Sanderson
Registered User
Dominant hand on top seems like the most logical choice, though obviously if someone got used to doing it differently that's perfectly fine as well.
You stickhandle with your top-hand, as you have a far bigger reach that way. If you use the bottom hand to control the movements, you have a much more limited reach and can't pick up any puck that is more than maybe two foot away from you. If you have your strong hand at the bottom, and try to extend your reach by letting go with one hand, you suddenly control everything with your weaker hand while your strong hand becomes useless.
Seeing how you control the puck far longer than you shoot, it seems to make much more sense to me to opt for control over a bit more power.
While shooting with your strong hand at the bottom does give you more power, it's really not the deciding factor. A proper weight shift, swing and stick-flex will be much more helpful than the tiny bit more power your strong arm has. Now, if you have perfected all that and use your strong hand at the bottom, your shot will be even stronger, but overall, a perfected stance will lead to a stronger shot than just using your stronger hand without the correct stance. Beyond that, the accuracy of a shot depends on your top hand, especially for wristshots and backhands, as you roll your top hand while making the shot.
In short, your stronger hand at top should give you more control of the puck and a better accuracy while shooting, while the stronger hand at the bottom should give you a harder shot. With the word should being important, as changing what a person has gotten used to will probably just screw up everything and make things worse, not better.
You stickhandle with your top-hand, as you have a far bigger reach that way. If you use the bottom hand to control the movements, you have a much more limited reach and can't pick up any puck that is more than maybe two foot away from you. If you have your strong hand at the bottom, and try to extend your reach by letting go with one hand, you suddenly control everything with your weaker hand while your strong hand becomes useless.
Seeing how you control the puck far longer than you shoot, it seems to make much more sense to me to opt for control over a bit more power.
While shooting with your strong hand at the bottom does give you more power, it's really not the deciding factor. A proper weight shift, swing and stick-flex will be much more helpful than the tiny bit more power your strong arm has. Now, if you have perfected all that and use your strong hand at the bottom, your shot will be even stronger, but overall, a perfected stance will lead to a stronger shot than just using your stronger hand without the correct stance. Beyond that, the accuracy of a shot depends on your top hand, especially for wristshots and backhands, as you roll your top hand while making the shot.
In short, your stronger hand at top should give you more control of the puck and a better accuracy while shooting, while the stronger hand at the bottom should give you a harder shot. With the word should being important, as changing what a person has gotten used to will probably just screw up everything and make things worse, not better.