Backhand shots

[kovalchuk71 212]

Im having trouble roofing my backhanders....I see tons of people do it with no effort at all and I cant seem to do it much at all..Any suggestions?

[sweetblazer 0]

Its all about the wrist flick. Work on your forearm strength and it will come much easier. Also DONT shovel the puck up, slide the puck like you would a wrist shot just inverted....lol reading that it looks kinda complicated, it really isnt just practice flickin the wrists one pracky and u'll be good i bet.

[kovalchuk71 212]

I got strong ass forearms, I just shovel it like you said....Gotta work on that...Any good drills or anything

[flashgordon 0]

Im having trouble roofing my backhanders....I see tons of people do it with no effort at all and I cant seem to do it much at all..Any suggestions?

Could it be a curve issue? Much easier to get the backhand elevated with a wedge type curve than with a banana.

[kovalchuk71 212]

Nah i use a drury soi curve aint a problem

[Cavs019 708]

Shovel? I just flick my wrists and its under the bar.

[beaucoup_fish 0]

Shovel? I just flick my wrists and its under the bar.

Reverse-wrister?

[thenizzle 0]

theres two types of backhands, if ur right in front of the net you DO want to just shovel it up there, you have no time to set up for a reverse wrister you just wanna roof it, its not too hard but your body and stick need to be at the perfect angle to do it; it just takes some practice. from far away from the net you do wanna take a "reverse wrister" type backhand, as its a much more powerful shot than the shovel

[thejackal 46]

Try putting some pucks on the outer edge of the crease and roof each one.

[Bulldog101 0]

I had the same problem with shooting backhands and what I found was that the curve actually made a whole lot of difference I was using a rechi curve then I started shooting with a shanahan and a thorton and know my backhand is the best on my team.

[logan 0]

I'm not a star player by any means, and have never had any formal/organized hockey experience. However I do practice my backhand a lot, and "Reverse wrister" is a very good way to describe the mechanics of the shot.

Roofing it backhand requires that you rotate your wrists much faster than a forehand wrister--much like when you want to flip a puck high and into or out of a zone. Puck always starts at the heel/midheel of the blade, then as soon as you feel that the blade is about to grab the bottom edge of the puck, follow through really hard and direct it to where it needs to go.

Curves do affect your backhand. As long as a blade has a good "flat" area, you should be able to backhand fine with it. Yzerman/Coffey curves are very difficult to backhand with. Recchi and Shanny curves are great for backhands. Drury curve is great for backhands too once you adjust to the loft. In fact, I find that with the Drury you can backhand while face almost forward or square to where your target is. Bertuzzi has scored a few breakaway goals like that.

[kovalchuk71 212]

then as soon as you feel that the blade is about to grab the bottom edge of the puck,

What do you mean by this?

[logan 0]

As with most action/procedural skills, it's a bit hard to describe. It is mostly by feel. But I guess to exaggerate it, it would be something like this:

You start with the puck near the heel of your blade. As you start to move the puck, you are rolling the puck along the blade towards the middle of the blade.

The puck is also moving forward along the ice. As the puck is moving forward and the speed of your movement is increasing, you will feel your blade catch only the bottom edge of the puck, as if the front of the puck (the part away from the blade) is lifting off the ice. This is what I meant by the "grab". Keep in mind, but I'm sure you know that this happens just in a split second.

As soon as you feel this "grab" then you know the puck will lift up and the flat edge of the puck will be flat against the face of the blade. Once you have this you just release and follow through, with the back face of the blade facing your target.

(I recommend practicing this while not wearing gloves. You will have better awareness of how the puck is contacting your blade and will be able to FEEL what I am trying to describe.)

[beaucoup_fish 0]

As with most action/procedural skills, it's a bit hard to describe. It is mostly by feel. But I guess to exaggerate it, it would be something like this:

You start with the puck near the heel of your blade. As you start to move the puck, you are rolling the puck along the blade towards the middle of the blade.

The puck is also moving forward along the ice. As the puck is moving forward and the speed of your movement is increasing, you will feel your blade catch only the bottom edge of the puck, as if the front of the puck (the part away from the blade) is lifting off the ice. This is what I meant by the "grab". Keep in mind, but I'm sure you know that this happens just in a split second.

As soon as you feel this "grab" then you know the puck will lift up and the flat edge of the puck will be flat against the face of the blade. Once you have this you just release and follow through, with the back face of the blade facing your target.

(I recommend practicing this while not wearing gloves. You will have better awareness of how the puck is contacting your blade and will be able to FEEL what I am trying to describe.)

Wow, too much to think about for me, but if you practice it this way long enough, I'm sure it'll become second nature.

Bottom line, just keep doing it until you don't have to think about it and it just happens.

[logan 0]

Bottom line, just keep doing it until you don't have to think about it and it just happens

LOL. Yeah, that was a mouthful. Its kinda hard learning/teaching a skill in a forum.

kovalchuk71, if you are as passionate about hockey as you are about equipment, I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time. B)

[JCYC5 0]

I know exactly what you mean by the "grab". I can feel it "catch" when I do a sucessful top-shelf wrister... it's taht feel for the backhand?

It's rather hard. Working on it :P

[logan 0]

yah, same kind of feel, but i would say it feels more sudden for the backhand because you usually take them from closer in, and have to raise it much more sharply than the average wrister.

[LarrieNation9 0]

I was out early before my high school team practiced the other day working on my backhand. My backhand shot it alright, I can roof it but it's not all that fast and my coach was giving me tips and etc. He said if you're having problems roofing the puck, try moving the puck closer into body and try doing a "snap shot" back hand. I'll leave you to try'em out

[GMS-11 0]

One of the most important aspects of executing a good backhand is making sure the shot begins with the puck on the inside/heel of the stick and not the middle or toe. Couple this with good forearm/wrist strength and you'll have yourself a quality backhand.