My Roller Hockey Saga (Part Six)

Question
Okay, next round of questions here.  I know you said that I should practice with a roller hockey ball, but I talked to some of my friends and they said that our league uses pucks, so I have been practicing with just a rubber street hockey puck.  I have been having a little problem attempting to shoot however.  First off, I was wondering if you knew of anything around the house that I could use as a practice goal (I was going to buy one, but they were like forty dollars, and I didn't exactly want to pay for that, lol).  Other than that, though, I was talking to some of my friends that have been playing for like ten years and they were saying how they had a bad slapshot because it only went 80 mph.  Um.........let's just say I'm a "smidge".....cough cough........behind 80 mph, lol.  Actually, I have been trying to stay away from the slapshot, becuase I figure it's one of those that you look really stupid doing unless it's really good.  My wrist shot, however, is nothing to be proud of.  I guess my real question is that I have no idea what I'm doing.  I'm sure that it's EXTREMELY slow, and I can't find a way to get the puck to lift off the ground.  If you have any tips on simple shooting technique/drills, I would be very appreciative.  Oh, and as a side note, I heard some guys talking about a "snap shot" and I frankly have no idea what that is, but I didn't want to sound stupid so I just smiled and nodded, lol.  Anything that you could tell me would be very helpful, so I will await your reply with great anticipation.  Thanks again!

Oh, one more quick question.  I was watching someone play, and they did this really cool thing where they flipped the puck up onto the stick and carried it down the rink like they were playing lacrosse and they essentially just "threw" the puck into the goal, since it was still on the stick.  Is this legal?  I mean, it would be a pretty specific rule, I was just wondering if other people do this.

Answer
Hi Andrew....Good to hear from you.
  You can use just about anything as a goal for practicing.  All you really need is 2 objects set about 5 feet apart and aim to shoot between them.  It can be boxes, a stack of bricks or anything you have around the house.  Then maybe take a blanket, sheet or piece of plastic to drape over them and down the back so it catches the puck and you won't have to chase it.

You said your friends said they had a slap shot that was 80mph?  For now don't worry too much about the speed, worry about the aiming first.  Then go for speed.  Practice at your own pace and when it becomes comforable, then go for speed.  First things, first, right?  lol   Can your friends come and give you some tips?  They might like helping you if you ask them.

A slapshot is for distance with a lot of speed and uses a lot of arm movement.  A wrist shot is more for a shorter distance.  The flick of the wrist is what gives it the power and speed.

To get the puck off the ground you need to angle the bottom of the hockey stick upward as it approaches the puck. When the stick comes to meet the puck, tilt the bottom of the stick upward as if you were going to try to pick the puck up.  That's what gives it the lift.  By practicing you will determine just how much angle you need to get it off the ground.

A snap shot is another quick and fast shot.  I'm not that familiar with the exact definition but I did some research on the internet and found some helpful web site with free information for you.  I'll list them at the bottom of this.

You asked about the guy who flipped the puck up onto the stick and carried it down the rink.  I don't know much about hockey rules but it's my educated guess that it's NOT legal in hockey.  It's a good skill to have fun with but I'm sure you can't do that in a real game.

Here's the web sites that I found.  You can do some further research by typing "free roller hockey tips" in a search engine too.


Scroll down the pages when you get to this site.  It has a lot of links with free "tips" at the bottom of most pages.

http://www.howtoplay.com/roller_hockey/hockey_kit.html
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This one is like a search engine with lots of hockey info.

http://search.freefind.com/find.html?id=75691628&pid=r&mode=ALL&n=0&query=roller...
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This one give shooting tips

http://www.whockey.com/tip/shooting/
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This one has a lot of different info

http://www.skatelog.com/hockey/technique.htm
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Most of these are roller hockey but some refer to ice hockey. Don't worry you can use any info that you can get your hands on.  Sometimes one explanation won't make sense but if you read another one, it will.

Good Luck, I hope you find some good info that you can use.  I keep forgetting to thank you for the nominations that you've given me from this expert site.  I appreciate it.

Keep me posted and let me know if I can help with the next
Hockey Saga Part 7   lol

Pat