"Whiffing" when trying to play puck!

[deezee]

Hi guys - I need some real basic pointers on the best way(s) to improve my stickhandling. I only play once a week in beer league games so there really are no options for on-ice practice that I can think of.

Anyway, the last 2 games or so almost gave away the puck. They were usually slow dump-ins where I needed to play the puck to avoid a breakaway. So I skate out to the puck, take my eyes off of the puck to look up and see who I can pass though/who is bearing down on me. Then I try to pass the puck and completely WHIFF!! Last game had to cover the puck after I whiffed at it - got a penalty for it.

I have never been a strong puckhandler but I am willing to learn!! Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

[Cujo_64]

when skating to the puck, take a look around, not so much when you get there, when you get to the puck you should already know where your sending it. make sure to have your stick on the ice and lean into it that way you dont fan on it.

works for me

rob

[jabber_39]

This happened to me a couple years ago and I learned a lesson I haven't forgotten since. It was a slow dump in toward the goal and I was going to skate out and pass it up to the wing. An opposing forward and I were racing for the puck between us - I beat him to it, but whiffed and the guy skated past me and in for a goal.

As I was skating back to the goal, one of my defenseman skated past me and said "you dropped your elbow". I asked him what he said and "he said you dropped your front elbow. If you drop your front elbow, the puck rolls under the toe of the stick". "Keep your elbow up."

He was right. Now when I skate out to play the puck, I consciously throw my front elbow (the hand on the knob) up just as I plant to shoot. That keeps the stick blade as flat as possible and my shot has been consistently good ever since.

[chrono]

Hey deezee,

The above post about keeping your elbow up is very good advice. Keep it up and your blade should stay upright along the ice and will give you a bit of leverage when you shoot.

Don't always pressure yourself to have to make a pass. Accurate passing in these situations can be very difficult, especially if your teammates are not expecting it. Many times, all you have time to do is keep the forward from getting the puck, so get there quickly and simply try to smoothly shoot it away from them. Keep your head up and try to elevate the puck up and away, using the other players forward momentum against them and don't be afraid to bump them if you have to

Even though you don't have an opportunity to skate alot, you can still practice some of these skills off the ice. Roll or kick tennis balls against your garage doors or basement walls, and run up and try to play them off of the rebound. While it is not a skating motion, you can practice readying your stick, keeping it down, and keeping your head up as well as your shooting and passing. Even better do this in rollerblades, and have a friend or family member rool them at you, then race you for it. This isn't perfect of course, but it gets your mind and body conditioned to recognize and react to those situations.

And lastly, don't beat yourself up too bad when you do mess up. Lord knows I know how it feels when it happens, but it does happen, even to the pros so don't let it get you down!

Hope this helps! Good luck out there!

[Timberwoof]

Practice, practice, practice. All the game-reading skills and all the theoretical skills in the world won't help if you don't have the physical motions down. Go to pickup hockey or stick time and practice doing that kind of stuff.

Over the past several years I've had a tough time working on certain skills because they require me to find trainable, patient, and accurate shooters ... so instead I worked on other skills, ones I didn't need a partner to work on. These were shooting and stickhandling.

For instance, when you take your initial skate around the rink, bring a puck with you and herd it along as you go. You might look like a doof the first few times you try it, but anyone learning a new skill looks like a doof at first. (Don't ask me how I know.)

Then just practice passing. Get a bunch of pucks and pass them to a line on the boards. (You will have a hard time keeping your pucks. Players don't understand what a goalie might want with a pile of pucks, while if a player had a pile of pucks and was practicing shooting them, he'd get left alone.) Again, you'll get better with practice.

As your skills get better, you'll gain confidence in using them during a game. :-)

[ThePM]

Do you have linoleum or tile in your house? If so, put on your c/a and gloves and put some pucks down it. Practice shooting for as long as you can, it helps.

I've done that in my basement which has a small linoleum area that opens to a carpeted room to the far side of the basement (nothing but boxes to hit).

[BoOoSh33]

Hi Deezee,

All of that is excellent advice. I am by no means a strong puckhandler, on the contrary it is one of the weakest parts of my game, however one more thing to think about...

How exactly are you puckhandling? I have found that I tend to whiff less when I do the glove over technique a la turco. It seems to force more of the blade down on the ice as opposed to the traditional style. It takes some getting use to and is much easier to do with some gloves than others... however it's something that I have been working on and seems to have decreased my "whiffage." There are a couple good threads about it on here, I think they are under turco style or something to that effect. If nothing else it's worth a shot. Good luck with it!

Stoppin What Hits Me,
-Boosh

[deezee]

Originally Posted by BoOoSh33

Hi Deezee,

All of that is excellent advice. I am by no means a strong puckhandler, on the contrary it is one of the weakest parts of my game, however one more thing to think about...

How exactly are you puckhandling? I have found that I tend to whiff less when I do the glove over technique a la turco. It seems to force more of the blade down on the ice as opposed to the traditional style. It takes some getting use to and is much easier to do with some gloves than others... however it's something that I have been working on and seems to have decreased my "whiffage." There are a couple good threads about it on here, I think they are under turco style or something to that effect. If nothing else it's worth a shot. Good luck with it!

Stoppin What Hits Me,
-Boosh

Thanks all for the great advice. I would rank my puckhandling as "slightly below average". I want to try Turco style but never have enough ice time to give it a shot. I think it's 50% confidence too - I played tonight but didn't really have any oppys to play the puck, but I was confident all night and I felt if I had to I would probably NOT whifff. But everyone is right I need to focus on this part of my game whenever I get the opportunity. WIll try flip technique also.

[Chicagoalie40]

The turco playing works great but can come back to bite you if you try to get it off too quickly. It may knuckle on you when you try to put it out if you have a loose grip at the bottom with your glove hand. Sometimes a "weak" turco clear just turns the stick in your hands if you rush it. The best way and what works for me is to give the puck that half second to sit on your stick and clear it low and hard with an almost sweeping motion on the ice. If you feel confident with that you can begin to get it up in the air a little too.

[TIMMAAYY]

Deezee, if you skated out for a while and were used to that motion, you have to "unlearn" that type of stick movement. The lie on a goalie stick is completely different from that of a player's stick. It's a lot more upright. You're probably just trying to shoot like you normally would, and that raises the toe off the ice and "whiffs" your shot right over the puck.

Just takes practice to be able to go back and forth if you still skate out as well.

[JetstoOilers81]

[quote=jabber_39;1247150]. If you drop your front elbow, the puck rolls under the toe of the stick". "Keep your elbow up."

Amazing advice. I tried this out during warm-up and found it most effective. Too bad I couldn't use it in my game because there was a swamp behind my net. Some of the worst ice conditions I've ever seen.