Stickhandling Issues

[SB39 2]

hey guys: I injured my left wrist at our first tournament in October, and played on it all season. I lost a lot of strength and stability and haven't exactly found what the problem actually is (2 X-Rays and an MRI and my dumbass doc still doesn't get it...). Thing is, I haven't lifted upper body in 5 months and my stickhandling has fundamentally changed in teh last 8 months; I now use my right forearm almost exclusively for muscle power in stickhandling (I'm a lefty), and I need some tips of how to balance the effort between the top and bottom hands, to make it side neutral. Also, if anyone has had any experience with this kind of problem, let me know...

[crosskore 0]

THe onlything I can think of is going into kind of a rehab. Lift some weights with justyour left wrist to get it strong again, Like hwen you break a leg, then practice your stickhandleing, if need be, practice using your left hand more often. You can do this on ice with a puck, or in your house with a golf ball or hockey ball, or on the road with a tennis ball. Things like that help alot. Playing hockey with a tennis ball has improved my stickhandling quite a bit. When I;am in my house I use a golf ball. The only thing is, move the golf ball slowley. Because golf balls move faster then a puck on ice you will get accustomed to moving your stick fast to catch the golf ball. This will make your stickhandling choppy on ice. So when you use a golf ball, dont go wicked fast, just use it for the touch and feel aspect of stickhandling. I try to fo it with my eyes closed.

Thats all I can think of right now.

[Cavs019 710]

I broke my wrist in december and is hasn't been the same since. I've been going to physical therapy but my left wrist is still extremely weak. we have the same problem.

[PBRyan 0]

I broke my right wrist (top hand since I'm a lefty) playing in a preseason tournament and it took me a while to get back to my prior level. My coach and doctor suggessted I do a lot of forehand lifting as soon as I got the air cast off about 8 weeks after I broke it (when I first started it my wrist when I lifted). A good excercise I did was attaching a round stick (broom handle or broken hockey shaft) to one end of a rope by drilling a hole in it. Then attach a decent sized plate weight to the rope about 2.5 ft down. I did this nearly every night rolling the weight up, then slowly rolling it down, for about a month in addition to regular lifting 4xs a week just to get back to regular stregnth. I also would lift arms alot too...the regular bi's and tri's stuff (curls, reverse curls, skullcrushers, etc.). This helped me get back quicker. I also just took time to practice on and off the ice-with a golf ball or street hockey ball. It took a while but my touch for the puck eventually got back. First game back scored 2 goals :D

[biff44 0]

Betteryhockey.com sells this "power shooter", that you can stickhandle with in two directions while under resistance. It may help:

http://www.betterhockey.com/prod.itml/icOid/496

[biff44 0]

Another idea, my kid hurt his wrist this spring but had to play thru it for tryouts. We went to a good pharmacy that speciallizes in medical supplies, and found a wrist brace for him. It is like a very thick and short ace bandage with velcro that wraps around the wrist. With this in place he was able to take slap shots, etc, without further injuring the wrist. It was thin enough to fit under his hockey glove. This allowed the thing to heal quickly. You might want to wear one of these while you play, to keep from re-injuring your hand. It probably works on the same principle of a boxer's hand wrap, keeping the bones from expanding under pressure to prevent tearing the tendons.

[Dave 1]

I had a broken left wrist (I'm RH) 2 years ago. To rehab my wrist I got a Gyrotwister

http://www.gyrotwister.com/start.php?pageID=en-0-0-0-0

This is hands down the best device to strengthen your forearm, hand and finger muscles.

Unfortunately (for you) it seems that it is not available in the US/Can.

[Lester8 11]

This is a similar product

http://www.epuck.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ser...egory_rn=891747

[Dave 1]

it's the same. I'd highly recommend it to any hockey player, and even more if you come back from a wrist injury.