Quote:
Originally Posted by Rebels21
ok so as a defensive man when i step up to the puck carrier i generally have the problem of going for the hit and getting burnt. im solid at playing the guy outside when he skates to the boards and playing him from there but if he goes inside i have trouble doing anything to stop it. i miss the hit when i go to change direction from backwards to forwards. when im transitioning the player will usually step around me or as I said before, ill miss the hit. Any advice?
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Probably the best advice I can offer is just for you to change your mindset when defending a player.
Your primary goal shouldn't be to "hit" the guy, or to try to knock him into next Wednesday......it should be just to separate the player from the puck.
If you can do that best with your stick (stick on puck, stick on stick), do that......if the situation gives you the opportunity to apply body contact, then do that.
But the point of the body contact should be to force the player to either lose control of the puck, or at the very least to force him into a direction he doesn't want to go where you have more defensive support and he has less chance of creating a quality scoring chance.
You don't need to knock him off his feet to accomplish this. A relatively light push with your arm, shoulder, or hip (making sure your body is still relatively facing the puck) to bump the player off the puck so that either you or a teammate can pick it up is all you need, and leaves you in much better position to defend more or try again should you miss.