Slapshot advice

[DMBeer41 0]

Basic Mechanics of a slapshot (mine is not amazing, but it's decent enough to put a few past a goalie)

1) Weight Transfer!!!!

Make sure you're staring on your back foot, with your knees bent (the key to life), and your weight transfers from the back to the front throughout your shot.

2) Hit the puck of the Heel (or very near the heel) of your stick. This will help you get the most power from your shot

3) Contact the ice first! Not far behind the puck, but it should be enough that if you listen really close, you can hear two sounds (stick to the ice,then stick to the puck). As a general rule, I try to hit the ice half an inch to an inch behind the puck

Your power is going to come from your legs, and your core rotation. I'd worry first about getting a HARD slapshot. With the proper mechanics, where your slapshot goes will be as easy as following through and pointing the puck where you want it.

[Lfntn10 0]

Basic Mechanics of a slapshot (mine is not amazing, but it's decent enough to put a few past a goalie)

1) Weight Transfer!!!!

Make sure you're staring on your back foot, with your knees bent (the key to life), and your weight transfers from the back to the front throughout your shot.

2) Hit the puck of the Heel (or very near the heel) of your stick. This will help you get the most power from your shot

3) Contact the ice first! Not far behind the puck, but it should be enough that if you listen really close, you can hear two sounds (stick to the ice,then stick to the puck). As a general rule, I try to hit the ice half an inch to an inch behind the puck

Your power is going to come from your legs, and your core rotation. I'd worry first about getting a HARD slapshot. With the proper mechanics, where your slapshot goes will be as easy as following through and pointing the puck where you want it.

Just reading that makes me wanna go to the driving range.

[Storm 0]

When you make contact with the puck, you should contact the ice one inch behind the puck. It is this impact which causes your shaft to bend, thus giving your shot power. If you are really strong, then you can contact the puck about 3 inches behind it. This will cause the shaft to bend even more, causing an even more powerful shot. Some people like to slide their bottom hand down a little as they take the slap-shot.

The puck should be a little bit lower than the centre of the blade of your stick (closer to the heel than the toe).As you shoot the puck, the puck will sort of roll up and propel off the toe of your stick.

You don't need a big wind-up when you take a slap-shot. Keep your stick cupped (closed) in your backswing, as you do with the wrist-shot. Like in the wrist-shot, the height of your follow through will determine how high the puck goes. Also, like in the wrist-shot, the most important thing with this shot is the weight transfer. This is where you get a lot of the power. Your weight will shift from your back to your front leg. Keep those knees bent!

from www.whockey.com

[chippa13 1844]

Basic Mechanics of a slapshot (mine is not amazing, but it's decent enough to put a few past a goalie)

1) Weight Transfer!!!!

Make sure you're staring on your back foot, with your knees bent (the key to life), and your weight transfers from the back to the front throughout your shot.

2) Hit the puck of the Heel (or very near the heel) of your stick. This will help you get the most power from your shot

3) Contact the ice first! Not far behind the puck, but it should be enough that if you listen really close, you can hear two sounds (stick to the ice,then stick to the puck). As a general rule, I try to hit the ice half an inch to an inch behind the puck

Your power is going to come from your legs, and your core rotation. I'd worry first about getting a HARD slapshot. With the proper mechanics, where your slapshot goes will be as easy as following through and pointing the puck where you want it.

#2 is wrong. You want to catch the puck on the sweet spot of the blade which is usually dead center.

[Lfntn10 0]

I read an article in USA Hockey magazine, by Drew Stafford, and he mentioned that the key to a powerful slapshot is while you're in motion, and I have to agree with that because you have more momentum into your shot to your follow through.

[chk hrd 164]

people can tell you how to do something, if you are able to do it correctly from the instructions is a entirely different thing. Get somebody at the rink, that knows what they are doing, and ask them to watch you. That way they can see what you are doing and show you how to correct it.

[ktang 34]

Basic Mechanics of a slapshot (mine is not amazing, but it's decent enough to put a few past a goalie)

1) Weight Transfer!!!!

Make sure you're staring on your back foot, with your knees bent (the key to life), and your weight transfers from the back to the front throughout your shot.

2) Hit the puck of the Heel (or very near the heel) of your stick. This will help you get the most power from your shot

3) Contact the ice first! Not far behind the puck, but it should be enough that if you listen really close, you can hear two sounds (stick to the ice,then stick to the puck). As a general rule, I try to hit the ice half an inch to an inch behind the puck

Your power is going to come from your legs, and your core rotation. I'd worry first about getting a HARD slapshot. With the proper mechanics, where your slapshot goes will be as easy as following through and pointing the puck where you want it.

#2 is wrong. You want to catch the puck on the sweet spot of the blade which is usually dead center.

There was a super-slow-motion analysis of slapshots, done with robots and by humans, and the conclusion was that shooting off the heel or very close to the heel worked best. So, a heel curve is best for slappers because the location of its sweet spot is close enough to the ideal impact point.

Slap shots off the sweet spot for mid and toe curves didn't work because the blade would bend and the shaft energy would give the puck a glancing blow.

So, in certain situations (heel curve), you are both right...

[Maka 0]

Keep the puck fairly close to your body. A problem I had early on was having the puck too far away from my body. This didn't allow my stick to flex enough. If you keep the puck closer to your body as you're shooting, you force yourself to strike the ice behind the puck to get the desired flex. It will feel awkward at first, but it helps.

[bheidepr 0]

What if it just slides across the ice? hitting too far behind it????

[Chadd 916]

This topic has been covered a few times. Rather than risk the ire of Vapor, I merged a dozen or so slapshot topics to create one repository of slapshot advice.

[gxc999 7]

Sorry to bump a wicked old topic, but I still need help on my moving slapshot. My big problem is the weight transfer. Basically, if I get it off while skating with any considerable amount of speed, it's a dinky ass shot. This sucks because my stationary slap shot is really pretty good. Any links/help appreciated...

[howtohockey 3]

Sorry to bump a wicked old topic, but I still need help on my moving slapshot. My big problem is the weight transfer. Basically, if I get it off while skating with any considerable amount of speed, it's a dinky ass shot. This sucks because my stationary slap shot is really pretty good. Any links/help appreciated...

For good reason. When you are stationary you probably push off with your back leg, then shoot (you should be doing this anyways) that means you are getting your entire body into the shot. If you are skating, and the puck is moving with you, then it is harder to produce the same explosive power.

In order to get the same power you should really push into the shot with your back leg, also don't forget the other sources of power

• Legs (mentioned above)
  
• Arms and Shoulders
  
• Core Muscles (twist your upper body for more speed / torque)
  
• Stick - Proper technique is KEY to load the stick and get maximum power
  
• Wrists - Turn the wrists over to add to your power and accuracy
  

That's about all there is to it. After you understand that and proper technique it just comes down to practice, and building your muscle memory.

[Chadd 916]

The biggest thing is you really aren't going to get as much weight transfer as long as you are going in a straight line, it's very different than a stationary shot. The more you shoot across your body, the easier it will be to transfer the energy into your shot. For example, if you are a RH shot it is much easier to generate velocity from the right wing side than if you are skating straight at the goalie. Try coasting to start and focus on driving off the "inside" leg (same side as your bottom hand) when shooting and work into doing it at higher and higher speeds as you feel comfortable with it.

[gxc999 7]

I appreciate the help guys. I'm gradually improving at it but it's tough. Chadd, your point is a very good one. I find it much easier to shoot off the left side as a LH when using it. It's really surprising to me that the slapper in motion is so bloody tough when the snapper in motion is so bloody natural!