My shot keeps going wide left.. Help please

[z1ggy 81]

I am a lefty. Been playing for about 7-8 years now so I am finally just starting to get good and get to the point where I am getting multiple opportunities to shoot per game. I notice my shot, especially any wrist shots keep going wide left. I suspect I am releasing the puck too soon, and maybe not "cupping" it enough during the shot. Also, my follow through could be bad. Any tips to focus on straightening things out? I notice too I have problems getting the puck sotp shelf. It's like I can't shoot it higher than the goalies mid section.

[Chadd 916]

As always, it's hard to know exactly without seeing you shoot. That said, it sounds like the puck is coming off your blade when the face is still open. When combined with your issues lifting the puck, I'm going to guess that you are shooting with the puck too far in front of you. When possible, start the puck a little farther back in your stance. I prefer to start it even with my heel or even behind it. That gives me time to accelerate the puck before the blade lifts. If you do that, you will likely find that pucks lift very easily. Exaggerating your wrist roll a little earlier in your shooting motion would also help with the accuracy, though not as much with lifting the puck. Always remember to finish your follow through based on how high you want the puck to go with the toe pointing down.

[iceholes 0]

adjusting your shot is an easy answer... but as Chadd mentions... if its coming from in front of you... almost always shoots left with an open face in my experience.

If you shoot traditional wrist sweeping from behind, and still going left you can be turning your bottom hand (left wrist) up a touch too much to open up the blade no matter the curve.. ..

try pushing down a bit harder on the stick to let the stick do its thing based on its .flex and curve and watch that bottom hand... finishing with the stick at your target will help you think about your motions

[Cosmic 178]

Which blade pattern are you using?

[fvecc 0]

How long is your stick? Cutting my stick helped increase accuracy for me.

[GWood117 2]

It COULD be your blade is flexing. Maybe try a stiffer blade like the new Reebok/CCM "SSX" concept - it is in fact super stiff.

[sbecks72986 51]

If your shooting left its most likely this, your heel of the blade of your stick is slightly behind the puck and its rolling off wrong when you release. This is the solution when your shooting imagine a straight line on the ice towards the target, the blade of your stick must be perfectly perpendicular on that line so the line and the toe of your blade make a T. Depending on your curve if its a flat curve the whole blade will make the T if its a mid or toe curve you MUST have your hands out in front of your body in order have the toe of the blade to make the T since thats where the puck is releasing from, and with a toe curve like E28 or P92 the heel of the blade is actually a little in front of the puck when its released in order to stay perpendicular on that imaginary line. So that means hands in front of body blade making a T on the line to the target and release the puck you will shoot in a perfectly straight line right on that imaginary line to the target.

When i practice shooting at my house i have a piece of electrical tape running down the middle in a straight line of my shooting pad and i always focus on having the blade of the stick on the correct angle with my hands out in front of me when shooting. When you get it right it goes right where you want.