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Forehand wrist-shot
This is the most important shot. It's the shot that so many
young Canadians & Americans learn in their living room at a very
young age. The most important thing is the weight transfer. The
weight transfer is like a lot of other sports such as baseball
and golf. Your weight will transfer from your back to your front
leg. Stand perpendicular to your target with your stick cupped
on the puck and the puck behind your back foot. Transfer your
weight as you move the puck forward, and follow through. As you
are sliding the puck forward on the ice, quickly reverse your
wrists to make the puck rise more. A low or a high follow
through will determine how high the puck goes. When you finish
your follow through, your stick should be
pointing towards your target.
Backhand wrist-shot
The technique is exactly the same as the forehand wrist-shot.
However, the most common problem is that
people usually put the puck too far in front of them when they
start. When you do this, you don't get any
power in your shot. Like the forehand wrist-shot, you must cup
the puck on your backhand, and bring it
back behind you. Lean into the shot and bend your knees to help
raise it off the ground. Again, as in the
forehand wrist-shot, weight transfer is very important.
Back-hand off a deke
Having a good backhand shot can be very useful in deking. If you
only have a good forehand shot, you are
very easy for the defense to stop. They don't have to worry
about you deking so that you are ready to
take a shot on your backhand. They know that you are only
interested in going to your forehand, so it
makes you easy to stop.
As a left-handed shooter on the left wing, you should skate down
the left side of the ice, and then deke to your backhand. When
you make the deke, you must bring the puck in close to you body so that
you shield it from the
defender. Then you dig your skates in and let a backhand wrist-shot
go at the net.
Snap-shot
This is an effective quick-release shot. It can be used in the
high slot area. When the puck comes from
the corner, if you can use the snap-shot to get a quick shot to
the far side of the net (since the goalie
will be hugging the opposite post), then you'll have a very good
chance of scoring.
The technique is just a quick reverse of the wrists. There is no
wind-up at all. Follow through in the
direction of the target.
Snap-shot off wrong foot
It's very effective when you can let a shot go quickly off your
wrong foot. This will allow you to skate
towards your target and release very quickly. You will also be
balanced and ready to protect yourself
from that big defender who is on you as you let your shot go
from the top of the slot.
If you shoot left, the way to practice this is to have someone
pass the puck to you from the left corner
of the rink. You stand in the slot, and take the snap-shot
towards the left side of the goal, as the
goalie will be still covering her right side (since the puck
just came from the corner).
Slap-shot (low, high)
This is one of the least effective shots. It is mainly important
for the defense on the powerplay. People
like to use it because it looks impressive, but sometimes it's
not the best shot in a situation (it does
not have a fast release).
When you contact the puck, you should contact the ice one inch
behind the puck. It is this impact which
causes your shaft to bend, thus giving your shot power. If you
are really strong, then you can contact
the puck about 3 inches behind it. This will cause the shaft to
bend even more, causing an even more
powerful shot. Some people like to slide their bottom hand down
a little as they take the slap-shot.
The puck should be a little bit lower than the centre of the
blade of your stick (closer to the heel than
the toe). As you shoot the puck, the puck will sort of roll up
and propel off the toe of your stick.
You don't need a big wind-up when you take a slap-shot. Keep
your stick cupped (closed) in your
backswing, as you do with the wrist-shot. Like in the
wrist-shot, the height of your follow through will
determine how high the puck goes. Also, like in the wrist-shot,
the most important thing with this shot
is the weight transfer. This is where you get a lot of the
power. Your weight will shift from your back
to your front leg. Keep those knees bent!
Close in forehand "roofing it" shot
So often the defense take shots from the point, which leave
rebounds lying in the crease area, and the
forward comes in and shoots it right into the sprawling goalie's
pads. If you can lift the puck into the "roof" of the net, over
the goalie, you'll get a lot more goals.
The way to practice this is to line up a number of puck around
the crease. A left-handed shooter starts
from the right side of the goal. One by one, pull the puck in
towards you with the tip of your stick
(this will give the puck momentum) and reverse your wrists very
quickly to lift the puck up into the top
mesh part ("roof") of the goal.
Close in backhand "roofing it" shot
You will be very dangerous in the crease area if you can also do
this on your backhand. It will also come
in very handy when you deke the goalie to your backhand on a
breakaway. You'll make the goalie have to
guess which way you are going if you can deke equally well to
both your forehand and backhand.
Summary
Of course shooting technique is not cast in stone. It can vary a
lot from player to player, and each may
still have very good shots. You should consider altering your style
to see what works for you. Technique is
extremely important, but if you can improve your
strength (by doing weights and other
strengthening exercises), this will also help. The bottom line
is that the best way to improve your shot
is just to practice, practice, practice. Like most things, there
is no easy way out. Find yourself a
partner or a piece of wall and just keep shooting, shooting,
shooting! |
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