The RinkFor the not so ready for prime-time players, coaches, referees, and the people that have to live with them. Discuss experiences in local leagues, coaching tips, equipment, and training.
I'm still relatively new to the game, having only started skating last summer. And while I'm taking 3 different skating lessons a week, in addition to a game or two, the one thing that stands out is that my skating is rapidly improving, while my stickwork is not.
I still get that "Oh god, please don't pass to me!" feeling every time I'm out there, and it's probably why I enjoy playing defense so much.
What kind of setup should I look at for setting up something at home to practice my stickwork, and have something to shoot on/against.
My basement is fully finished and has low ceilings, the driveway is pretty steep. but I have a covered back deck I'm looking at as a possibility. I would obviously need to put some flat wood down as a base, then some sort of skill pad/synthetic ice thing.
The question I have is the shoes. Without skates I would be a few inches shorter. Should I get a "dryland stick" which is shorter to compensate? How do you practice the weight transfer of shots, especially the slapshot, in just shoes. I have an old pair of speed skate style inlines, should I wear them to compensate for those things?
I've seen a few YouTube videos where people have made their own skill pads on the cheap. Are those good enough for a beginner, or if I can afford it, would I get more out of something like Tape 2 Tape?
Has anybody used a shooting tarp like this? http://www.hockeyshot.com/Hockey_Sho...t-tarp-015.htm I'd need something like that on the side of the porch to keep from pegging the neighbor's house. Seems a bit expensive compared to just a regular tarp, but then again, I don't know how much beating a regular tarp could take.
I know there's a lot of questions in this, but just looking for suggestions and guidance in nailing down the one aspect of the game I fear so much, actually touching the puck.
(just added a new video with the 3rd sheet added, on post #12)
EDIT: Yes I use a stick cut to length when I have my shoes on, I dont use my ice hockey sticks for my skillpad. Just some old woodies that I don't use anymore, I make them my certified "garage sticks", cut to my chin on shoes.
A golf ball or smartball will help tremendously. I use the same stick I use in the game, the height doesn't really mess with me when I get on the ice and do it.
Make sure to practice with your head up, or even eyes closed. It's easy to take the puck from somebody staring down at it.
Using your stick that you use on the ice should help you...You'll get used to the stick being a couple inches taller, and when you put your skates on your stick will feel a lot shorter and you should be able to stick-handle better.
A golf ball or smartball will help tremendously. I use the same stick I use in the game, the height doesn't really mess with me when I get on the ice and do it.
Make sure to practice with your head up, or even eyes closed. It's easy to take the puck from somebody staring down at it.
The height doesnt bother you? I think that's the biggest drawback on SmartHockey balls, they're 'taller' than pucks, so when you move back and forth, you overcompensate for the height.
I have a "dryland" stick that's a few inches shorter and quite a bit heavier than my actual stick.
At least 3x a week I'll try to spend a minimum of 10 minutes (usually winds up being close to an hour about 5x a week) stickhandling in the garage... walking through obstacles, doing "protect-the-puck" stances, headfakes, toe drags etc etc.
I have a sheet of plyboard that I sprayed with some kind of non-greasy sliding coating (I forget what it was) that simulates ice a little better than the concrete in the garage. It's a small piece, so I usually only use it to practice saucer passes and the lacrosse move I used to have a piece of plexiglass that was perfect, but being a teenager at the time I didn't realize that taking a slapshot on a glass surface *might* cause the glass to shatter!
The height doesnt bother you? I think that's the biggest drawback on SmartHockey balls, they're 'taller' than pucks, so when you move back and forth, you overcompensate for the height.
Better than nothing and still smaller than a tennis ball or road hockey ball. SmartHockey ball is great, definitely recommend them. If you have a hard concrete wall to bounce off then its a good way to work on pass & receive. But don't use with slapshots unless you like to go searching for you ball.
I found golf balls to be way too bouncy on hard surfaces.
The height doesnt bother you? I think that's the biggest drawback on SmartHockey balls, they're 'taller' than pucks, so when you move back and forth, you overcompensate for the height.
The height doesn't really bother me as far as the smart ball goes. The thing I like most about it is the weight is pretty damn close to an actual puck and the glide feels fairly similar, whereas a golf ball is way too light, but right around the right height. I switch it up though, use the golf ball for speed, the smarthockey ball for feel.
As far as the flypucks go, I haven't really liked them, but maybe I just haven't found the right surface to use them on.
Yeah I have heard of those wooden balls before. For stickhandling you can get a dry erase board, or just walk up and down the isles at home depot and look for something big, cheap and smooth.
Basically stickhandle with anything that slightly represents a pucks size. I've used pucks, tennis balls, crushed pop cans, crumpled up pieces of paper! No matter what you will be practicing, and repeating the movements involved in stickhandling and it will help a bit.
Once you get the movements down you can do something like this
Has anybody used a shooting tarp like this? http://www.hockeyshot.com/Hockey_Sho...t-tarp-015.htm I'd need something like that on the side of the porch to keep from pegging the neighbor's house. Seems a bit expensive compared to just a regular tarp, but then again, I don't know how much beating a regular tarp could take.
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When I was younger I at a friends place we got some big old blankets from the thrift store and tied them up between two trees. Then practiced shooting off of a chunk of MDF board (really smooth sheet of wood)
In my barn I stapled down a big piece of linoleum flooring that I got from the dump
Later on I got a piece of arena board for free from the rink
The height doesn't really bother me as far as the smart ball goes. The thing I like most about it is the weight is pretty damn close to an actual puck and the glide feels fairly similar, whereas a golf ball is way too light, but right around the right height. I switch it up though, use the golf ball for speed, the smarthockey ball for feel.
As far as the flypucks go, I haven't really liked them, but maybe I just haven't found the right surface to use them on.
Ive used a Smartball for 2 seasons now and while its a great way to warmup before games, I dont really recommend it as training. If it works for you, great
One thing about the glide, the glide of the puck on fresh ice is different at different points in the game
I'm pretty lucky. I have vinyl tiles in the basement and I do a lot of stickwork down there. IMO "hands" are about flexability and strength more than just some natural gift. So your hands could get a lot better if you do a little stickhandling every day.
I use a weighted puck and go 30 degrees around my body. I do about 10 dekes back and fouth until my wrists hurt and then start over. For example... I'm right handed so I start in front of my left foot, then if front of me, right foot, then on my right side, in back of my right foot and then twist and stick handle in back of me. After that I slip the puck through my feet and start again. Then I do long sweeps back and forth in front of me and on my side. After that I kind of walk in place while stickhandling. Sounds dumb but even at the pro level you see players that need to stop their feet to handle the puck. Playing foot hockey (not roller) with local kids can help that too. It forces players to move their hands and feet at the same time.
I also use a chair also. Stickhandling in front of yourself while going in between chair legs will get you used to stickhandling around poke checks and between a defenders stick and body. On the side can mimic going between a players legs.
Also practice your toe drag. Not only on you side but in front of you and in back of you.
After a while these movements become 2nd nature so when a defender comes to you you won't even have to think about how to slip by him. Add this to skating mobility and puck protection and you should be a pretty flashy one on one player.
Add moving the puck to line mates and then supporting the puck and thats when your game should really take off. IMO thats the big thing good players have over bad players.
I'm pretty lucky. I have vinyl tiles in the basement and I do a lot of stickwork down there. IMO "hands" are about flexability and strength more than just some natural gift. So your hands could get a lot better if you do a little stickhandling every day.
I use a weighted puck and go 30 degrees around my body. I do about 10 dekes back and fouth until my wrists hurt and then start over. For example... I'm right handed so I start in front of my left foot, then if front of me, right foot, then on my right side, in back of my right foot and then twist and stick handle in back of me. After that I slip the puck through my feet and start again. Then I do long sweeps back and forth in front of me and on my side. After that I kind of walk in place while stickhandling. Sounds dumb but even at the pro level you see players that need to stop their feet to handle the puck. Playing foot hockey (not roller) with local kids can help that too. It forces players to move their hands and feet at the same time.
I also use a chair also. Stickhandling in front of yourself while going in between chair legs will get you used to stickhandling around poke checks and between a defenders stick and body. On the side can mimic going between a players legs.
Also practice your toe drag. Not only on you side but in front of you and in back of you.
After a while these movements become 2nd nature so when a defender comes to you you won't even have to think about how to slip by him. Add this to skating mobility and puck protection and you should be a pretty flashy one on one player.
Add moving the puck to line mates and then supporting the puck and thats when your game should really take off. IMO thats the big thing good players have over bad players.
This sounds almost exactly like one of the articles I was about to write, I didn't know anyone else did the walk "walk in place" thing but it helps you get used to "moving" while doing the moves. I also run in place a bit when practicing shooting, it does help. Great tips!
Yeah I have heard of those wooden balls before. For stickhandling you can get a dry erase board, or just walk up and down the isles at home depot and look for something big, cheap and smooth.
Basically stickhandle with anything that slightly represents a pucks size. I've used pucks, tennis balls, crushed pop cans, crumpled up pieces of paper! No matter what you will be practicing, and repeating the movements involved in stickhandling and it will help a bit.
Once you get the movements down you can do something like this
Here are a few drills
Just tried this today, and my stick basically feels weightless now...I usually practice stick-handling a lot, so I figured I had strong wrists and forearms but after doing this I realized they can be even stronger.
When I was younger I at a friends place we got some big old blankets from the thrift store and tied them up between two trees. Then practiced shooting off of a chunk of MDF board (really smooth sheet of wood)
In my barn I stapled down a big piece of linoleum flooring that I got from the dump
Later on I got a piece of arena board for free from the rink
Sounds similar to my setup I used years ago, ice used to come off for the summer so there wasn't any ice hockey in the summer when I was a youngun'.
I used an old formica topped kitchen table with the legs removed obviously. I sprayed graphite on it where the pucks were and used sneakers on the feets.
The other thing was a home made cage made from metal piping and allen wrench joints with a large bed comforter clamped onto the crossbar kind of like the blankets between two trees I guess you mentioned.
These days I use a wooden board and a ragulation sized metal goal cage that is for street hockey I got for cheaps because it was in a store window for a long time and got sun bleached so he could not sell it new.
I have yard work to do and then I am going to make a new video of my slapshot now that my torn bicep has healed. I posted a video in here about 4 weeks or so after the injury and was not shooting as hard as I can.
The ground out back is still soggy though from snow melt and rain storms.
(just added a new video with the 3rd sheet added, on post #12)
EDIT: Yes I use a stick cut to length when I have my shoes on, I dont use my ice hockey sticks for my skillpad. Just some old woodies that I don't use anymore, I make them my certified "garage sticks", cut to my chin on shoes.
Thanks a bunch, put together a skill pad similar to you described using the $10 4x8 sheet of dry erase board that HeadCoach mentioned in that thread. Works great. I just need to get something to shoot into.
Here's some photos of my setup (sorry for the sun glare)
The first few days I was a bit disappointed. I read somewhere about using a Silicone Lubricant instead of the Pledge that other people mentioned and tried that. I had hoped for better results, however, the lube was still wet, and the pucks would occasionally "stick" to a wet spot. That's why using a Flypuck as shown in the pictures worked so well. They slid really easily, and didn't get stuck in the wet spots. It took almost a week for the silicone to "dry" but once it did, the pad was sufficiently slick, that even a regular puck works just fine on it.
I've been setting pucks on it, and trying to stickhandle one puck around the others, and using the rebound mechanism to practice making and receiving passes.
But I also wanted to shoot, so I went in search of something that would stop the pucks. I messed around a bit with some tarps, but they just turned into giant sails in the wind.
I hung it around one end of my deck and started shooting into it. It took me a little while to get it mounted properly, as at first i had it to tight and it was shooting the pucks back at me,
I eventually added more slack, and found a 12 ft vinyl 1x2 that I put hooks in, to secure the bottom. The vinyl gives quite a bit, and absorbs a lot of the shot. I just simply taped a potato chip wrapper to the net, to give a target to shoot at and started firing away.
(Yes, I know, my knees aren't bent enough, and I'm coming too high with my followthrough. That was my first time using my old rollerblades instead of just shoes, and I wasn't exactly stable on them.)
My goal has been 20 minutes of stickwork and 75-100 shots a night. I've already noticed an improvement in my wrister. I still can't quite control the snapshot or the slapshot, but they're getting there. (The slapshot has the nice side effect as being loud as all heck. Which annoys the neighbors dogs who normally bark all evening. But when I shoot they go nuts, and the neighbors bring them in, and we finally get some peace and quiet)
I used to have a piece of plexiglass that was perfect, but being a teenager at the time I didn't realize that taking a slapshot on a glass surface *might* cause the glass to shatter!
