Snapshots

[Nolan88 1]

Anyone have any advice for shooting one leg snapshots quicker? I have to load mine a lot and I was wondering if there were any techniques to load them easier and quicker. Thanks!

[gosinger 122]

Without a video of your shot it is hard to give a lot of pointers, but here is how I instruct my beginners on snapshots (first stationary, then in motion):

1. Stickhandle 3 times in front of the body (ready position)
   1. hands away from the body, this gives you room to move and primes the upper hand (see 2)
   2. this is your good hockey position, make sure your knees are bent
2. Pull the puck to the forehand side (primed position)
   1. no further than the front of your toe
   2. make sure you already have your upper hand out infront when catching the puck on the forehand, this gives you the ability to produce power (see 4)
   3. while pulling, transfer your weight to your desired leg (doing this during pulling shaves a few ms of your total time to get ready to shoot) - note that there are slight differences between inside and outside leg snapshots in how you shift your weight.
3. Push the puck forward slightly and separate puck from blade (optional in my opinion, I'd still consider it a snap if you keep stick and puck attached)
   1. ideally a little bit into your body so you can lean into it, so not straight ahead but angle it towards you
4. Drive downwards towards your target with your bottom hand while pulling into your chest with your upper hand (flexing the stick)
   1. the lower hand now grips tighter, and pushes towards your target into the ice, creating flex in your stick
   2. as the upper hand is out infront, you can now really pull on it to flex the stick even more
   3. if you feel you cant flex the stick or you fall over, the puck is too far outside preventing you from either flexing or maintaining stability
5. Snap your wrists over to add additional accuracy and power to your shot (follow through)
   1. the blade of your stick travels a significant amount of distance when you rotate your wrist, so that speed is added to your shot
   2. pull the upper arm towards your chest rather than your stomach, your final position should have you looking down the stick like the barrel of a rifle (we don't aim when shooting from the hip)

So with regards to tweaking I like to think of:

Quicker release = ensure you are always ready to shoot (upper hand infront) so you skip having to prep the puck, minimize separation, have and keep your head up even before getting into shooting position
More power = sum up the speed of your follow-through, flex the stick more, step into the shot with an explosive move (three speeds that add up to the total puck speed), and train those steps separately to ensure you optimize each one

 

One last thing: I think that there is a fluent "scale" between wristshot (slow to release, but powerful and accurate) and snapshot (quick to release, less powerful and accurate). You can use the same basic movement for both shots (e.g. a wrister would see you pulling back further in step 2).

There are plenty of good resources out there, but in order to reference which one would help you most we'd need a few more details on which aspect is lacking in your shot.

[puckpilot 312]

For me, aside from working on the fundamentals and the mechanics of the shot as described in detail above, the one thing that help me develop a quicker release was me deciding to go down to a whippier stick, I mean really whippy. I'm 5'5 175lbs and I use a 50 flex. I find the lighter flex makes the movements to get off to quickly snap shot a lot more fluid and natural.

The light flex comes along with some issues that I have to deal with outside of shooting, but in terms shooting, I shoot a lot quicker, more accurate, and when I really get a hold of it, it's sometimes even a bit harder than when I was shooting with a higher flex. 

Now a whippier flex stick isn't for everyone, a least not in games, but I found sometimes practising with an even whippier stick than I'd normally use in a game can help develop the feel for he movements involved in getting a shot off quicker. 

[Nolan88 1]

7 hours ago, gosinger said:

Without a video of your shot it is hard to give a lot of pointers, but here is how I instruct my beginners on snapshots (first stationary, then in motion):

1. Stickhandle 3 times in front of the body (ready position)
   1. hands away from the body, this gives you room to move and primes the upper hand (see 2)
   2. this is your good hockey position, make sure your knees are bent
2. Pull the puck to the forehand side (primed position)
   1. no further than the front of your toe
   2. make sure you already have your upper hand out infront when catching the puck on the forehand, this gives you the ability to produce power (see 4)
   3. while pulling, transfer your weight to your desired leg (doing this during pulling shaves a few ms of your total time to get ready to shoot) - note that there are slight differences between inside and outside leg snapshots in how you shift your weight.
3. Push the puck forward slightly and separate puck from blade (optional in my opinion, I'd still consider it a snap if you keep stick and puck attached)
   1. ideally a little bit into your body so you can lean into it, so not straight ahead but angle it towards you
4. Drive downwards towards your target with your bottom hand while pulling into your chest with your upper hand (flexing the stick)
   1. the lower hand now grips tighter, and pushes towards your target into the ice, creating flex in your stick
   2. as the upper hand is out infront, you can now really pull on it to flex the stick even more
   3. if you feel you cant flex the stick or you fall over, the puck is too far outside preventing you from either flexing or maintaining stability
5. Snap your wrists over to add additional accuracy and power to your shot (follow through)
   1. the blade of your stick travels a significant amount of distance when you rotate your wrist, so that speed is added to your shot
   2. pull the upper arm towards your chest rather than your stomach, your final position should have you looking down the stick like the barrel of a rifle (we don't aim when shooting from the hip)

So with regards to tweaking I like to think of:

Quicker release = ensure you are always ready to shoot (upper hand infront) so you skip having to prep the puck, minimize separation, have and keep your head up even before getting into shooting position
More power = sum up the speed of your follow-through, flex the stick more, step into the shot with an explosive move (three speeds that add up to the total puck speed), and train those steps separately to ensure you optimize each one

 

One last thing: I think that there is a fluent "scale" between wristshot (slow to release, but powerful and accurate) and snapshot (quick to release, less powerful and accurate). You can use the same basic movement for both shots (e.g. a wrister would see you pulling back further in step 2).

There are plenty of good resources out there, but in order to reference which one would help you most we'd need a few more details on which aspect is lacking in your shot.

Thanks guys but if it makes a difference I shoot off of my inside leg.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Nolan88

[ViperRy 8]

Taking a snap shot while in stride is the most deceptive shot. Usually done with weight transfer to the inside leg.

Gosinger has got it down. Visually, howtohockey on youtube has some solid vids to get you on the right path as well.

Not a tutorial, but what you want to do in stride is something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRsfDZ5ga1c

Some howtohockey snapshot vids:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsxYCuu-DUY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUnHfAiBfSA

[the_game 452]

Check out STS_Hockey on instagram

[gosinger 122]

@ViperRy great resource with iTrain, I have a subscription to their site and it is money well spent - especially when coaching this kind of stuff. Plenty of correction points etc and differentiation between shooting inside/outside, stationary/in-motion, etc.

[puckpilot 312]

1 hour ago, gosinger said:

@ViperRy great resource with iTrain, I have a subscription to their site and it is money well spent - especially when coaching this kind of stuff. Plenty of correction points etc and differentiation between shooting inside/outside, stationary/in-motion, etc.

I was contemplating giving them a try. How do they compare to the free resources out there? How much more detail do they get into?

[gosinger 122]

Wrt iTrainhockey, I'd say definitely "better" (in the sense of more focus on minor details, showing what to look for, correction points) than what I found for free - look at their youtube videos for training intensives (e.g. this one). Most videos are not that long, but go into detail in a similar fashion (e.g. 4 minutes on the specifics of the forehand wristshot back-leg stationary, then 4 minutes for the same in-motion). The current library is mainly skating, shooting and stickhandling, so all very useful for individual skill-development.
So I'll absolutely renew my subscription for this site, as I feel it is high quality content for less than the cost of a twig. Also got subs to goalie buster (howtohockey), becoming a sniper (247 hockey), Hockey Skills Training (hockeyskillstraining.com - combines Turk, Lawson and Korthuis), but iTrain is my favorite out of those. I'm always available to discuss details about those programs in the PMs in order not to derail this thread 🙂