It’s easy, just shoot and score!! Well, I wish it was that simple, but it’s not. There’s a
problem, there’s someone with big pillows on their legs and a goofy mask that has
one mission in life, to not let that black biscuit you’re shooting get past them. Below are some hockey shooting tips on how to increase your odds of beating the goalie on a more consistent basis.
Let’s get started.
Being an off-ice stickhandling and shooting specialist, those extra reps you get in
your garage or basement are extremely important to prep yourself for on-ice
success. Create scoring situations that regularly occur in games for you and really
refine your hockey shot, not only your accuracy, but strength of shot as well.
Next, you need to balance your shooting. What I mean by that is take an equal
amount of both forehand and backhand shots. To often, players focus only on
forehand shots and completely neglect the backhand side of the body. This makes
you ½ a hockey player and you’ll never reach your full potential.
If you’re not happy with your goal production and want more, start keeping track of how many shots you take during a game. If you’re only getting 1 or 2 shots a game, you’ll have to work at increasing that number. The top goal scorers in the NHL know that if they can generate 7-10 shots a game, at least one of them will find the back of the net.
So when in doubt, get pucks to the net.
Mix up the angles your shooting from and also vary the distances as well. A recent
study that tracked every goal scored in the NHL for one season, revealed some
fantastic statistics on where goals were scored from, distance from the net and what was the most effective shot. 55% of the goals were scored from 20 feet or less and the most effective shots were the wrist shot and backhand.
Of all the hockey shot tips I can give you, this one comes from a coach I had when
playing for the Ottawa Senators. His name was Jacques Martin and he’d regularly
tell us to “Focus on the Process and the Results will Take Care of Themselves.”
If you want to score more goals in hockey, you have to shoot more than everyone
else, not only on the ice, but off-ice as well. Shooting proficiency is acquired over a long period of time. As you physically mature, your strength of shot will increase
where you’ll reach new levels of power as the flex of the stick gets higher.
The last thing I’ll leave you with has to do with players who are able to score
frequently and lead teams. At some point in time, you’ll hit a slump where nothing
goes in. Some say the player is snake bitten, or has lost their confidence.
I asked all the elite scorers I played with in the NHL about going through a scoring
slump and they said as long as you’re getting chances, the puck will eventually find the back of the net. When you’re not getting chances, that’s when you have to start worrying.
Thanks for stopping by and remember to Work Hard and Dream Bigger than
Everyone Else!!
