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shoot_the_goalie

Off ice stick handling - puck or ball?

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When I practice off ice stick handling, I almost exclusively use a puck (i.e. green biscuit).  However, I've noticed that almost all the pros, when practicing off ice, use a ball.  Is this more cause a ball is more versatile for use on different surfaces, or is a ball just better for off ice training?

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Use everything. Get used to stick handling everything. That way a puck on ice just falls into the mix. Smart balls for weight. Biscuits for glide. Wood balls for speed. Golf balls for unpredictability. Etc.

Edited by ParabolicActivity
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16 minutes ago, ParabolicActivity said:

Use everything. Get used to stick handling everything. That way a puck on ice just falls into the mix. Smart balls for weight. Biscuits for glide. Wood balls for speed. Golf balls for unpredictability. Etc.

“If you can dangle a wrench, you can dangle a puck!”

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Buscuits are good because they give you the same feeling of contact with the blade.

But pros are using balls because they do some different things.  Most likely you're seeing the wooden balls.  Those are very light and you have to develop quick hands to keep it from flying all over the room.  There are balls that size that have the same weight as a puck.  They're good because all the weight is concentrated in a smaller area so you have to be very sure of your contact.  Those quick dekes where the guys are barely touching the puck don't work with a Smart ball.  It won't move.  And a golf ball is good also because it's unpredictable.  It bounces, it pops off the blade, it rolls sideways.  It helps you learn to adjust your hands quickly.

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Using a golf ball or wood ball is good for speed stick handling. Ideally, though, try and using something still about the same weight as a puck. Smart Hockey makes good weighted ball options. 

For shooting, I only recommend people use pucks. Preferably ice hockey pucks but if you want to use other options such as Green Biscuits make sure its the same weight as a puck. 

https://www.smarthockey.com/collections/balls-and-pucks

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If you're on something like smooth concrete or carpet, golf ball is the best IMO. It is a little light but helps develop that quick hand eye coordination. The wood ball ends up really really loud  and ends up getting annoying really fast. 

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