Stick grip, one or two hands

[Leif 161]

I'm confused about how to grip the stick. When doing edge drills I was told to hold the stick in one hand and have it in front of me. And when sprinting I can go faster with a one hand grip. I also find it easier to do tight turns etc with one hand guiding the stick and puck. But today I was told to use both hands, and that the more I use one hand, the harder I'll find it to use both. Thoughts? 

[chippa13 1844]

When I coached I would have players do all skating drills with a puck on their stick. That taught them to skate with two hands on the stick, keep their heads up with the puck, and learn how to handle the puck at full speed.

 

[gosinger 122]

You need to be able to do both, i.e. when skating around the circle while keeping the stick inside, in one direction you'll carry it with both hands, in the other with only the top hand. When you are going full speed forward (breakaway) you'll push the puck with only the top hand while moving your arms front-to-back until you need to maneuver, which is when you switch to both hands.

 

It is all very situational. When doing tight turns ("Canadians" as it is called over here) you also want to add puck protection, so if you keep the puck inside the turn you will use both hands as your legs provide the puck protection, if you want to keep the puck outside (e.g. when you know you can push the opponent away because you are a half-step ahead) you might use one arm to shield the puck rather than having both on the stick.
When you are stickhandling you generally want to keep both hands on the stick, while when you want to go fast or wide it might be a good idea to only use one hand in order to gain reach or add additional puck protection. When you have the chance, use both hands (more control, more power - harder for opponents to knock your stick away), however when you need to (e.g. catching a pass far ahead of you) you should be able to do it one-handed as-well.

[psulion22 402]

I think we need some context here.

Are you just learning to play?  If so, I'd say you should be focusing on using two hands.  It's mental thing to engage your stick and keep it in a good position rather than it just being an afterthought on these drills.  Plus it actually provides a physical and visual aid in tight turns because you can focus on getting the stick in front of you.  That promotes shoulder turn which is important to tight, quick, stable turns.  However, I'd also be working on using both one and two hands, and even switching between the two.  You will be fastest in a straight line with only one hand on the stick because you can move your arms in your direction of travel, which drives your momentum and center of gravity that direction.

The reality is that you will constantly be switching between one and two hands in a game depending on the situation.  You need to be able to play the game effectively either way. 

[215BroadStBullies610 435]

On 9/19/2017 at 12:46 PM, chippa13 said:

When I coached I would have players do all skating drills with a puck on their stick. That taught them to skate with two hands on the stick, keep their heads up with the puck, and learn how to handle the puck at full speed.

 

I'm sure there are other example, but as a Flyers fan, I've noticed that Ivan Provorov does this extremely well. Dude does EVERYTHING with two hands on his stick. Something that every player should learn and work on.

[Leif 161]

Thanks all. I now skate with two hands on the stick, except when sprinting when I use my right hand only.