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.
Do a reverse wrist shot, closed blade at first, then open, then close it at the end. If you are in very close though, open that face up all the way and go shelf.
I basically do a wrist shot on my backhand side. I start from the heel, go up to the toe while I begin to open it, and then release it with a follow through. The puck weakly slides across the ice or wherever I’m practicing. I don't have any videos of my self.
You might be letting go too late, if it's already at the toe, especially on a blade like that, you're going to pretty much have no real power to it. You want to start at the heel and get rid of it around the center of the blade.
getting your momentum going in the direction of travel is so important to the backhand. you will never get a good backhander if you body doesn't follow the shot. you will see guys on here debate which foot to shot off of, and other mechanics on the forehand shots.(wrist, snap, slap) but you must " follow your shot" on a backhander.
You might be letting go too late, if it's already at the toe, especially on a blade like that, you're going to pretty much have no real power to it. You want to start at the heel and get rid of it around the center of the blade.
The others here have covered it well with the get under it and followthrough business.
I start mine mid blade and by the time I followthrough it lifts up nicely with the toe. It depends on what you are shooting at too ... what kind of shot you are making.
if you are in tight and shooting upward to get under the crossbar it is wrist action and with a followthrough but if you are a little ways out from the goal and want mustard on it with a good hard backhander you would need to start it around the heel and use your wrists and a good strong sweeping followthrough.
I really really worked on mine because it sucked honestly for quite a spell. It took about 3 years before I got a really good one. There are different ways to shoot one so practicing it with a basic one like the guys here described would be best. Once you figure that out try other things a little more fancy.
I make really good strong backhand passes rink wide on the off-wing which is another backhander obviously.
Flick of the wrist with followthrough I guess I would say it is. Curl the wrist downward in the followthrough and it (the puck) will stay on the ice and flip your wrists with an upward curl in the followthrough and it elevates.
Then you have saucer passing on the backhand wihcih is a nice touch when you get the other backhanders learned. I got an assist on a nice saucer backhand the last game we played .... one of those passes that got comments from the other team which made me happy and also made me feel good about how much time I put into shooting backhanders.
As a side note I learned mine by seeing how good Bobby Smith's backhand was. he played for Montreal and Minnesota (Northstars).
Last edited by Hockeyfan68: 10-21-2009 at 07:55 PM.
It took me about a year to get a decent back hand. It took loads of practice skating backwards down the boards with the puck on my backhand and shoot, shoot, shoot until my shoulders ached for the next two days and working on nothing other than my back hand during that days stick and puck.
The big trick I learned once I got a bit of power behind my backhand was to handle the puck on the backhand just the same as you would on the forehand (You know cup the puck with the blade of the stick and roll it up the blade to get lift.) by no means am I saying I'm a good shot but I know understand the mechanics of the back hand (now I need to get the muscle memory so I do it the same way every time)
When I very first started trying them my buddy told me to invision yourself shoveling, and throwing the dirt behind you. It's not very technical, but it helped me start to get some lift under the puck.
When I very first started trying them my buddy told me to invision yourself shoveling, and throwing the dirt behind you. It's not very technical, but it helped me start to get some lift under the puck.
line up perpendicular to the net and put the puck in line with your front foot. Put the puck way back on the heel of your blade and open it up to just over 90 degrees. Scoop with your arms.
the flattest part of your blade is between the heel and the apex of the curve. This area must be well utilized when doing backhands. My backhand is money
For me it's all about cupping the puck, start at the heel, keep the bottom hand lower, then drive my weight and the puck across the body then release towards the net like a wrist shot.
just bumping this, instead of making a new thread.
So, ive moved on with my snap and wrist shots that i feel good enough about them and i can focus on my backhand. without skates, i can shelf it. with skates its getting about halfway up the net (roller) and ill be attemping on ice tomorrow. ive found that having the blade flat and utilizing the weight transfer seems to help a lot, for those trying to learn.
the shot seems very technique heavy, and i cant even think of a situation outside the dots that i would even try this. for those that have been playing awhile, do you find yourself using this shot a lot?
I'm just getting good at "roofing" my backhand in close... for me it's all about the flick of the wrist, and I sort of put a tiny bit of space between my blade and the puck and kind of "snap-shot" it but with my back-hand. That's probably a crappy way to describe it because it's not like a huge amount of space, but I find a little space (like an inch) help with getting the puck to go vertical.
just bumping this, instead of making a new thread.
So, ive moved on with my snap and wrist shots that i feel good enough about them and i can focus on my backhand. without skates, i can shelf it. with skates its getting about halfway up the net (roller) and ill be attemping on ice tomorrow. ive found that having the blade flat and utilizing the weight transfer seems to help a lot, for those trying to learn.
the shot seems very technique heavy, and i cant even think of a situation outside the dots that i would even try this. for those that have been playing awhile, do you find yourself using this shot a lot?
Probably more for backhand saucer passes and clears out of my own end than for shooting. I do use the backhand a lot when I'm battling in front of the net though.
. What am I doing wrong?
