Hockey Stick Handling Drills on Dry Land
Author: eRix
Article:
Improving ones hockey skills does not always entail practicing
drills on the ice. There are always some
practice time away from
the rink that can enhance your ability for when
you are on the
ice and moving at full speed. A couple of
critical aspects of
stick handling is the ability to control the
puck through your
peripheral sight and feel; with the feel of the
puck on the
stick being the most important aspect because it
enables you to
concentrate your vision on watching out for
where you are
headed, as well as for where your teammates are
at on the ice. A
few of these drills might seem improbable of
enhancing your
skill but the drills are designed for repetition
of movement
which forms a foundation for your hand-to-eye
coordination.
An example of a short drill as noted by Mike Hartman and Sam
Mercurio in ‘STAY IN SHAPE BUT HAVE FUN’ is to
“work on little
things like stickhandling. Take out a golf ball
and stickhandle
in the driveway for an hour or so. Controlling
the golf ball
will further enhance your hand-eye coordination
and, again, you
will be amazed at the difference when you step
back onto the ice
in the fall” (www.hockeycoach.com). For all
practical purposes,
all you need for stick handling improvement is
your hockey stick
and something to hit. Common choices for
something to hit can
be: golf ball (as stated before), tennis ball,
roller hockey
ball or puck, racket or hand ball, or any
comparable sized
object in your vicinity. Balls tend to work the
best for drills
off the ice because the ball naturally returns
to the shooter,
depending on where you are practicing.
Another fun drill to practice is to take a
hockey stick, a
tennis ball wrapped in 1-layer of hockey tape to
lessen the
bounce, a brick wall, and something to mark the
wall with. Chalk
can be used on the wall, but you do not want
someone accusing
you off graffiti; therefore, it is best to take
some hockey tape
and stick it on the wall. If you want the exact
dimension of a
regulation goal, 72"x48" what most goals opening
are scaled at;
however, for your purposes, just put a large
rectangle of tape
on the wall with the corners marked as targets.
Try to copy the
dimensions in this diagram. Another idea is to
transpose this
diagram onto a piece of plywood, which can be
transported to
where you want to practice.
Once you have this shooting target, you can
begin to repeated
shoot for the corners with your various shots. A
way for you to
see where your shots hit is to dampen the
wrapped ball with
water, which should leave a water mark where it
hits; the water
also adds to the ball’s weight since it is not
as heavy as an
ice puck. This drill should not be rushed
because you want to
assign a number of direct hits to each corner
triangle (15 per
corner) before shooting at the next corner. The
higher the
number of direct hits you assign to each corner
will gradually
lead to an increase of your hand-to-eye
coordination because you
are not just haphazardly shooting at a goal. You
need to take
your time to aim at each target mentally, locate
the ball, and
then shoot at the target while your is head up
looking at it.
Hitting the corner successfully while your head
is up will also
increase your confidence and feel for shooting
by relying on
your peripheral vision. You can call it looking
out of the
corner of you eyes, or how you see the ice.
Battling the off season blues should not be
wasted by laying
around watching TV or playing video games. You
could take the
initiative to improve your stickhandling and
shooting aim by
practicing these fun, basic fundamental drills
mentioned in this
article. You could come up with a new drill of
your own that
builds your own confidence. The main point is to
take some
quality time in practicing stickhandling and
shooting. The more
often you practice, the easier and more natural
handling a ball
or puck will become to you. The benefits you
will receive from
this diligent practice will be realized when you
return to the
ice for the beginning of next season. Your
teammates will be
really pleased that you took the time off the
ice and used it to
your and their advantage.
About the author:
eric smith tampa florida b.a. marketing usf a.s.
computer
information systems hcc
http://www.aimhockey.com
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