrister here, then look up at where you want to shoot. Reach and point, extend on the follow through.

Qualifications: 85+ mph slapper (when I had time to play more than 3 times a month) at 185 lbs.