Coaches Corner

*Shooting - Wrist Shot* The wrist shot is similar in setup and execution to the basic pass. The shot begins with the almost the same setup as for a basic forehand pass. Start in the normal hockey stance. Bring the puck behind the rear leg, shifting your body weight to that leg. The puck should be sitting at the rear "heel" section of your stick blade. Your stick blade should be at a right angle to your target. You should be looking at your target. To make the shot, accelerate the puck towards the target by simultaneously pulling and pushing with your top and bottom hands respectively, keeping the puck at the heel of the stick. As the stick blade passes your front leg it will begin to rise - to the height that you wish your shot to go. At this point, the face of your stick blade will begin to close, ultimately ending up pointing at your target. The closing of the face of the blade imparts spin on the puck, keeping it flat as it travels through the air, which, compared to a flipping puck, has less are resistance and presents a smaller object for the goaltender to stop.


The reason that the puck starts at the heel of the blade is twofold. Firstly, it enhances the players ability to give the puck the spin it needs to fly flat through the air and, secondly (but most importantly), it is this that gives the shot its power. The point on a players stick at which he/she is able to generate the most power is a point as close to inline with the shaft as possible - the heel. As the player begins their shot, if the puck is too close to the tip or "toe" of the blade, they will not be able to generate as much power as they could when shooting from the heel. There is one "drawback" (or really just a point to be aware of) to shooting from the heel - the shot will start much lower than if you shoot from the toe. Therefore, most younger players, when learning to shoot, tend to shoot from the toe, because it is perceived that a shot that goes in the air is better. These players have relatively good shots from in close, but either cannot reach the net from long distance (just inside the blueline), or tend to shoot (way) over the goal. To hit their target they have to reduce power - this is not really what we want! Players MUST be encouraged to learn to shoot from the heel so that when they reach the senior ranks they can have a shot that is hard and still rising, even when shot from half way. There is a time and place for heel and toe shots. As a general rule, the closer you get to the net, the closer to the front of your stick the puck should start - but all low shots should start from the heel to get maximum power. Note that this is true for all types of shot - wrist, snap, slap and backhand.