Seeing the Ice

[Ravrius 0]

I've been practicing and have started getting comfortable with stickhandling and skating with my headup but I realized that my vision still feels limited especially behind me...when i get the puck it seems like someone always catches up to me and I never see them until they are on me. Is that what putting your head on a swivel means? although it seems that to be able to see behind me i have to turn my upper body a bit as i look back as well. Is that right? how often should i do that? Any tips for protecting the puck while I'm taking a look around?

Also, on the note of playing with your head up when receiving a pass i always tend to look at the puck until its on my stick...then it takes me that split second to make sure its on my stick and get my head up again. Are you supposed to receive a pass with your head up? it seems really hard to cushion a pass if you don't know when its gonna hit your stick. Or is it more of a I just gotta get used to looking up quickly and taking everything in?

Thanks for all the help everyone. Appreciate it!

[mrusse01 0]

Try to be more aware before you have the puck...then when you do take a pass or pick up a loose puck you'll already have an idea of where everybody is.

[sitzlejd 0]

These are things that will improve with time. Personally I think receiving passes is one of the most challenging skills for a new player to learn. I may not watch the puck the whole way but I definitely watch in the moment just before it hits the stick. The more you play the quicker you'll make the transition from looking down to getting your head back up. As a passer I find it more frustrating when a player completely wiffs on a nice feed so I'd just look it in to your stick until you get more comfortable.

As far as getting caught from behind goes you'll just have to keep working on your skating and getting faster. That used to happen to me all the time.

[Patrick67 1]

Keep looking around while you're away from the puck, that way you'll have a better sense of where people are on the rink when the puck hits your tape, instead of waiting to look around when you actually have the puck.

[crazylegs_9 0]

Personally I think receiving passes is one of the most challenging skills for a new player to learn.

+1

[mrusse01 0]

Not enough people practise taking passes while skating...I see too many beginners snapping passes back and forth while they are standing still, but really you don't get a lot of passes in game situations where you are at a dead stop.

[scorer75 9]

If I had to guess you are having an issue very common to beginners, slowing down with the puck.

It's normal to skate hard, get the puck, and then slow down when you are first learning to play. This might be the reason you are getting caught.

If I am right, you just need to learn to get comfortable once you have received the puck with keeping your speed up. Also, I like to tell players to do a quick scan before they receive a pass, a lot of times you can decide based on a quick glimpse where you are going with the pass before even receiving it.

It really boils down to a comfort issue and the more you play, the more comfortable you will get.

[lampliter87 8]

I know that for me personally, as a defensemen, when a forward on the opposing team dumps a puck in behind me and I have to turn and pivot, then go pick up the puck, and then turn back up ice to make a play with it can be difficult. My coach makes us practice what he calls "shoulder checks", which are essentially just glances on over your shoulder after you pivot and begin to skate back and retrieve the puck. It doesn't take much, and can help avoid getting crushed by a forechecker who was much closer than I had expected, and lets me know when I have time to calm down and move up ice.