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syinx

Stickhandling while skating?

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Hey guys,

So, getting back into ice hockey again after playing so much ball, I've found that I'm not quite getting much progress in the stickhandling while skating aspect of my game. I find myself more often than not "pushing" the puck forward rather than actively keeping it under control, and was wondering if you had any tips on how to co-ordinate my skating with my stickhandling and find that "rhythm".

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In my opinion, if you can push the puck forward and there's not any player on the opposing team near you, covering you, trying to take it away, etc., then why not just do that?

Especially coming out of your own zone or in the neutral zone... just move it. Once you're moving in on net, stickhandling helps keep the puck closer to/in a shooting positon and keeps the goalie guessing, but I'm an advocate of not doing anything you don't need to do. Often you can move the puck more efficiently by skating with in pushing it straight ahead.

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It depends in what situation you are in but I disagree with the above post. That builds lazy hockey players.
All it takes is one poke from a player knowing what they are doing and you let up an odd man rush since you weren't protecting the puck. Then your teammates will get on you for it.

Think of it this way, if you move the puck on your forehand side constantly there is no "defense" or "shield" to protect it from the opponent. If you stickhandle side to side, the backhand of your stick blade protects the puck and you can freely move from side to side to navigate traffic.

Do yourself a favor and pick up cheap roller blades and a Green Biscuit. You can even use the Green Biscuit while you're running, it slides like a puck on almost any surface.

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To clarify, my post wasn't advocating carrying the puck on the forehand side exclusively, and especially not when there is anyone remotely close enough to even attempt poking it away. All I'm saying is that there are plenty situations in which the puck can be moved more effectively by pushing it out ahead of the body (not really on forehand OR backhand side, just out ahead, using the sitck to push it ahead) which allows the skater to move with more speed. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to stickhandle side to side in situations when it's NOT needed because there is no defensive threat nearby, and it slows them down.

Of course if there is any defensive pressure, puck protection is necessary, and stickhandling is a big part of that. But one needn't feel obligated to do it all the time just for its own sake. That's my opinion. What you call laziness I call efficiency.

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I can't count how many times I've seen somebody slap their stick on either side of the puck to "stickhandle", while skating forward, with no or very little pressure. It looks idiotic, wastes energy, and serves no purpose, other than helping them lose the puck without anybody even trying to check them.

If you're just moving the puck up ice, don't "stickhandle". Just push it up. Learn to do it on your backhand side ( what I mean is with your stick in front of you, flipping your top hand so that your wrist is pointed up and you push the puck with the back of your stick) and forehand side, and learn to do it full speed. You'd be amazed at how you can avoid checks just by pushing the puck forward and skating hard around others. It's not lazy, it's smart.

That said, I'm assuming you're keeping the puck on your stick, and not pushing it forward too much, then simply catching up to it.

Anyway, to get better at stickhandling in the traditional sense, to avoid other players, deke out the goalie, etc., then you simply have to practice. It takes a long time. Personally, I'm an advocate of doing as much dryland stickhandling with whatever is available. I've got an unfinished basement, so I've got tennis balls, golf balls, the green biscuit, wooden stickhandling balls, floor hockey pucks, etc. and I'll just wander around the basement, through chairs, around boxes, and whatnot for ten or fifteen minutes a day. I even use those agility balls that bounce all over the place to practice. I'll do this with a bunch of different sticks (older ones, wooden ones, broken ones, different curves).

Strengthen your wrists, too. I really liked the Kwik Hands weighted ball kit. It's helped me to the point where I can, with one hand, do the lacrosse move and pick up the puck. Useless in a game, but really helps in terms of being strong on the puck.

Once you become comfortable with how the puck feels on your stick, you can start to skate a little more with the puck, keep your head up more, and the like. Go to open ice whenever you can and work on how the puck feels on the ice and your game stick.

Practice. Really the only way to get good. I've been doing it for five years now and I'm still nowhere where I'd like to be, but miles ahead of where I was when I started.

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To clarify, my post wasn't advocating carrying the puck on the forehand side exclusively, and especially not when there is anyone remotely close enough to even attempt poking it away. All I'm saying is that there are plenty situations in which the puck can be moved more effectively by pushing it out ahead of the body (not really on forehand OR backhand side, just out ahead, using the sitck to push it ahead) which allows the skater to move with more speed. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to stickhandle side to side in situations when it's NOT needed because there is no defensive threat nearby, and it slows them down.

Of course if there is any defensive pressure, puck protection is necessary, and stickhandling is a big part of that. But one needn't feel obligated to do it all the time just for its own sake. That's my opinion. What you call laziness I call efficiency.

But on the other hand, by constantly "dribbling" the puck, I find it easier to keep track of it while keeping my head up. I can feel the puck better and my peripheral vision picks it up more easily too. And a constantly moving target is harder to poke away by the opponent.

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I couldn't echo what ​tareatingrat said any louder. Frequency is far more important than strength; the specific, repeated hand movements are what your body is taught to perform when your brain is too busy looking through screens or fearing the defender bearing down on you. Without enough repetitive practice players freeze or fail at (unavoidable) inopportune puck handling time(s). Stickhandling through chairs in a basement or against a friend with a street hockey ball on asphalt are great ways to mimic difficult situations. Use your imagination.

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But on the other hand, by constantly "dribbling" the puck, I find it easier to keep track of it while keeping my head up. I can feel the puck better and my peripheral vision picks it up more easily too. And a constantly moving target is harder to poke away by the opponent.

This.

I understood what the other poster ^^^ meant, but I wouldn't push the puck in any situation other than breakaways or the beginning of a play. Very easy to lose, plus if I see someone pushing it I'm just going to jump up on the play. They have little time to bring it back into a stickhandling position and no chance of deking me.

Watch NHL defenseman as they take the puck from behind the net, most will stickhandle even when quarterbacking a play. Some will only push for several seconds which is fine. Plus you will never push the puck in the neutral and offensive zone, or at least shouldn't, so you might as well practice.

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