Stickhandling Aids

[Hradsky 1]

Searched, didn't find anything.

So guys it's that time of year again. The off-season is starting for most of us quite soon and it's time to start working on skills for the next year.

So my question is: What is the best for practicing stick handling at home?

I currently have a smart hockey ball, and it is excellent in all ways, except that it's too small. I can stick handle like Pascal with it but when I switch to a puck my stick ends up on top of the puck instead of beside it, which is

So I'm thinking of picking up a Fly Puck, I hear they work well on smooth surfaces (which I have) and should slide absolutely excellent when used correctly. I'm loving the idea of it being like an actual puck, but just wanted to hear from some of the most knowledgeable people on the internet before I dished out close to $20 for one.

So what are your guy's thoughts on these different stick handling aids, smart balls, fly pucks, green biscuit, swedish stickhandling ball, etc.

Discuss!

[AIREAYE 248]

Searched, didn't find anything.

So guys it's that time of year again. The off-season is starting for most of us quite soon and it's time to start working on skills for the next year.

So my question is: What is the best for practicing stick handling at home?

I currently have a smart hockey ball, and it is excellent in all ways, except that it's too small. I can stick handle like Pascal with it but when I switch to a puck my stick ends up on top of the puck instead of beside it, which is

So I'm thinking of picking up a Fly Puck, I hear they work well on smooth surfaces (which I have) and should slide absolutely excellent when used correctly. I'm loving the idea of it being like an actual puck, but just wanted to hear from some of the most knowledgeable people on the internet before I dished out close to $20 for one.

So what are your guy's thoughts on these different stick handling aids, smart balls, fly pucks, green biscuit, swedish stickhandling ball, etc.

Discuss!

Worst thing about the Smartball IMO

[Holden Caulfield 5]

Tried them all on concrete and asphalt, my thoughts...

Green biscuit is by far the best - it is made as a layer cake with soft rubber in the middle that really works to keep the puck down and stop it from rolling. My only issue is that it is too light - I wish they would make it ice puck regulation weight.

Propuck is tied for second as it slides well but tips fairly often and once it does keeps on rolling. Also it is too light.

Smart ball is tied for second as it stays down, can't tip, but blade friction from the ball rolling is annoying and it is also too light. Furthermore it is not shaped like a puck.

Fly Puck is last for me - on concrete and asphalt it doesn't slide well, it tips and rolls. Basically it is a hard plastic puck. If you have a smooth concrete surface, I suppose it would be ok. One positive is that it comes in three weights.

Bottom line - Green Biscuit is the way to go - ingenius design - just needs to be heavier.

BTW - I do not work for Green Biscuit, I work in IT.

Green Biscuit, if you are reading this, make your puck heavier:-)

Again, just my thoughts...

KB

[bob_flip 0]

I have used the fly puck about 2 years. You won't be disappointed :)

[weedsnager 0]

make a skill pad

[furlanitalia 1]

Actually really impressed with how well that returns the puck - Weedsnager is that yours or did you just find the video?

My biggest concern would be that if you were to break those light covers, they can be a real pain. Also having to use a lighter puck isn't exactly a favourable option, but replace the light covers with hdpe and you've got a great passing aid.

[thejackal 46]

tennis ball - bounce it on the blade and play keep-up like with a soccer ball

[Hockeyman11385 1]

Green Biscuit, if you are reading this, make your puck heavier:-)

You may be able to add lead tape like people use on golf clubs to make it heavier. You would have to use the same side facing down all of the time though.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

Nothing got my hands faster like a swedish stick handling ball. I use it everyday. I got a smart ball and didn't like it as much.

[Hradsky 1]

Nothing got my hands faster like a swedish stick handling ball. I use it everyday. I got a smart ball and didn't like it as much.

Interesting.

But isn't that like...a small ball? Wouldn't you have the same problems with it as with a smart ball? (Puck is bigger so you would be missing it...)

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

Interesting.

But isn't that like...a small ball? Wouldn't you have the same problems with it as with a smart ball? (Puck is bigger so you would be missing it...)

I have no problem going back to a puck. The ball is about the same size as a smart ball. IMO it realy helps with hand speed. It did for me at least

[Hradsky 1]

I have no problem going back to a puck. The ball is about the same size as a smart ball. IMO it realy helps with hand speed. It did for me at least

Alright, I have a feeling I'm going to end up with one of everything :P

Why exactly did you prefer it more than a smart ball though? Is it lighter/heavier or something?

[SirJW 207]

What's wrong w/ a golf ball?

[bob_flip 0]

A golf ball is a really small, but the best way for quick hands. IMO

I use it for fast stick handling, and the heavy fly puck for strong.

[bostonjuniorblackhawks 1]

Golf ball is my second favorite to the swedish ball. It feels good on my stick

To the OP: did you do a google advanced search?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cli...amp;safe=images

[danglemesnipes 0]

Alright, I have a feeling I'm going to end up with one of everything :P

Not a bad thing. I have one of each and I think that it helps to use all three.

[BlackIce 1]

Tried them all on concrete and asphalt, my thoughts...

Green biscuit is by far the best - it is made as a layer cake with soft rubber in the middle that really works to keep the puck down and stop it from rolling. My only issue is that it is too light - I wish they would make it ice puck regulation weight.

Propuck is tied for second as it slides well but tips fairly often and once it does keeps on rolling. Also it is too light.

Smart ball is tied for second as it stays down, can't tip, but blade friction from the ball rolling is annoying and it is also too light. Furthermore it is not shaped like a puck.

Fly Puck is last for me - on concrete and asphalt it doesn't slide well, it tips and rolls. Basically it is a hard plastic puck. If you have a smooth concrete surface, I suppose it would be ok. One positive is that it comes in three weights.

Bottom line - Green Biscuit is the way to go - ingenius design - just needs to be heavier.

BTW - I do not work for Green Biscuit, I work in IT.

Green Biscuit, if you are reading this, make your puck heavier:-)

Again, just my thoughts...

KB

Nice analysis, I agree the fly puck is garbage.

[sarmalidu 1]

IMO Fly Pucks are terrible - they are brittle simple plastic pucks that are way overpriced. They don't glide well on many surfaces at all, they can actually crack and break, and they tend to roll.

I also have a smart hockey ball which I like well. Obviously any ball is NOT a replacement for practicing with a puck. The nice thing about a ball is that it works on most surfaces and it's great for general hand speed and reflexes so that you get used to handling without looking down at the ball/puck.

I haven't tried a green biscuit but I am interested. My guess is that they are lighter because any land-based puck is going to have more drag than an ice puck. If you make the land puck heavier, it's going to be slower and more likely to roll. Since the puck is meant for hand skills, the movement of the puck is probably more important than having accurate weight.

[fawn111 0]

Have a green biscuit and a smart ball.

The Green Biscuit is nice, just slow.... it does not glide even close to a real puck. I'd say it's about 70% of the speed of a puck on ice. It works well and glides over just about any rough surface nicely. As stated earlier, it could be heavier. But the problem I have when i use it and then hit the ice is that the Green Biscuit makes your stickhandling a tad sluggish. When i say sluggish I mean that it;s a lot easier to handle the GB than a real puck, thus your practicing with something that takes away the realism of a puck gliding on ice and gives you a false sense of accomplishment. I can toe drag the crap out of the GB, but a puck just moves so much more than the GB which is why it;s not the best training tool I have found. Maybe for simple stickhandling it is still a good tool, but even then it;s just slow and sluggish.

I like the smart ball because you really need to focus your blade to be successful handling it. Much the same way a puck will slide off your stick on ice if it's not in the optimal position. The Smart ball is heavy, could be a tad heavier. The only thing i don't like about ball trainers in general is that they much narower than a real ice puck and thus you aren't moving your stick as much side to side to be successful stickandling it.

Anyway, try both. Not a fortune to invest in either.

I guess the best way to go is the plexiglass and real puck combo.

I just don't have the room for that in my house.

It's odd that ee can put a man on the moon but we lack the technology to make a simple dryland puck trainer.

[Vathsdrop 0]

The good old regular vulcanized rubber puck on shorthaired carpet works just fine for me. Try to not break everything in the house <_< if you have a composite blade just untape, and use it naked, the sleek shiny surface will slide perfectly on it.

But for fun, it's definitely the specifically designed outdoor street hockey ball + concrete + fiberglass blade, best way to feel like a hockey god (you can even dribble in the air with that baby). Coming back to the regular puck is often frustrating though :lol:

Tennis ball tend to grip to the blade / golf ball destroy blades quickly (but it's quite fun, it bounces like crazy and since it's really hard you can do some serious damages with it B) )

[hamstercaster 2]

Just a thought but how about using a little league baseball? Probably about the same weight as a puck and more or less the size of a tennis ball. I've never used any of the aforementionned stick handling aid and neighter have I used a baseball but since the complaints are about weight and size I figured that a little league baseball could work out well.

[B19Kress 0]

Check out my homemade pad in the Show It Off thread and you can just use a regular puck :)

[Hradsky 1]

Check out my homemade pad in the Show It Off thread and you can just use a regular puck :)

Well I've got a skill pad made from an acrylic sheet & sprayed with furniture polish and it slides ok enough for shooting, but not enough for some hardcore stickhandling with regular pucks.

So since I've got a smooth surface I wanted to try a fly puck or green biscuit I guess, because those are supposed to work on smooth surfaces well.

On my pad thing if I try to stick handle fast the puck gets stuck a little and starts flipping over <_<

If a green biscuit/fly puck slides with less resistance they should work...

[Quintin 16]

I don't know whereabouts you are so I can't really put any links down. The best money I've ever spent on for off-ice stickhandling would be an HDPE sheet. Spray on some cleaner/polish/WD40, give it a gentle wipe and boom. Size is totally up to you but try and get as big as you can (thickness doesn't really matter - 4mm should do fine). It's not as slidy as wet ice but the added resistance helps for soft hands development. I couldn't stickhandle for shit before I got mine and now I'm always confident with my stickhandling, especially in tight areas on the ice. Learn the technique and understand what situations you might have to use stickhandling for (getting around players, pulling a deke, playing keep away etc). Just a few below:

- Different positioning - no doubt you'll be in different stances when you control the puck during a game/practise (stickhandling to your right/left, while turning, practising dekes). Practise handling the puck in all directions. Variations of this would be do squat with one or both feet while you're stickhandling. Every little helps.

- Stickhandling in tight areas - (draw 2 lines with marker pen/tape about 30cm apart and stickhandling between the 2 lines. It's good fun and it'll help puck control. Also get a chair/stick and use your imagine to stickhandle around them. You'll be spending hours doing that.

- "Triangle" - Mark the 3 points of a triangle with a marker pen and move the puck from one point to the other. It'll develop your toe drags and help you with stickhandling in general.

Remember though, none of these will really help unless YOU KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!

The best and most important thing with stickhandling and pretty much, all aspects of the game is confidence. Misery loves company so don't get anyone down at you and keep at it. The effort'll get you somewhere.

Good luck!

[xrickyb86x 1]

I grab an old stick and tape a couple of pucks to the top of the blade. then I use a smartball. Excellent. When I switch back to one of my game sticks I feel amazing.