Tips

Basic Hockey Tips (for Novice & Intermediate Players):

• Skate Fit

  • Typically, players often have skates that are either too loose, too tight or too narrow.
  • Proper Skate Fit should make the feet feel very comfortable. You should feel no pain or hot spots and your foot should match the removable footbed exactly.

• Ankle Support

  • Typically, players overlook proper Ankle Support.
  • Proper Ankle Support is very important and can be improved with an adjustment of the shin pads being placed inside or outside the tongues of the skate or by utilizing different Lacing/Taping Techniques.

• Body Position

  • Typically, players are in poor Body Position which affects their entire game (Skating, Stick-Handling, Passing, & Shooting). Most likely they are too far forward at the torso and/or their knees are not bent enough.
  • Proper Body Position should be shoulders in straight-alignment with the players toes, with their knees slightly forward of that line.
  • Shoulder Angle: Forward 15-45 degrees, Backward 0-15 degrees

• Skating Position

  • Typically, players skate too far back when skating forward and too far forward when skating backward.
  • Proper Skating Position should be on the balls of your feet/toes when skating forward and on your heels when skating backward.

• Stick Length

  • Typically, players use sticks that are too long.
    Proper Stick Length should be measured while on skates with feet together, legs straight and should typically fall between the bottom of the nose and the bottom of the chin.
  • You should use the shortest stick possible for better puck control while stick-handling, passing and shooting.

• Hand Position

  • Typically, players hold their hands too close together or too far apart, causing a lack of control.
  • Proper Bottom Hand Position for 95% of stick-handling, passing and shooting should position the players hands to be as wide as their hip bones if they are holding their stick straight-across, just underneath their belly-button.

• Gripping the Stick

  • Note: If there is not a natural directional tendency when holding the stick (to determine whether to use a left or right curve), the dominant hand should be placed on top, which will increase both control when stick-handling and power when shooting.
  • Typically, players reverse the correct Grip of the Stick. They tend to hold their bottom hands too firm and their top hands too loose.
  • Proper Grip of the Stick should allow you to hold your top hand firm (like a hand-shake) and your bottom hand loose to firm depending upon need. This allows for optimum movement, power, and control of the stick.
  • Top Hand controls stick and blade movement plus power
  • Bottom Hand provides pressure/flex and fine control
  • Taping: Add a bead of tape 1/4 of the way down the shaft for the primary (95%) hand position and 1/2 of the way down the shaft for the slap shot position

• Blade Position

  • Typically, players reverse the correct Blade Position. They tend to place the toe of the stick on the ice which lifts the heel in the air, raising hands and body too high and causing players to lose or miss the puck.
  • Proper Blade Position should utilize your top hand to keep the heel of the blade flat on the ice and allow the blade to “cup” the puck on either the forehand or backhand in the preferred “closed” position.
  • Taping: Tape the whole blade in one color then tape the heel or back 1/3 of the blade in a different color to provide a visual cue to proper puck position on the blade