Slapshot advice

[sdcopp 1]

from EHow:

The most powerful and impressive shot in the game of roller hockey is the slap shot. A good slap shot is naturally powerful, so practice for control - aim for a corner of the goal.

Steps:

1. Start with the puck in the middle of your stance or closer to your front foot, whichever works best for you.

2. Slide your lower hand down your stick, to about 15 inches below your upper hand.

3. Hold the stick with a firm grip.

4. Look from the puck to the goal and back to the puck.

5. Backswing to about shoulder height. Realize that the slap shot telegraphs itself to the goalie because of its big backswing.

6. Be careful of your backswing on your slap shot. Your stick should never touch another player.

7. Transfer your weight from your back foot to your front foot as you swing.

8. Swing hard and quick so that the blade hits the ground an inch or so before the puck. Be careful not to strike the pavement too far behind the puck.

9. Keep your eye on the puck as you strike it.

10. Lean down on the blade as it strikes the puck. This causes the blade to straighten out slightly, which will whip the puck as it snaps back into shape and increase the velocity of your shot.

11. Follow through to about waist height so that the blade is pointing to where your shot will go.

Tips:

Practice the slap-shot swing without the puck, but always wear your skates when practicing your shots.

Build strength in your wrists and forearms for a better slap shot.

Tips from eHow Users:

Giving a hockey puck height.

The puck should not gain height because of the angle of the stick blade. Instead position the puck closer to your front foot in your stance, and allow the puck to roll from the heel of the blade of the tip of the blade as you shoot. AND ALWAYS FOLLOW THROUGH.

Weight transfer

When you are winding up, put your weight on your back foot then as you swing, transfer your weight into your front foot. But never forget to follow through, it will help your shot a lot.

[wolfshadoww 0]

And I'll tell you guys from a goalie's perspective, when I used to play inline ball hockey, I hated those jerks that slapshotted from the blue line because the ball curved on its way to the back of the net. It's difficult to read those shots and really frustrating when you are sure you have the angle covered and the ball just sort of curves around you.

[Jason Harris 31]

Actually, what I find funny is it took about two years to be able to finally lift my slapshots, but now that I can (and particularly after switching curves), I can't keep them low to the ice! :D

[Bruin88 0]

my dad taught me

[sdh 0]

forget slapshots. learn snapshots. you'll score more goals.

most people think slapshots are these huge windup shots. big windups give the goalie (and defense) a long time to get set and stop you. practicing snapshots will help you develop a faster release and you'll transition into "slap" shots without much effort.

if you absolutely must do slapshots, and why not :P, a good tip is to make sure your back swing doesn't go above your shoulders. This will help your accuracy and you don't gain any power going further anyway.

[wolfshadoww 0]

I'm a big fan of the quick twisted wrister myself when I skate out. :)

[asdfa 0]

slapshots are good for when the slot gets clogged up. lets everyone know you're taking a shot, so your team mates can get ready for rebound, screen or a tip.

when i learned to take slapshots, i made sure to lean into them. you need to get low to put weight on to flex the stick

[thejackal 46]

Find an empty net, take a bucket of pucks and a stick you dont mind breaking. Shoot away, at least 50 pucks a day. You should get the hang of it within 2-3 weeks.

[myst3ry 0]

Like the earlier post, the only way you can get better is by practicing yourself.. You can't be told something and get an instant fix.. You'll have to practice it.. Take a few thousand slappers and your bound to get better :P

[Chadd 916]

I took a lesson from a former AHL guy and it made a little bit of a difference. Then I practiced what he told me, alot, and it continued to improve. I don't have a triple digit slapper but I have forced goalies to take their time getting up. Once you have a good technique you will be able to rip them no matter how strong you are.

[Bauer_freAK 0]

Well just shoot slappers, that will do the work.

Sounds kinda unprofessional, but thats a good receip in my view.

I had a horrible slapshot and i just tried to shoot/slap it in different ways with different motions and then i found the best combination (= the proper technique) and now theyre rockets (yeah yeah, whatever )

:D sven i'd like to see your rockets....

hrhr

[jbyun04 7]

I took a lesson from a former AHL guy and it made a little bit of a difference. Then I practiced what he told me, alot, and it continued to improve. I don't have a triple digit slapper but I have forced goalies to take their time getting up. Once you have a good technique you will be able to rip them no matter how strong you are.

is this technique you speak of describable?

[SB39 2]

I have a pretty fast slapshot, but it has a lot of spin on it, making it pretty useless for close rebounds; it usually bounces pretty far. Do you guys know of any techniques or tricks to heavier, ie flatter slapshots (for those still in the dark, the less the puck spins in a shot, the more the goalie or post will absorbe instead of deflect the impact, leading to more bruised goalies and closer rebounds). I usually use Modano clones and will soon be integrating Iginla clones as well if that assists the answer.

Also, as a side issue, does anybody here use a technique in which they bend their lower arm and then extend through the shot to get power? I learned to slapshot with a weak core and as such I learned to get more power by using my left arm to power through the shot, and I wanted to know if I'm an anomaly or not...

[ktang 34]

You could try a few things, including:

- a higher blade lie

- making contact closer to your feet, with your upper body more upright than usual, and then extending your arms / not rising through the shot. Viewed from above, the blade path has a wider radius

- a longer stick

- holding your lower hand slightly higher up the stick

- less tape on your stick, especially at the heel / initial contact point

- I have heard that a slower windup and faster follow-through will give a heavier shot

- practice quarter-speed slapshots with a strip of white tape in the middle of the puck, trying to put reverse spin on it. It will be impossible at full speed, but you can try putting some of the feel and body positions for that into your full-speed shot.

I'm also trying to spin my slapshots less... good topic.

[SB39 2]

If you guys could include an explanation as to why you recommend such corrections, that would help stimulate discussion and understanding.

Like how a higher lie would affect the spin of a shot

[technophile 0]

(I don't have the world's greatest slapshot, so I'm repeating what I've been told by instructors etc and my own observations of others.)

A higher lie, as far as I can tell, will keep your followthrough from rolling the puck from the heel to the toe (which is what gives the puck spin)--there's less room to pull the blade towards you.

Along the same lines, make sure you're winding up straight backwards. A lot of people use a backswing that's more of a loop rather than straight back/straight forward; the loop might tend to encourage a heel-to-toe contact which would impart spin.

From what I've been told, there are two components to slapshot speed. One of them is the stick bending as you contact the ice and then the puck and "snapping" back to straight. The other is how fast your hands are moving when you contact the puck; the faster, the better. Concentrating on moving your hands faster rather than trying to use body rotation might help your shot spin less, especially if you also concentrate on a straight backswing and followthrough.

[mack 44]

I don't know how to break it down, but mine's fairly heavy and it goes along with Tech's description. I have about a 7 lie and wedge-curves, which I would assume deter any puck spinning much like how I can't take a wrist-shot with them at all. Other than that, I get some ice and never come straight-into the puck.

[ktang 34]

What mack and technophile said - very good explanations.

About the slower windup / faster follow-through; if you windup too fast, the body tenses up before the shot is released. This gives a straighter blade path (as viewed from above). If you windup slower and follow through faster, the blade path is straighter.

With less tape there is theoretically less spin. Not so good for the wristers, though.

With your lower hand higher up the stick, combined with the higher lie, the blade path is straighter, as viewed from above.

For those who golf: it's easier to slice with a longer driver because the lie is lower, while with a wedge it is easier to hit straight. So, to shoot a heavier slapshot, it's like trying to hook a golf shot.

These are just my observations and experiences. Somebody with high-speed video of slap shots might have different ideas. I think that NBH, or maybe CCM, was doing high-speed video of slap shots to help with the stick design, and they discovered that the blade contacts the puck twice during the shot.

[technophile 0]

These are just my observations and experiences. Somebody with high-speed video of slap shots might have different ideas. I think that NBH, or maybe CCM, was doing high-speed video of slap shots to help with the stick design, and they discovered that the blade contacts the puck twice during the shot.

I'm trying to visualize that and drawing a complete blank.

:lol:

[ktang 34]

These are just my observations and experiences. Somebody with high-speed video of slap shots might have different ideas. I think that NBH, or maybe CCM, was doing high-speed video of slap shots to help with the stick design, and they discovered that the blade contacts the puck twice during the shot.

I'm trying to visualize that and drawing a complete blank.

:lol:

I saw the high-speed video once, on CBC for a documentary based on Bruce Dowbiggin's book, "The Stick".

In super-slo-mo: the stick contacts the shooting surface, the shaft bows, the blade hits the puck (which deforms), the puck bounces and moves ahead of the blade, the shaft starts to unload, and the blade hits the puck a second time while the shaft completely unloads. It was really neat; maybe somebody has a link to the video.

[g0o0nshow 0]

just keep it low thats how a slap shot should be taken...ever notice how in skills comps the heavier harder shots are always along the ice or about half a foot off the grond?

[Chadd 916]

I have a relatively heavy shot and most of the goalies I've talked to attribute it to the high spin I put on the puck.

[mack 44]

just keep it low thats how a slap shot should be taken...ever notice how in skills comps the heavier harder shots are always along the ice or about half a foot off the grond?

They just record faster because that's where the gun is at.

[dpg 0]

Lately, when my slapshots fly through the air they sometimes turn partially on end rather than fly level. I'm wondering why this happens. I recently switched to a blade with a higher lie. Could that have something to do with it or is there just something wrong with my form?

[chk hrd 164]

you're not getting enough spin on the puck causing it to wobble. With the new stick you might be trying to force the puck high by keeping the blade open instead of turning the blade over (to get the spin) and letting the stick do the work.