how to win a face off?

[golfpuck 0]

so what are the techniques to win face offs?

usually i will use my stick to push on top of his stick, blocking him out, and slide the puck back.

but there are a about 3 guys in my league that spank me on the draw quite regularly.

is it better to move my stick around and slide it under his stick forcing it out of the way? and pull the puck back?

[golfpuck 0]

found a thread...

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/index.php?showtopic=10937

but didnt answer my is it better to go over top or from under?

[gavin 0]

As soon as the ref will let you (if he's good, you'll have to wait until the puck leaves his hand), slide your stick to the far side of the circle and pull up as hard as you can, trying to hit the puck with the stick. If you hit the other guy's stick, then there is a good chance you can knock his stick into the puck anyways.

[All Torhs Team 0]

Im better at back hand wins rather then fore hand wins. But just get your stick up and back very quickly when he drops it and you should win it. It is ususally quicker then most guys can do it. Thats what a face off is, quickness. But there are a few fella's who insist on using their size and plowing through but its kinda pointless to knock someone down if they could just get the puck back.

[seaner7633 2]

I know it sounds super obvious, but make sure you keep your eye on the puck. I see a lot of players that either watch the dot and wait for the puck to enter that line of sight, or they watch the ref drop the puck but don't follow it once it leaves his hand.

[golfpuck 0]

thanks guys, i am aware of all the basics of face offs. i would even consider myself imho one of the better guys at it in my beer league..

is it prefered to try and slide your stick under? go over top?

it is it all PP?

any one got videos of pro's doing faceoffs?

[technophile 0]

thanks guys, i am aware of all the basics of face offs. i would even consider myself imho one of the better guys at it in my beer league..

is it prefered to try and slide your stick under? go over top?

I think it's all personal preference. Whichever is faster and more accurate for you is what you should do.

One thing I've noticed watching faceoffs is to use multiple tools, not just your stick. If the other guy is faster than you, then just tie up his stick and use your skate to kick it back to the D. If he's stronger, then try to beat him with quickness.

Rod Brind'amour (who's been pretty dominant faceoff-wise in the Carolina-NJ series) kind of rotates to put his hip into the other center and get his body between the puck and the other center, then uses his stick or his skate to push it back to the D; that might be something worth trying against a center who's quicker/stronger than you.

[hockeysew 0]

I always had good luck with something similar to the Brid'Amour type-I've had better luck using my body to buy me time to move the puck

I've always sucked at backhand draws no matter what I try

[AlGiballa23 0]

What I do is right when the puck leaves the ref's hand I push up on the other guys stick like when you're trying to take away a pass or shot or puck, and kick the puck back to my D man or whoever is around. That's what mostly works for me. Don't do it everytime, but leave it for situations where you must get the puck. It works for me. They get pissed at you though, watch out.

[EBondo 232]

yeah, just watch Rod Brind'amour when he goes for a faceoff. What he does is why he has such a high faceoff-win percentage. Me, I always get really low, and hold my stick how i would normally, just my hands are lower. I always inch my stick up off the ice right as the ref is about to drop the puck, go under the guys stick, turn and throw it back to the D, or to my wingers. Faceoffs are my specialty.

[gavin 0]

Honestly, if I concentrate, I can win it every time with a VERY fast backhand draw. You just have to be faster/more accurate than your opponent, and the puck should go straight to your left D (I play lefty).

[Duder84 0]

i try to line the tip of my blade on the inside, if i know he's going to the backhand, i'll line my blade place my blade to get in the way instead of lining up tip to tip. basically just get on the "inside". If you get my meaning

[jeffw 1]

One day I looked up the NHL face off leaders on the NHL website and luckily one of the guys was on Center Ice that night (forget who it was, plays for Phoenix). I recorded a few draws that he took then studied his technique.

He basically gets way down low on his stick, bottom hand just above the blade, as the puck is dropped he slides the blade straight thru the dot under the other guys stick and and pulls it back.

I use this in my mens league and have pretty good success with it. Of course you can't use this in every situation. You don't wanna put the puck in the slot in the defensive zone, lol.

[Quintin 16]

Hit his stick away before the puck touches the ice. Or just tie him up and kick the puck away.

[EndBoards 0]

Obviously a clean win is the best result, but it's low percentage. Usually the two centers are going to stalemate and what happens afterward decides who gets posession or whether there's a scoring chance. My approach is to not really worry too much about the clean win, but rather to put the puck in the next best spot.

Deep in the D zone, that means pushing it to the boards. It's not pretty, and it wouldn't officially count as a 'win' unless my winger gets posession. However, outside of a clean win to my D, it's the best place for the puck to go and it's a tactic that has a very high percentage of success.

Elsewhere on the ice, look for the matchups on the wings. If one of your teammates outmatches the wing he's lined up against, push the puck his way. If you're outmatched on the left and evenly matched on the right, your best chance is to go right.

As far as technique...

First and foremost, get low. I place my lower hand about 12" from the blade, dig in my edges, and really get my legs spread out. If I've chosen to go forehand, I use a regular grip. If I'm pulling to the backhand, I go knuckles up.

I look at the dot and react to the first movement I see in my peripheral vision. Explode into it. Put your whole body into pushing/pulling it the way you want, but don't follow through too far or overcommit. Sometimes the puck doesn't really go anywhere, so the guy that's quicker on the second hack will win it. If you overdo it, you'll be unable to follow the initial hack with a secondary.

Again, the first priority is to move the puck to the left/right side, but you can add a little flick to the end of your motion so that if you do end up getting more contact than your opponent, it'll pull back to your D or give your wing an advantage.

Anyway, this works fairly well for me. I don't know what my percentage is, but for what it's worth I'm pretty sucessful going up against players that outmatch me everywhere else on the ice.

[HotBacon 0]

While I don't have anything new or major to add to the discussion I'll re-iterate some points already mentioned. I hold my ACHA D2 college team's record for career face-off win percentage (something around 70%) so I'm not stranger to the draw (not an attempt to brag, just providing a point of reference of where I'm coming from...so please no bashing).

1. The most important part is your stance and grip, you MUST stay low and in an "athletic" stance. It's just like a good center ice hit or block in football, the lower your center of gravity and balanced you are the more solid you'll be. Spread your legs fairly wide, weight on the balls of your feet, knees bent.

Drop your lower hand low on the stick (I used to use 6" to a foot from the blade), and the top hand should come down as well. w/o having a stick here to try it out I think my top hand ends up about 3/4" up the shaft from the blade. With your hands lower you'll have much more power to pull/push through the dot or lift the opponents stick. I personally didn't like going knuckles up, even if I was drawing the puck back. I always felt this gave away what I was going to do, limited my options should I see something in the other center (i.e. - I couldn't decide to go forward or pull the puck to the other side), and didn't feel more powerful.

Keep your eyes on the puck in the refs hands. If you look down at the dot you'll lose that split second you may need to get the stick through the dot.

2. As for the actual movement I don't think there is a lesson book. It all depends on what you're comfortable with and the tendencies of the other center. After taking a couple draws against somebody you'll know if you can beat him on pure speed, if you'll have to resort to tying him up and going w/ your feet and/or letting one of your wingers take it, or if you should more or less let him win it but right to your stick (a little different). It's mostly trial and error. Whatever option you choose, you have to go at it 110%. If you don't go in full speed and power you'll lose. Think of it as an arm-wrestling match...all out power and quickness. If you hesitate, you're done.

Personally, I have found that the quick and powerful sweep through the dot wins the most face-offs. I don't mean just pulling the blade through and hoping to catch a piece of the puck. I would push my stick through the dot when the ref's hands first move...either pushing the other centers stick back then coming back through drawing the puck back or going around his stick and and pulling it and the puck back. It makes a difference as to which hand he is too. Both methods change slightly depending on if the other center shoots the opposite hand as you, but it's the same principles (clearing his stick first, or being a reverse bulldozer and pulling everything with you).

If you have a smaller, weaker, or slower center against you the safe win is to simply lift his stick while spinning into him protecting the puck. As long as you tie him up right there's no way for him to win it. It's just a matter of kicking the puck back or letting a winger come in and take it (this also counts as a win for you).

The other method I've used was when I was against a very quick center that was also strong. It is a modification of the going around his stick method, but rather than pulling everything back through you just stop and let him win the puck right to your stick. It's almost impossible to pull it back from this point, so be ready to dart through as fast as you can...hopefully you can split the D or at least dump it deep into the zone and set up a forecheck, or dump it out of your zone. This was a last resort method and did require a little luck...you may see where he's going to draw it, but that doesn't mean he will draw it to that same area this time. It has worked a few times for me though.

:huh:I just realized how much I wrote...I guess I'll quit.

[jeffw 1]

Good stuff, that ^^^thanks

[HotBacon 0]

No prob :D

My aboslute favorite face-off play was the one that gave me alot of my assists (I was no Gretzky). I had wingers that could rip a wrist shot to any corner from anywhere on the ice. I would flip them before the draw (putting the left shot on the right side and right shot on the left side). I'd lift the other centers stick, and attempt to either kick the puck just behind me/over to him on the boards/ or simply move the other center back. My winger would come from the boards and either take the puck that is sitting behind me or out from our feet and rip it at the net. The goalie was usually screened by the opposite wingers and D-men, and didn't have a chance. The only way it broke down is if I lost the draw, the opposing winger on the boards read the play and stayed w/ my winger, or the winger in the slot didn't tie his man up. Not terribly difficult and most teams do it, but if done right it is a thing of beauty.