Skating with your head down

[MTG35 0]

I have picked up hockey again this year after 12 years away from it. I am working real hard to improve my ability. I'm a pretty good skater but not very good with a puck. I have a bad practice of skating with my head down when I have the puck.

I have practiced with a ball and feel comfortable doing that without looking down. When in warmups I work on skating with my head up and I can do it pretty well. But...when the game starts and everything is moving so fast I just panic I guess and go back to skating with my head down when I carry the puck.

Anyone else have this problem and manage to fix it? Is it to much to think I can fix it in just a few months of playing? Is there hope?

[tro 4]

There is always hope if you got the time and effort.

Practice on open ice, just skating around stickhandling and looking up.

I go to the outdoor rink a couple nights a week, I don't even go near the shinny game, I go to the family ice, no nets and just skate and stickhandle with the head up. I will go to the rink for an hour and not attempt 1 shot.

If you don't practice outside of the game or more than 5 mins in warmup, you will continue to struggle.

[Jordan 13]

But...when the game starts and everything is moving so fast I just panic I guess and go back to skating with my head down when I carry the puck.

Well, if you can get your head up, the game will slow down immensely for you. One of the reasons is seems to so fast, is that you don't see the opposition coming, or see where your team mates are to pass to, or where there is space on the ice.

Try this: stand on the ice with a puck on your stick. Get in ready athletic position -feet shoulder width apart, knees bent - like you (hopefully) would when you skate. Place your head so that you are looking level at the horizon.

Now, with the puck on your stick, and the blade beside you so that it would push the puck straight ahead move the stick and puck forward (out in front of you, and a little to the side) until you can just see the puck with your peripheral vison, keep your head up!

This is your puck carrying position...skate like this, just pushing the puck on the blade. No stick handling yet, just skating. You can peek once and a while but mostly keep your head up.

Next step, is to turn you head from side to side while you do this..head on a swivel. If you practice this enough, you will become able to more or less sense where the puck is, and it will get easier.

The most important thing to realize, is that you have to be able to see in order to effectively play the game. If your head is down, not only are you not looking around, but your peripheral vision shrinks also.

[Deerok 3]

I agree with the above posts.

If that doesn't work...play in a full check league. I guarantee that will work (it did for me).

[phunky_monkey 6]

Good posts above.

As said, play in a checking league and you will learn quick sticks to keep your head up. I know I did!

[ArcArsenal 0]

Its all about practice and time. I am fairly new to hockey as well and this is something I would still like to improve on.

Having your head up is a great way to contribute to a team and play at a high level. You may not be able to snipe goals every game but skating with your head up will let you see the play unfolding and get you some nice assists. Its also great for getting into good spots without the puck. You get more touches this way.

[MTG35 0]

Thanks for the replies. Great suggestions that I will be trying. Except the check league. :D

BTW Arc, is that an At the Drive In reference...if so great band.

Is this something that most people go through or do some people just find it natural to puck handle with their head up?

[Darkbyte 0]

Puck handling with your headup is not natural, dont worry (how else do you play spot the newbie?). As you get more confident and relax you will improve. Everything is harder when you tense up and are double checking that the puck is still there.

When you first started to puck handle whilst stationary, could you do it with you headup all the time without droping it infront of everyone?

Personally, when its just me and the puck, I do a truck load better than when its, me, the puck and an audience.

There is always hope :)

[iceholes 0]

.

Well, if you can get your head up, the game will slow down immensely for you. One of the reasons is seems to so fast, is that you don't see the opposition coming, or see where your team mates are to pass to, or where there is space on the ice.

wonderful advise as a basis for motivation... once a player believes this, he will committ to improving the skill

[MTG35 0]

Thanks again I thought it might just be me or be something you either have or don't. With all the work I have put in I have seen small improvements. Patience isn't something that I'm good at either.

Also, when I first started handling the practice ball off ice I couldn't keep it going very long with out either looking or losing it. Now I am much better.

I'm going to puck time this afternoon and will be practicing some of these suggestions especially Jordan's sugestion of just pushing the puck around.

[skater32 0]

I learned 10 minutes into my first check league tryouts. I have never had trouble since.

[MTG35 0]

Am I assuming right about the whole "check league" situation that your saying you learned to skate with your head up while carrying the puck obviously due to necessity. But in the name of self preservation you must have lost the puck a lot more or missed passes etc. How long and what do you remember about the process before you were "good" at skating with both your head up and the puck.

[phunky_monkey 6]

Skating in a check league is not going to make you a heads up-super star puckhandler straight away, but like anything necessity forces evolution and a few good hits and you'll learn to skate while only looking down minimally. When you shoot, or catch/make a pass you can still look down. The danger is looking down while skating through the neutral zone/from behind the net/into the zone.

I still look down after all these years, but a lot less frequently than when I moved from inline to Ice.

[mnpucker 33]

Put a TV in your garageor basement, get a stickhandling ball and turn on a game and watch it while you practice. Also you can turn the sound off and turn on closed captioning on a movie so you have to read what is being said.

[interpathway 9]

Or set something up that blocks your view. My though would be to stickhandle between two chairs that have a piece of plywood on top of them. Maybe plop your hockey bag between them. Looking down wont help you, so you'll naturally keep your head up (hopefully).

[adcool17 0]

Try stickhandeling blindfolded. Even if you head is down you are unable to look at the puck, and it will help you develop feel for the puck through your hands and ears.

Just make sure to give your self lots of room so you don't hurt your self. It works for Kovalev.

[biff44 0]

Yeah, you can play "stick quiz" with your teammates. have everyone who sees you skating with your head down come over and whap you upside your head with their stick. After a couple of games, you will not be looking down anymore!

BTW, the reason you are looking down is that you do not feel comfortable enough with your skating. If you worked on your skating so that you can get from point A to point B without thinking about it, you would have time to do other stuff, like play hockey instead of staring at your feet.

[MTG35 0]

Wow thanks for all the great info and suggestions. Some of them don't even involve me potentially getting killed. :D

[dumbpolak9 1]

i learn by getting laid the f*** out. lol get a wooden ball, grab you stick and turn on the tv. keep watching the tv while stickhandling. plexiglass+pledge+ regular puck work too

[MTG35 0]

BTW, the reason you are looking down is that you do not feel comfortable enough with your skating. If you worked on your skating so that you can get from point A to point B without thinking about it, you would have time to do other stuff, like play hockey instead of staring at your feet.

I needed to dig this back up because when I read this suggestion my first though was to dismiss it since I thought I was a pretty good skater. I also wanted to dismiss it since I was a better skater that some other guys who didn't seem to have this problem.

However, I wanted to thank biff44 since this was the BEST ADVISE I EVER GOT!!! At first I missed the point that he wasn't saying become a "better" skater per say but a more comfortable confident skater. Those others may not be better but they are comfortable and confident in what they can do.

Because of this advise I have been working hard on my skating. I do edge control drills, footwork drills, crossover drills for hours. Amazingly then when I skate with a puck my head isn't down anymore. When doing all these skating drills without a stick and puck I noticed something...when I was doing something I wasn't comfortable with I would be looking down. As I got more comfortable I wouldn't look down anymore. Tada...now I do my skating drills till I can do them with my head up. Oh and BTW I also ended up being a better skater due to the hours of drills.

Thanks again biff44 you were totally spot on with your advise and I am so thankful that I took it.

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Thanks for bringing this thread back up. I've been playing for 8 years (started at age 34) and I've always struggled with keeping my head up. All of these posts have helped give me a good perspective on things I can (need) to do to improve!!

[MTG35 0]

Your welcome. If you follow the suggestions all the great people here provided it will happen for you. I thought I was hopeless but here I am less than a year later and I feel like a sucess story.

Another great resource if the following videos

They have a whole bunch I'd say watch them all.

Here are ones that will help your skating

[fawn111 0]

The problem is all mental....

The instant BEFORE you get the puck on your stick, you have to mentally tell yourself that you are going to lift up your head and scan the game situation...

You have to tell your body to do this BEFORE you get the puck...

Second point to keep in mind is that in most situations you will have at least a second where you are not getting hacked to death and that you have enough space to take the time to lift you head up, even only for a second... this is inline with the advice of the game slows down once you lift your heard up.

[JDeezy 0]

I used to have this problem untill I got laid the f**k out at open ice when I was about 14 or so. I got hit so hard that after I landed on my back the momentum flipped me over onto my stomach. I ended up right in front of the other team's bench :lol:

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

I'm an AP at an area HS and I often practice with the kids. Generally they are, of course, much better than me. They take it easy on me and we have fun. Two weeks ago I had the puck at center ice and by the time I looked up all I saw was a shoulder and an arm. KA-BOOM!!!! I popped right up which made me feel good but jeez!!! I hadn't even ever suspended the kid or anything! He's a freeking honor student. Anyway.... I was VERRRRRRY careful the rest of the night!!