Fun little off ice 'hands' drill.

[jeffw 1]

I was just doing my usual stickhandling drills getting ready for this afternoons pick up game. I spotted one of my boys bouncy balls and tried using that but it was too 'sticky' to stickhandle.

I started bouncing it off the wall and tried to hit it back. The bounces coming back are all over the place and hard to hit at first but after awhile I found I could get 7 or 8 returns before losing it.

I'm sure I didn't invent this but I've never seen it before so I thought I'd pass it along.

I could see it being good for hand/eye, controlling bouncing pucks, knee high tip ins, using your feet, etc....

Plus it's alot of fun and addicting. Just make sure there's something behind you in case it gets past you or you'll spend the whole time chasing the ball!

Any other good 'hands' drills?

[Bruin88 0]

oh ,thats probably one of those drills where i say "ok ill do ten without dropping it" then ill get 2 and ill try like 50 more times until i scream bad words and throw the bouncy ball through the window because the most i can get is 4 times without droppnig it and i wanted 10 :P

[hockechamp14 0]

I like using a tennis ball off the garage door for that one, mainly because you have a bunch of room, you'll have more time to co-ordinate yourself with what you are doing and following the movement, rather than just getting good at getting lucky with the super ball.

[ktang 34]

Tennis ball, try to bounce it straight up off your blade. Forehand and backhand sides, while slowly changing the bounce point along he blade. My personal best is 37.

[hockechamp14 0]

Tennis ball, try to bounce it straight up off your blade. Forehand and backhand sides, while slowly changing the bounce point along he blade. My personal best is 37.

I use some of that too, but I find the garage one better because you have to basically swing at the ball like you're batting down a puck or something.

[Edge 0]

before games/sticktimes/pick up i always try to flip a puck up and catch it on my blade as many times as possible. Thats about the only fun one i can think of. Other than that for off ice, the smart hockey ball is always fun.

[snipe-show12 0]

for wrist shot strenght you can tie a weight to your stick with some string and constantly roll it up...strenghtens your wrist for shooting!

[deadboy 0]

take a puck and try to hit it on the blade as many times as possible.. start off small with 20 or so, and then on the 20th hit try to catch the puck on the blade. or.. try hitting the puck 20 times on the blade, but on every other hit, flip the blade so that you hit it backhand. that one's pretty tough! ;)

[pantherfan 0]

LOL try a golf ball they are always fun to be bouncing around the changing room!

[2-Keys 1]

oh ,thats probably one of those drills where i say "ok ill do ten without dropping it" then ill get 2 and ill try like 50 more times until i scream bad words and throw the bouncy ball through the window because the most i can get is 4 times without droppnig it and i wanted 10 :P

that sounds like something id do when im having a bad day and not playing well

on another note, we always would take hockey pucks and try to keep them on our sticks. it probably sounds lame but i cant explain it good. mabe ill get some pics or video. no promices tho

[SR27 0]

That bouncy ball drill is indeed pretty effective for hand-eye coordination as well as faster reaction and such but since it behaves totally different than a puck it is hard to transfer the pratice to the ice. Back in my early teens when I was goalie I had different bouncy balls in regards to size and density and I threw them off my wall in order to get a quicker glove. Closing your eyes until you hear them hit the wall made it even more interesting. Seems kind of odd but it really helped I think

[hockechamp14 0]

That bouncy ball drill is indeed pretty effective for hand-eye coordination as well as faster reaction and such but since it behaves totally different than a puck it is hard to transfer the pratice to the ice. Back in my early teens when I was goalie I had different bouncy balls in regards to size and density and I threw them off my wall in order to get a quicker glove. Closing your eyes until you hear them hit the wall made it even more interesting. Seems kind of odd but it really helped I think

have you ever tried using a reaction ball? they're designed to give you almost a random bounce off of a wall. I've seen goalies have amazing reaction time because of using them.

[SR27 0]

That bouncy ball drill is indeed pretty effective for hand-eye coordination as well as faster reaction and such but since it behaves totally different than a puck it is hard to transfer the pratice to the ice. Back in my early teens when I was goalie I had different bouncy balls in regards to size and density and I threw them off my wall in order to get a quicker glove. Closing your eyes until you hear them hit the wall made it even more interesting. Seems kind of odd but it really helped I think 

have you ever tried using a reaction ball? they're designed to give you almost a random bounce off of a wall. I've seen goalies have amazing reaction time because of using them.

Never heard of those, sorry. I just tried to throw in different angles and such or hit them off the ground first, etc. After a while I got used to most of those variants, though. Well I don´t need that anymore anyway but how do those rection balls work?

[echi24 1]

A golf ball works great because its really responsive, try stickhandling the ball while staring at the clock, and see how long it takes for you to fumble the ball. you really get a sense of feel for the ball and eliminates the need to look down...but it is a bit different than with a puck

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Tennis ball, try to bounce it straight up off your blade. Forehand and backhand sides, while slowly changing the bounce point along he blade. My personal best is 37.

My brother and I used to do that when I was younger and he lived at home, we used to always go have competitions and he'd always cream me. But all those years trying to beat him (he could do over 100) now I can do over 100.

[pantherfan 0]

A golf ball works great because its really responsive, try stickhandling the ball while staring at the clock, and see how long it takes for you to fumble the ball. you really get a sense of feel for the ball and eliminates the need to look down...but it is a bit different than with a puck

Golf balls are great but there dissadvantages are they are really bouncey, they are really small and sometimes if you shoot them they crack

[echi24 1]

you dont SHOOT the golf balls theyre rock solid and then dent everything, you just stick handle with it

[jeffw 1]

dissadvantages are they are really bouncey, they are really small

To me those are advantages. Makes your hands quicker and softer. I usually do a golf ball and a smart hockey ball. The overall on ice improvement in my game is astounding. B) Not just stickhandling but everything is better 'cause I'm not focusing on keeping the puck under control anymore.

[hockechamp14 0]

dissadvantages are they are really bouncey, they are really small

To me those are advantages. Makes your hands quicker and softer. I usually do a golf ball and a smart hockey ball. The overall on ice improvement in my game is astounding. B) Not just stickhandling but everything is better 'cause I'm not focusing on keeping the puck under control anymore.

Not to mention the confidence that comes with it. If you think you can do something, than you can do it easily. If you doubt yourself, chances are you won't accomplish it.

I don't like using golfballs because I find them too light. They're good for people with the top stick hand strong enough, but need to work on dexterity and quickness.

[jeffw 1]

Not to mention the confidence that comes with it. If you think you can do something, than you can do it easily. If you doubt yourself, chances are you won't accomplish it

Absolutely. I find myself doing things now that I wouldn't have even attempted 6 months ago.

[Geeno_56 1]

oh ,thats probably one of those drills where i say "ok ill do ten without dropping it" then ill get 2 and ill try like 50 more times until i scream bad words and throw the bouncy ball through the window because the most i can get is 4 times without droppnig it and i wanted 10 :P

I hear ya about that one. I've done that only few times ;)

[Miike 1]

Sounds more for hand-eye cordination.

[hockeydude_49 0]

What I do when I'm really bored is use a tennis ball and do the traditional bounce it as many times as I can, and when that gets old I go forehand, backhand, and then catch and balance it on the blade. Another thing I do is take a chair and just go in and out of the legs...thats always fun.

[Miike 1]

I do the same but with a golf club, I bounce a golf ball on the club head for periods of time.

[hockeydude_49 0]

lol I literally carry my stick around everywhere I go, its sorta wierd.... but when I got my new synergy last year I would sleep with it lol, but I guess all this stickhandling pays off, cuz I have the best hands on my team. I even have a sweet setup in my room with a net and this bamboo carpet thing for shooting lol.