Aspiring recreational hockey player

[StevenTobey]

Hello,

 

My name is Stephan and i am from Connecticut. Me and my friends get together 3 or 4 times a week and play some pond hockey or go to the local rink for stick time, I've always enjoyed hockey and now playing it I've loved it since but obviously always being competitive in everything i do, i'm not as good as i would like to be! When i shoot  a hard wrist shot or (try to shoot a hard wrist shot) i kind of lose my balance and almost fall over, i cant seem to keep my balance. Any tips for my "bad habit"?

[ruxpin]

Try golf?

[JackStraw]

@StevenTobey - learn to lift one leg behind you to keep your balance. For a wrist shot it's usually the opposite leg (left leg if you shoot right handed). For a slapshot it's the same leg as the hand you shoot with:

 

 

Edited February 12, 2014 by JackStraw

[Bertmega]

@StevenTobey

 

Good stuff with the hockey. My advice on every level is: practice, practice, practice. Practice stick handing with a golf ball in your kitchen or a hard surface. Practice your shot in your driveway for about 30 minutes a day, practice skating by getting any public ice time you can get. That will get you there in no time. But practice correctly with good form.

 

To answer your above question, to me it sounds like you are shooting off your back foot or dropping your top hand elbow or low hand shoulder when taking your shot. 

 

Look at the Parise photo that was posted above. His elbow is parallel (90 degrees) to the ice and and his shoulder is most likely square to the shooter. 

 

Lifting (i.e. pushing off your back foot) is good for gaining more power in your shot but  not 100% necessary. In time that will come when you get the fundamentals down.

 

If I were you and you had the time in money, look into an instructional league in your area. They usually run about $300 a season and typically have 8 lessons and 8 games. I used to help teach at an instructional league about a decade ago and what I can tell you is have fun, don't frustrated, and the skills will soon follow. 

 

Good luck and happy hockey

[bunnyman]

Sounds like you're stiff-legged. Bert took the suggestion right from me- do the learn to play.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

@StevenTobey,

I agree with what the guys have said above (except Ruxpin, because he's a jackwagon ). Any type of learn to play program will help. A Power skating clinic will also help you out.

Ice time is important. The more time you can skate, play shinney hockey, play in a league, etc., the better skater/player you will become.

One word of caution (Bertmega touched on this in his post). I'm sure you've heard the phrase "Practice makes perfect". Well, it should be "Perfect practice makes perfect". You can get really good at doing something the wrong way and that may hurt your progress in the long run. I play with some guys that have been playing hockey for 40 years and they are the worst players on the ice. The are out of position, chop at the puck when they pass or shoot, pass the puck 10 feet behind you...I could go on and on. Learn to do things the right way.  You will be a better player for it.  Good luck!

[flyercanuck]

My advice is to just go out and have fun. Don't ruin some perfectly good pickup hockey by regimenting the joy out of it. There's nothing wrong with trying to improve your game...but when friendly games of shinny get the fun coached out of them with idiots playing traps etc (you'll know those teams, they never laugh and get mad if they don't win) it just takes away from the whole idea around it.

 

 I find it's a lot more fun losing with a great group of guys than winning with guys who take it way too seriously. And the funny part is, if you're all of that mindset, the wins come anyway. But at least you can laugh at the losses (or with guy who falls taking a wrist shot).