Ovechkin's fake move

[cause4alarm 7]

I noticed that Ovechkin uses this fake move where he lifts his left heel off the ice. He's a right handed shot, so I think he's trying to feign a shot on his off-balance foot. Obviously the move works for him, but does anybody know why? I figured that a faking an on-balance shot would seem more convincing since it's a more natural movement. But maybe that's why the move works--because the off-balance shot is less expected it seems like it's the real thing coming. What's your take on this? I'd be interested in hearing some goalies' perspectives too.

[Eazy_b97 1]

He's just using a fake shot, sometimes goalies will bite, other times they won't. I've seen both with him. The leg kick is just to help sell it.

[cause4alarm 7]

Even the ones who don't completely bite are still momentarily frozen by it, which can sometimes be all you need to score.

[Adam91 0]

It works because it sets up two different possibilities. He can either shoot or deke and if the goalie bites and over commits he reads the play and dekes and if the goalie freeze ie. Sean Burke Oveckin roofs it

[cause4alarm 7]

That sounds reasonable. I guess you don't have as much mobility if you fake with a regular normal-footed shot since it requires you to wind up and square your torso relative your target. Now all I have to do is practice roofing it off my off-foot...

[Quintin 16]

Haven't people said that he's got a deceptive shot too?

[cause4alarm 7]

From a spectator's perspective, the left leg lift didn't look that convincing, but I'm obviously not seeing what the goalie's seeing. Plus, I'm not going to dis-count the fact that everything AO does on the ice is going to be at least a million times more effective than whatever I attempt.

[All Torhs Team 0]

Ive never seen him do this, assuming he just goes around the D after he pulls this?

Another thing similar is with your stick. 1-1 you got puck you sorta lean on your stick as if your gonna whip off a quick wrist shot and the guy will prob step up or stop completly to block it.

Then you can just "open up"your wrist or just complety go around him.

[devilsrule711 0]

zach parise did it in a shootout he liflted his right leg (left handed) then deked to the backand and scored its to show th egoalie that youre going to shoot the wrister but then deke and hopefully the goalie is frozen to the ice

[hockechamp14 0]

It doesn't take away much power when you shoot on your off foot properly anyway. If you're strong enough you can still crank off foot shots. So the goalie's smart to play it like that. It's like taking a shot from Kovalchuk or something.

[Chadd 916]

Haven't people said that he's got a deceptive shot too?

No, it just explodes off his stick. If he hits his spot most goalies don't have a chance.

[cause4alarm 7]

Ive never seen him do this, assuming he just goes around the D after he pulls this?

Another thing similar is with your stick. 1-1 you got puck you sorta lean on your stick as if your gonna whip off a quick wrist shot and the guy will prob step up or stop completly to block it.

Then you can just "open up"your wrist or just complety go around him.

If you've seen that highlight video of AO set to Aerosmith's "Dream On", you'll see him do it a few times (with a view from behind the shooter, I think).

I started this thread after someone posted a thread about the new CCM blade curves and gave this link:

http://en.ccmsports.com/catalog/vector2006/index.php

You'll have to wait for it to load, but it looks like a picture of exactly what I'm talking about. It looks pretty awkward.

[DarkStar50 679]

It doesn't take away much power when you shoot on your off foot properly anyway. If you're strong enough you can still crank off foot shots.

These guys are so strong with their wrists and forearms that its sick. Imagine if AO shook your hand. His grip could break your hand if he wanted to.

[Edge 0]

if you're skating full stride and need to get a quick shot off, you want to shoot off of your 'wrong' foot. It takes too much time to readjust and do a full motion.

BTW, a kid on my team had a breakaway in the past tourny and did the leg lift move. Worked perfectly. Froze the goalie for a split second and he went to the back hand and had the whole side of the net to shoot at.

[ThePurpleCobra 0]

Ive tryed it once in practice and if you get it right the goalie can be all confused

[hockechamp14 0]

if you're skating full stride and need to get a quick shot off, you want to shoot off of your 'wrong' foot. It takes too much time to readjust and do a full motion.

BTW, a kid on my team had a breakaway in the past tourny and did the leg lift move. Worked perfectly. Froze the goalie for a split second and he went to the back hand and had the whole side of the net to shoot at.

as long as righty's start from the right side of the goalie when the fake the shot, and the lefties on the left, it should almost always open up a ton of space on the goal.

[All Torhs Team 0]

Ive never seen him do this, assuming he just goes around the D after he pulls this?

Another thing similar is with your stick. 1-1 you got puck you sorta lean on your stick as if your gonna whip off a quick wrist shot and the guy will prob step up or stop completly to block it.

Then you can just "open up"your wrist or just complety go around him.

If you've seen that highlight video of AO set to Aerosmith's "Dream On", you'll see him do it a few times (with a view from behind the shooter, I think).

I started this thread after someone posted a thread about the new CCM blade curves and gave this link:

http://en.ccmsports.com/catalog/vector2006/index.php

You'll have to wait for it to load, but it looks like a picture of exactly what I'm talking about. It looks pretty awkward.

great pick, that really helped. I originally thought just keeping the front of his skate blade on the ice and like the back half of the skate blade about three inches off the ice.

thanks

[cause4alarm 7]

if you're skating full stride and need to get a quick shot off, you want to shoot off of your 'wrong' foot. It takes too much time to readjust and do a full motion.

BTW, a kid on my team had a breakaway in the past tourny and did the leg lift move. Worked perfectly. Froze the goalie for a split second and he went to the back hand and had the whole side of the net to shoot at.

as long as righty's start from the right side of the goalie when the fake the shot, and the lefties on the left, it should almost always open up a ton of space on the goal.

Ton of space where? For the backhand?

[hockechamp14 0]

if you're skating full stride and need to get a quick shot off, you want to shoot off of your 'wrong' foot. It takes too much time to readjust and do a full motion.

BTW, a kid on my team had a breakaway in the past tourny and did the leg lift move. Worked perfectly. Froze the goalie for a split second and he went to the back hand and had the whole side of the net to shoot at.

as long as righty's start from the right side of the goalie when the fake the shot, and the lefties on the left, it should almost always open up a ton of space on the goal.

Ton of space where? For the backhand?

Yes, a ton of space to put it in.

[FlyChicaga 21]

I use this move quite a bit when I play. In fact, a former pro goalie we have at shinny hockey got faked out a few times by it but now knows this move, so he can read me pretty well. First two or three times though he commented how I had him faked out, but it was more due to stick position... the leg was just icing on the cake.

Talking with this goalie, he had taught me a lot about stick position when it comes to the shot. First few times I tried kicking my leg, the good goalies would read my stick and know I was going glove side (I'm a righty). But after a while, I got down to moving my stick sideways a bit to make the deke look more believable, then I'd snap my stick and wrist for the top right corner quickly to get speed on the puck. Got them every time.

Thing to practice here: Stand by the boards with a puck, and for a few times shoot high, then low, but look at your stick position during the shot. You'll probably notice a great difference between how you shoot a high shot and a low one. Goalies can read this while you are blazing down the ice. After you notice your differences, work on holding your stick in a neutral position between your low and high shot positions, then QUICKLY move to the position to get a power shot off. It takes work and concentration, but you'll catch on. It has made my shots a lot better and I've been scoring much more on some really good goalies lately this way.

Key things there: Neutral stick position, strong arms and wrists, and shot control. If you can keep your stick in a position where the goalie can't read the shot, then use your strength to get a fast, power shot off exactly where you want it, you will score much, much more! Then worry about the leg trick, that will just be icing on the cake.

Another thing I practice: Shots off one leg. I'll stork on the ice near the boards, and shoot from my left and my right leg. In the heat of battle, you won't always get perfect leg positioning like you do in practice. Work on shooting off balance, on your knees, on your ass even. I've had it where I'll be mid-flight due to a trip on a breakaway, and still manage to get the shot off while I'm falling forwards. Often luck, but shooting off-balance helps a lot IMHO.

Hope this helps.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Watching ovechkin out at piney orchard, when they do shooting drills, he can still fake out Kolzig.

But I have found the real reason why ovechkin has an advantage in the shootouts.

I was looking over some of my training camp pictures, and something stuck out at me.....

See if you can tell what it is.....

[analog999 0]

I like the way those guys look like Tron in the pics... my wife got a few of those jersey's and I noticed they were reflective but the pics are neat looking.

Anyway, does anyone have a link to the video of this fake? I'm having a hard time picturing it.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

http://www.ovechkinfans.com/

Go here, look for some of his shootout vids. Its basically he skates in, pumps his left leg like he is going to shoot, gets the goalie to bite, then either roofs it or dekes.

I actually have a couple of him doing in in training camp, but like some of my photos there too, its sort of dark. They are on my computer at home, so can't upload here, took them with my digital camera.

After the florida shootout loss they were doing shooting drills at piney orchard the next day. Ovechkin completly fooled Kolzig, then fell down laughing at him, to which olie replied "where was that last night" as ovey had missed.

It seems like a real tight locker room

[twiztidwrista10 3]

Man that would be soo cool to watch them practice.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Man that would be soo cool to watch them practice.

It is, their sessions are very cool, and they will sign stuff after. I have seen some of them give the younger kids sticks after practice.

I have 2 galleries of training camp up, but they are dark enough,

Gallery one

Gallery Two

Also, my pics from the caps/pens game from march 8th, the one where ovechkin finally got the better of crosby on the fourth try

Pics from the caps/flyers back in october

I live in Northern VA, the caps practice in Piney Orchard in MD, but for next year they will be at their new facility in Ballston, northern VA, the new location is about 5 minutes from my home. I can't wait

EDIT: Sorry for the sucky quality, but sometimes when watching the hockey the pictures become very much an afterthought