Off ice stick handling - puck or ball?

[shoot_the_goalie 281]

When I practice off ice stick handling, I almost exclusively use a puck (i.e. green biscuit).  However, I've noticed that almost all the pros, when practicing off ice, use a ball.  Is this more cause a ball is more versatile for use on different surfaces, or is a ball just better for off ice training?

[getthekidthepuck 32]

try a golf ball in your driveway. I use to do it for  hours when i was growing up.

[ParabolicActivity 48]

Use everything. Get used to stick handling everything. That way a puck on ice just falls into the mix. Smart balls for weight. Biscuits for glide. Wood balls for speed. Golf balls for unpredictability. Etc.

Edited December 12, 2019 by ParabolicActivity

[start_today 770]

16 minutes ago, ParabolicActivity said:

Use everything. Get used to stick handling everything. That way a puck on ice just falls into the mix. Smart balls for weight. Biscuits for glide. Wood balls for speed. Golf balls for unpredictability. Etc.

“If you can dangle a wrench, you can dangle a puck!”

[psulion22 402]

Buscuits are good because they give you the same feeling of contact with the blade.

But pros are using balls because they do some different things.  Most likely you're seeing the wooden balls.  Those are very light and you have to develop quick hands to keep it from flying all over the room.  There are balls that size that have the same weight as a puck.  They're good because all the weight is concentrated in a smaller area so you have to be very sure of your contact.  Those quick dekes where the guys are barely touching the puck don't work with a Smart ball.  It won't move.  And a golf ball is good also because it's unpredictable.  It bounces, it pops off the blade, it rolls sideways.  It helps you learn to adjust your hands quickly.

[VegasHockey 1280]

Using a golf ball or wood ball is good for speed stick handling. Ideally, though, try and using something still about the same weight as a puck. Smart Hockey makes good weighted ball options. 

For shooting, I only recommend people use pucks. Preferably ice hockey pucks but if you want to use other options such as Green Biscuits make sure its the same weight as a puck. 

https://www.smarthockey.com/collections/balls-and-pucks

[z1ggy 81]

If you're on something like smooth concrete or carpet, golf ball is the best IMO. It is a little light but helps develop that quick hand eye coordination. The wood ball ends up really really loud  and ends up getting annoying really fast.